My friend Jim

 During 2010-2011 I was an Activities Director at an assisted living facility. In  the five years before that, I worked at the same place as a nurse/aide to the residents there. This new position came to  me when my boss personally asked me to take it, as he was hoping to incorporate a new program at this facililty. 

 I thought about it and decided to accept; it would be different but very enjoyable for them and for me. 

   I  had  quite a number of activities for the residents. Bingo, exercises, horse races, crafts, sing alongs and  Bible Study, which we had for an hour on Thursdays.

The residents loved to sing hymns and read verses and answer questions.  

  We had one resident that never came to Bible Study. He was pretty much a loner. His daughter had remarked one time to me, she wished he would get more involved in activities because he seemed sad.

  I had tried to get him to come out of his room many times and I had succeeded a few times. But it  always a "no" on Bible Study. 

 One day I thought of a way to get him to join us. I went to his room and told him that in our Bible Study we did some singing and how I had heard from his daughter that he use to sing in a choir at church years ago. At first he said no, but the next time I asked and coaxed, he finally said yes.

  The aide wheeled him down to the library where we had our Bible Study and put him in the center of the circle of wheel chairs. We handed out hymnals. The two songs we sang were  "Amazing Grace "and " Day by Day." Jim seemed to enjoy this immensely. 

After singing, we studied John Chapter 3. It talked about being born again, Most of the residents were familiar with that chapter, and were followers of Jesus Christ.  But, Jim seemed puzzled. He joined in the conversation and said he had never read that before.  We read a little more and discussed a little more and prayed and  the aides dispersed each resident to their room.

About 10 minutes later, an aide came to me and told me that Jim wanted to see me in his room.

I said , okay" as I wondered what could possibly be the problem. You see, Jim was a gruff guy. He was a retired Bank President from Canton, Ohio. He was very picky  about everything; from how dark his toast was for breakfast to the color of his socks picked out for the day.  He made his wishes very clear to the aides and nurses. 

I braced myself before walking through his apartment door. "Hey Jim, Gail told me you wanted to see me, how can I help you?"

  He said he had a couple  questions for me. He opened his Bible  (yes, he actually owned one) and said, "I don't understand this thing about being born again." So we went over it. I explained that  we all have sinned, and need the gift of eternal life. God loved us  so much that he provided a way for us to receive eternal life. It was Jesus dying on the Cross and raising from the dead on the third day. And if we put our faith in Him we will be saved. He still looked puzzled. 

 I really feel the Lord gave me the words to explain to him what Jesus had done. I used the example of a bank account. ( I thought what better way to explain a gift) I said  to him ,"Jim you were a banker, what would you say if someone put a huge amount of money in a savings account for their son or daughter to inherit, and they never came to withdraw that money?" He replied, "How foolish is that?" 

I said, "Exactly! yet there are many that do not inherit heaven because of no saving faith in Jesus Christ. Being born again, means you are born of the Spirit, Gods Spirit, and that happens when you personally receive that free gift that God has provided. You can take or reject it, it is up to you."

 I went over the 4 spiritual laws also to make sure I explained it more thoroughly.

 He said, " I can't believe that I was in W.W. 2 and made it through that, and lived this long and never knew that I could be saved." Then, he said, "How come do you think God let me live this long,"  (He was 90!!) I immediately said, "because God loves you and knows you were not ready for heaven yet!"   Further in that conversation, I asked Jim if he wanted to be saved. He said, "of course."

 We prayed, and then I explained how he could grow in faithand love for God. After that day, Jim came to Bible Study every time we offered it. He sang with vigor, and I could tell he meant all of it!  He was a  changed man, a gentler man, and kinder.

 Later that year, Jim was transferred to a Medical Care Facility ; his health was declining. I would visit him from time to time,  I would read scripture to him during those  visits; and we became good friends.

The last time I visited Jim, he asked if instead of me reading the scriptures if he could read scripture to me. "Of course," I said, and it really blest me to hear them being read by him. It wasn't long after that, that Jim passed away. I was sad, but  at the same time, glad for the promise of one day, I would see my friend Jim, again. 

I am so glad I have that memory of our friendship and  the blessing of sharing Jesus with him. It is by far one of the most cherished of my years at Drews Place, Village Green in Hillsdale.

 I realized through this experience that if God can use me for sharing Jesus, anyone can be used if they are willing.  We are all able to share the Good News.