PINKTOBER - DAY 26

I had a free day today - but decided that I could do several things that needed doing.  I am now on the Pastoral Care Team in our new church, and having been asked to go to a couple of Care Homes, where two of our Church Members were living to share Communion with them, I rang the Homes and arranged the two appointments.  One of the homes said that I would need to do a LFT and take the result with me and would also need to wear a mask, so with a negative LFT in my bag, off I went.

 I also decided that I could fit these visits in between going to the Hotel where the Cancer Research presentation is due to be held in mid-November, as I needed to check that my laptop would speak to their system.

I was delighted when I arrived at the first Care Home to find that John was waiting in his room for me.  John used to run the local Christian Bookshop so having bought many books in there over the years, I was pretty certain he would remember me - and he did.  We had a lovely chat and when I asked him if he would be happy for me to share Communion with him, his eyes filled with tears and he said softly “Yes please.”  I had printed off a short Communion Order of Service so followed that through, reading it out to him.  When I said, “John 3:16 says...” he was there before me and had recited it before I could even read it out to him!

We continued with the service, after which I told him I had downloaded some hymns onto my phone and wondered if he would like to sing one, and thought that “The Lord’s My Shepherd” would be a good one to sing together.  John told me that he had been told at school he couldn’t sing and always sang lots of “sour notes”, according to his teachers, but I told him that God didn’t mind how sour they were as long as he was singing, at which he smiled!  However, he said his favourite was “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty” and asked if I knew it.  I said I did, but didn’t have the music, so we sang it together unaccompanied, and we both knew all the words!  Having sung in choirs for most of my life, and having a good memory stood me in good stead today!  We then sang “The Lord’s My Shepherd” together before I prayed with him, for him and his family.  Then he wanted to pray too and thanked God for me - which brought a tear to my eye.

I told John that his daughter, Rachel, used to be the nurse we always wanted to see if ever we needed an injection at our surgery, because she was the best at doing them and that made him smile.

I then went over to another Care Home to see Jean, but sadly I got caught in some roadworks, so it took me rather longer than I had hoped.  Having arrived and shown all my credentials to the receptionist, on  my way down the corridor to see Jean, I met this lovely Carer just taking “Buddy” to see one of her patients.  I asked her about this and she said it was a special friend for the patients and even had a heartbeat - they used Buddy to bring comfort to the patients and she even told me to feel his heartbeat.  I could see the pink cheeks, so told her about my Blips for BCAM - please click on this LINK again so that those who cannot afford to pay may have a free mammogram - so she told me that they had raised a lot of money for BCAM earlier this month at the Care Home.  She was happy for me to take her photograph with Buddy, and  you can tell by her eyes that she was smiling.

Jean was upstairs celebrating someone’s birthday, but one of the Carers went to fetch her.  We had a chat when she arrived because she didn’t remember me, but I said that I remembered her as she used to play the organ at Gorse Hill Baptist Church - she beamed when I said that.  I asked Jean if she would like me to celebrate Communion with her and like John, she said very enthusiastically, “Yes please.”

I asked Jean if she remembered John 3:16 and before I knew it, she was reciting it from memory - amazing!  I shared Communion with Jean and asked her if she would like to sing “The Lord’s My Shepherd” with me and she was happy to do that.  She knew every verse and we sang together well - in fact, she had a lovely voice and I noticed the door was slightly open, so no doubt anyone around could hear us singing.  After I had prayed with Jean, we sang "Praise my Soul, the King of Heaven" which was fine, except I had only downloaded it this morning and didn't realise that instead of "Praise Him" at the end of each verse, they sang "Alleluia" but Jean soon picked that up!  I asked if she would like me to come again and she said she would, so I said I might bring Heather with me next time.  

What a privilege to be able to share Communion with these two lovely Christians - and to know that they could remember verses of scripture and sing hymns without seeing the words.  God is good!

I then went to the hotel, but was disappointed to learn that they didn’t have the right connection for my laptop, so I told the Manager, Eduardo, that I would buy one and then go over again before the 15th November, just to make sure that everything worked, and he was happy for me to do that - we don't want a malfunction on the day!

Of course, I was disappointed, so went and had a lovely cappuccino and a slice of carrot cake - well I hadn’t had any lunch and it was past 1 o’clock - that’s my excuse - oh and I was disappointed I hadn’t been able to sort things out with the laptop! 

“We can’t heal the world today, 
     but we can begin with 
          a voice of compassion, 
               a heart of love, 
                    an act of kindness.” 
Mary Davis