All the Way

Sometimes the greatest blessings come in teenie tiny packages. Like the way a kiddo can bless you with a hug or a belly laugh or a look of wonder at something that to an adult seems like an everyday occurrence. Or the scent of a newborn baby nestled in your arms for the first time. Or the kiss of a dog that is grateful to be given a second chance in life. Or playing games with folks who are farther along in life and short in stature, like my little mom or my friend Annie. Some of the sweetest memories my kiddos and I have of Mom and Annie, and some of the biggest blessings we've ever received, are from times of sitting at a kitchen table playing checkers or canasta or marbles or Uno. I can still picture Mom's eyes squeezed shut as she laughed at Brad trying to cheat at checkers, and I often think of the twinkle in Annie's eyes as she would say, "All back home," when she would send the kids' marbles back to their starting place.

Last night was Bingo night at the retirement home, and there was a large group of folks in attendance. I helped a gentleman who is non-verbal, but I sat across from a fellow who is quite a character. Every time I've been there to help, "Mr. Character" is smiling and cracking jokes ... I've yet to see him in a bad mood, and I often wonder if he's always so happy. I do know that he, as well as many of the other men and women who come to play on Thursday nights are pretty serious about the game of Bingo ... they definitely like it when they win.

When the evening's activities are complete, most of the residents make their way back to their rooms on their own using walkers or wheelchairs. There are a few, however, who need some help getting home, so most weeks I get the opportunity to aid someone who needs a ride down the hallway. Each week thus far, I've been blessed to walk a different person to his or her room, and I totally enjoy hearing their stories as we roll along ... how many children and grandchildren they have, where they are from, what their favorite kind of music is, what books they enjoy reading ... each one of them has blessed me in a special way. But last night ... last night, I received an extra special blessing from the precious little lady I escorted to her room.

It took us a bit to get to her part of the building, and as I pushed her in her wheelchair, she chatted about babies and what she had done that day. She said, "Oh, no, honey ... you can go faster!" when I asked if I was rolling her too quickly, which made me chuckle out loud. When we arrived at her room and I helped her inside, I immediately noticed the beautiful array of potted African violets lining her windowsill. I instantly thought of the violets in my kitchen ... violets that my little mom transported from Tennessee to Kansas when she moved here. My new friend showed me some of her things, and I smiled when she said, "I love pretty things, you know." She's a dainty little gal with beautiful white hair, and she looked quite lovely in the outfit she had on. "She's lovely inside and out," I had been told before we departed the activity room, and as I took her hand to say goodnight, and she placed her petite hands around mine, I realized that those words were indeed very true.

When I asked if there was anything I could do for her before I left, she asked me if I would read to her from the Bible. I replied that I would be honored to read to her, asking if she had a certain passage she would like to hear. She said she was especially fond of John 14, so I turned to John and began to read. "Let not your heart be ..." I stood in wonder as the sweet little lady spoke softly ... "your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." Tears pooled in my eyes as I listened to her recite verse after verse from memory ... I stood in the precious woman's room humbled and amazed and touched to the very core of my soul. When she finished, I stumbled for words, finally asking her when she accepted Christ. She promptly told me that she was in the third grade when she invited Jesus into her heart, and that she was baptized in a lake and the water was cold. And then she said something that has been stuck in my head since I said goodnight to her last night.

"God has led me all the way, you know, all the way through life. He's been there all the way."

Humbled, amazed, touched ... she's 100 years old, friends ... 100 years old. What a blessing you were to me last night, dear lady ... what a blessing. And I am more than sure that you've been a blessing all the way through your life ... all the way indeed.