THE GIFT OF REFRESHMENT

This story will bring tears to my eyes because my heart will recall the precious friend God delivered to me one day in a big yellow passenger van.  I will share our introduction to each other in a later story.  We enjoyed friendship with one another for only a short season, about a year and a half; but they were” divinely orchestrated” days filled with eternal memories.

On our introduction, my friend shared that she was legally blind; and at our first encounter she wanted me to know that she was unable to see me with clarity, and would always require my help in guiding her steps along the way.  She had marvelous maneuverability with her “walker,”  and I always made sure I kept in step with her or she would be way out in front of me.  

Each Sunday morning I would await her arrival at church via a taxi bus that would bring her to the curb.  She would gleefully exit the steps with the help of the driver, and then I would soon call out her name to let her know I was waiting for her.

After our friendship was sealed, from time to time I would phone to check up on her.  We just felt so “at home” with each other.  One day I phoned to surprise her with the announcement and invitation to join me for breakfast at a fast food restaurant called Tim Hortons.   In her 90 plus years of life, she had never been to this restaurant, nor had she ever tasted an egg and sausage croissant (one of life’s little pleasures).

In my event book (my calendar) I knew this social outing needed to happen and soon, so a day and a time was chosen.  She wasn’t hard to locate at the assisted living facility she lived in.   She was there waiting front and center in the lobby standing beside her walker beaming with anticipation for this up and coming “breakfast surprise.”  All through the time it took her to gleefully consume that egg and sausage croissant, she managed a smile from ear-to-ear.

About a year later our times together were at a nursing home to where she had been moved due to a fall she had taken in her apartment at the assisted living facility.   Her room was very sparse, with only a few photos and a cherished quilt that covered her tiny frame.    Our weekly visits were precious and joy filled and we enjoyed being together either in her room, or out on the patio in the sunshine. 

Week after week we would talk together about her wishes for a really “nice” room.   Her name was on the waiting list, but it would be months before that move was about to take place.   But we made it a matter of prayer.

Each month she seemed to grow weaker and less interested in her “room request.”   But over a cup of coffee, we’d laugh and chat and exchange a big hug at the end of our time together.   She never complained.

Then the big day came!   Upon arrival I was informed that she was in her “new” room.  It was clean and fresh, and her whole being was enjoying the filtered sunshine that glistened into her new room.    Today my visit was different…..and she was different.    She knew someone was there, but I wasn’t sure that she knew that it was me.   

Touching another tenderly is a wonderful kindness to give someone, especially if they can’t bring you into focus.   Her eyes were dim and so was her countenance.    I thought to myself, “What can I do?”   It turned into a prayer.   I took hold of her hands and just held them, and told her that I was there and she wasn’t alone. 

I asked if she wanted anything…..and her quick response embraced my favorite Scripture.    She said she wanted water.   I went over to a refrigerator for ice and prepared a cold glass of water and inserted a straw.   Gently holding the straw to her mouth, she inhaled the glass of water and asked for more.  

She managed a gracious smile and then shared the sweetest encouragement a soul could hear.

“Thanks for being here, and being my friend.”

We just held hands while our hearts connected in spirit.   My heart just knew that this would be my last opportunity to minister to my sweet friend: and to do so in the fashion of my favorite verse:

“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”  Matthew 10:42

Her friendship rewarded my heart many times, and yet I had no idea that this last “gift of refreshment” given to her, would embrace a verse I loved and cherished.    A few days later, God took her home to be with Him…..in her “new room” prepared just for her.  He not only answered her prayer for a new “earthly room” but He gifted her with His presence, in her new eternal home.

I’ve discovered that God notices, uses, and blesses every tiny outreach to others.   A glass of cold water is odorless, colorless and tasteless; yet it brings a refreshment like none other.

God “gifts our lives” with other people for a myriad of reasons and for special seasons.   May we all be encouraged to be sensitive and alert to the “cups of cold water opportunities” God brings to accompany our walk in life.