Receiving While Giving

As a pastor I often find myself thinking I will be the one who will "minister to" or "bless" others and sometimes the tables get turned. I had one of those moments today when I thought I was going to bless someone and in return I was the one blessed and ministered to.

This past Sunday a dear woman at our church came up to me after the service and asked if I would come to visit her husband who is suffering from Alzheimer's and celebrate communion with them

We set a time for Monday morning and I grabbed the portable communion set and drove over to the nursing home and spent some time with them. When I first arrived he was lucid so we celebrated communion together right away to take advantage of the moments we had with him. After we were done she asked if I would walk with them to his room because she had something she wanted to show me. 

She shared about how she was praying for her husband the she said, "The Lord spoke to me and told me to get a ball for him. All I could think of was a basketball but at the grocery store I saw a bin of large balls and there was nice blue one that would match his room. So I bought it." She then proceeded to sit across from her husband and they bounce the ball back and forth her eyes lighting up as they did it. After they finished she set the ball down and told me that she hasn't shown that to anyone except the nurses.

We talked for awhile and then she grabbed a picture from the dresser and showed it to me. It was of them celebrating their 40th anniversary on a Norwegian cruise. I marveled at how different he looked. The man in the picture was vibrant and had a sparkle in his eyes. You could tell that he was enjoying the moment with his wife. This same man was now sitting in a chair with a blank look on his face and didn't even know we were in the room with him. After she set the picture down this is what she said to me.

"Pastor Todd, last week was our 48th anniversary and I was sitting in my living room crying because we weren't able to celebrate it together. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, 'You have had 48 wonderful years together. 48! Remember the good times and the memories you have had.' I started thinking about the adventures we have had; four cruises in Norway, trips to Branson and other trips. We have had so many wonderful times and 48 wonderful years. I realized I needed to stop crying and start rejoicing. So I did and I said to myself, 'This is the day that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it." 

I have found myself in and out of some personal pity parties over the past few weeks because of a difficult situation I have been going through and today I realized God was saying to me, "Todd, I didn't have her ask you to visit so you could bless them but so that you would realize that you need to rejoice because this is the day I have made."

It's amazing how we can so often think we are going to give something to someone else when God turns it upside down and we realize we are the ones receiving.

Thank you my dear sister and brother for being the ones to minister to me.