Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me. Matt: 25:40
Paradise Park Assisted Living Senior Star @ Weber Rd. Heritage Woods, Bolingbrook. Weber Place
On Thursday, the 25th of February, my husband came home bringing the most beautiful bouquet of flowers and when he handed them to me, he kissed me and wished me “Happy Anniversary”. They were a mixture of carnations, miniature daisy’s and Roses which are my favorites. I love roses, however, he has given me flowers many times but this was the first time he had ever brought me roses and we will be celebrating our 30th anniversary on March the 15th. So I was in awe of how beautiful they were and my mind just started going crazy, I’m thinking, WOW, its only the 25th, its 3 more weeks until our anniversary, how thoughtful, and I wondered if he was planning to continue to build on this for the next three weeks and you can’t imagine how special I felt at that particular moment. I thought to myself, its really been a great 30 years and the flowers are such a thoughtful thing to do and they were so beautiful. At that moment he put his arm around me and kissed me again and then he started laughing as he said, “there was a funeral at the Methodist church I just finished cleaning and the pastor wanted to know if I wanted to bring these flowers home”. Well, I won’t write in the newsletter what my next thoughts were. . . . . . . and I think there are probably some of you, especially you ladies, that would not have accepted that very well and you guys may still be in the dog house, but all kidding aside, I started thinking about all of that and the Lord gave me the most beautiful thoughts. A situation had happened that brought sadness to one family with the death of a loved one, and although it was a sad day for them, God used a bad situation to bring joy to someone else. I have really enjoyed the roses (and I enjoyed the special moment with my husband before I found out they were funeral flowers). It was truly a fun moment together and we had a really good laugh and it has already been an anniversary I won’t soon forget. God is so good and laughter is good for the soul and I thank God that He brought us together 30 years ago and gave us a sense of humor and has taught us how to laugh together, cry together and best of all read our Bible and pray together. God has been so good to us.
One morning I wasn’t sure which home I wanted to visit, I kept thinking about going to one but felt a tug to go to another one. After I arrived at Lakewood, it was clear to me why I felt led to go there. Kaethe needed a friend and I sat and listened to her talk for over an hour. She has had many many years of hurt and pain as she began telling me her life story. Her mom died at an early age and she became very bitter as to why God would take away her mother. Her brother was in the service and she told about the time when her family was notified that he was “missing in action” and he never came home and they never knew how he died or what happened. She later married and had children but the grief continued, she lost a daughter at a young age, then her husband had a heart attack and died. Her son married a domineering wife and won’t allow him to visit her. She is angry with everyone and with God. I opened the Bible and shared several scripture verses with her and then presented the plan of salvation to her before I left. She was almost ready a couple of times to pray the sinners prayer but then she would stop and say, “I just don’t think I can let go of all the anger”. I told her I would be back and we will talk again, so please pray for Kaethe, she needs the Lord in her heart. She needs peace that only He can give to her and God can change her heart and bring joy.
There are so many things that happen in our lives, things that we don’t understand, circumstances change, and we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but praise God we know who holds tomorrow and we know He holds our hand. He never changes. He is always the same yesterday, today and forever and His promises are true and He will walk with us every step of the way if only we allow Him to. All He ask us to do is “be Faithful and Trust Him”.
Please continue to pray for the Ministry and all the volunteers and the many residents that we see each week. It’s a great opportunity to share the Love of Christ and many of the residents do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. It’s a mission field that is white unto harvest and God has chosen all of us to be His servants.
This newsletter goes out to many people and if you are reading it and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, please don’t put off until tomorrow what you need to do today. Tomorrow may never come. Ask Jesus into your heart. It’s as simple as admitting you are a sinner and asking Him to forgive you for all your sins. Then ask Him to come into your heart and be your Savior and accept the greatest gift that anyone has ever given you. He loves you and He wants you to be His child. He wants you to share the joy and peace that only He can give. It’s the greatest decision you will ever make and He’s the greatest friend you will ever have. You will never walk alone because He will always walk beside you. Does that mean you will be perfect??? NO, it means you will be forgiven and your eternal home will be in Heaven.
Mail your gift to SonShine Outreach Ministries, c/o Joyce Mancke,
Lakewood Nursing Home, Plainfield –March 7th @ 2:30 p.m. Senior Star @ Weber Rd (Saturday) March 13th @ 10:00 a.m,., Weber Place (Saturday) March 13th @ 11:00 a.m., Salem Village, Joliet – March 14th @ 2:30 p.m., Rosewood Rehab Center, Joliet – March 21st @ 2:30 p.m., Heritage Woods, Bolingbrook, - (Saturday) March. 27th @ 10:00 a.m., Sunny Hill, Joliet –March. 28th @ 2:30 p.m. Paradise Park, New Lenox –March 28th @ 2:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Joyce Mancke jmancke@sbcglobal.net.
Phone - 815-351-7659
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