Carole's time.

This morning Rose met me at the nursing home. She told me that this would be her first time inside of one.

After explaining the layout to her we made our way to the 'short-term' hall. These are folks who have probably just come in for a rehabilitation term from the hospital. Others are here because they have transferred from other facilities and they are awaiting permanent room assignments.

When I go into a nursing home the first thing I do is systematically make my way into every room to discuss their eternal destiny. Depending upon the size of the home, it may take a couple of months tod o this. After seeing about each permanent resident I go to the short-term hall. There is a constant change in people here.

We had a couple of interesting conversations, but the one I want to write about is Carol. She is a fairly young paraplegic. She told me that since 1959 she has held a job and so she has no 'benefits'. She worries about how she will pay for this stretch in rehab. She has lost her husband and her sons...she is alone. Carol is gravely ill. She told me that she had grown up in a Christian Science household. She also told me she never believed it because it was just 'not realistic'. I agreed with her and we began to talk about stepping out of this life. She was quiet but very open. After honestly answering some questions, Carol agreed that God would find her guilty and condemn her to Hell for eternity. This concerned her greatly. Carol's eyes are very sunken and she has deep, gray rings around them. Her eyes spoke volumes when I told her about Jesus. She was familiar with Him but as I told her that He had the hairs on her head numbered and had even kept every tear she had ever cried, she was taken aback. I asked her if she realized that and she answered a quiet, "no".

When we finished talking I asked her if this decision was worth taking care of. She told me she had a lot of thinking to do. I left her with a Good Person booklet and asked her if we could pray for her. She smiled and said, "yes". When we finished she smiled and told us thank you.

It is always amazing to me when I meet someone who has never heard the Gospel. More amazing that God puts us right where He wants us to be at the appointed time. Today is Carol's 'time'.

Psalms 56:8 You number my wandering; O put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your Book?