I’m a part of my church’s leadership body and one of my duties is to give communion to the sick and shut in. After our regular church service, myself and another church leader drove to the person that we would be seeing.
The member we were visiting is suffering from dementia, and while she did not recognize us, as her daughter talked and asked her questions, she shared how much she had loved going to church and our body of believers in general. I expressed to her that she too was loved and that we were there to spend some time with her.
As I’ve gone to see her before, there were some things that had stood out for me in times past. We gave her the option of songs that she wanted to sing, and she was able to sing them completely from memory. Her eyes were a half closed, while she sang, meanwhile, I’m leaning over a hymnal to try to keep up with the words.
She did not remember what communion was when we asked her, but she remembered that Jesus loved her.
Communion, is an act of faith of eating bread and drinking wine or grape juice, and the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice.
As we were closing, her daughter asked if she wanted to pray, and as she prayed, and I listen, so many thoughts ran through my mind. The act of doing something for so many years, and so many other things may have been forgotten and yet she was able to pray and sing songs, and remember that Jesus loved her. Her prayer was powerful and heartfelt.
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:4 NIV
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
Psalms 119:11 NIV
These two verses signify two very important thoughts: it is God who sustains us, even in our old age, and when we have hidden God’s words in our hearts, they will come back at just the right time.
We don’t know the number of years that we are promised on this earth, but we can create habits so that if we start forgetting things, we will still remember the most important ones and that is: we are loved.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that we can experience your love no matter how young or old we may be. We thank you for the examples that have been given to us. May we take heed and hide your words in our hearts so that even when we have forgotten so many other things that your words will still come back to remind us of your love and faithfulness.