Just A Note.
Nursing Home Visitation
Because we longed to be able to do a little more than just our regular visits to the wonderful people in nursing homes, whom we regard as "our brethren," we searched for a way to afford us the means to do so. The Lord placed it in my heart to write a poem especially for these special friends and gave me the message to use. Thus the poem, "Christian Love Letter," was written which I was able to personalize for each one. We took the poems with us as we visited and read them to each person as we presented them with the poems. We were touched and overwhelmed at the reception we received from doing this and it gave us an even greater desire to do something "special" for them. One precious lady so loved "her poem" that she would have her niece, who visited several times each week, read it to her at each visit.
We felt that putting together a book of poems, and making it available at a nominal price for anyone desiring to purchase a copy, might bring the proceeds to cover the expenses of creating it, plus enough to start a fund to do extras for our nursing home and retirement center friends. Some of the needs of these folks might seem trivial to the unknowing but we have seen that there are certain things that Medicare and Medicaid don't provide - - many important things. An example was Frances, a fine Christian lady who spent most of her waking hours running her motorized wheel chair up and down the halls visiting and witnessing to other patients who needed encouragement and fellowship. This was a real blessing to Frances and to those she visited. Then the batteries for the motorized wheel chair died and she was unable, because of severe crippling arthritis, to leave her room. Medicaid didn't cover batteries. Frances soon became depressed because of having to stay in bed, caught pneumonia and died. There are others who have needs such as a new remote control for their TV, the only diversion for them. Their remotes get broken. Some have broken their eyeglasses, or have lost them. One lady, Mrs. Turner, was recovering from serious surgery that required medication be administered strictly and regularly. The staff at that particular facility did not see that she was given her medication as directed. They may have been overworked and understaffed. We wished that we had the funds to pay for a private duty nurse to make sure Mrs. Turner received her medication as directed. She would have recovered much faster and been able to go home. As it is, she did get to go home, but still needed care for an extended time. We have seen many examples such as these where we wished we had a special account set up to help our friends.
This is the reason our book, "Poems From The Heart" was born, and made available to those interested in having a copy for personal use, or just to help with our Nursing Home Ministry. This book contains poems for every occasion, such as birthdays, anniversaries, Father's Day, Mother's Day, and others. Any one of the poems can be personalized, and would make a nice gift for a loved one or friend, and all are suitable for framing. The poems contain within the messages a subtle plan of salvation, thus making a good witnessing medium.
All proceeds from the sale of this book, over and above expenses involved, were used for this Nursing Home Ministry. There were no "labor" costs included in the expenses, such as most non-profit organizations have. We donated our own personal time and labor to produce these books. We were personally involved from the beginning of each book to the placement of the books in buyers' hands, and we offered this as a "hand of friendship" or a "handshake." We are sorry to say that the project did not go well. We still have a stack of the books that did not sell and, therefore, have not been able to pay for the supplies necessary to put the books together. So our dream of helping our friends in the nursing homes with extras has not been fulfilled. However, our church's nursing home visitation team continues to visit, pray and sing with them. And on special occasions they take little treats, plants, or cards to these precious folks. We know the Lord is pleased and will bless the visitors and the visited.
We wish to thank all who were interested in having a copy of this book, because in doing so you became a part of our Nursing Home Ministry and your lives will certainly be blessed by the Lord because of your kind and generous participation. The Lord will shower an even greater blessing upon you as you become interested in visiting these wonderful people in the nursing homes and retirement centers. The little bit of time, attention, and love you share with these who are sometimes lonely and forgotten will come back to you in manifold blessings. We challenge you to "try and see."
"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" Matthew 25:40 (NKJ)
Now we'd like to share with you: WHY WE DID IT
Graphics courtesy of...
Atlantic Fish Free Christian Clipart
