Sometimes nursing home residents say to me, “I don’t know why God has not taken me home yet…” They feel like they have no value any more. Why is this so?
Our friends in the care homes need purpose. Purpose gives us all a reason to live. When everything is done for us, including our housekeeping, food preparation, and personal hygiene, we can begin to feel that we are in the way, that there is no need for us, and that we are merely a burden to our community. It is in this environment that our friends lose the desire to live.
I have found a great way to help our friends find purpose. I respectfully offer them this challenge:
Do at least one kind deed for someone each day—
doing it without any expectation of reward,
doing it just because you care.
I assure them that if they will commit to this daily mission, their lives will take on greater meaning and a more significant purpose.
It is through intentional acts of love that God will use them to be a blessing to others. Through their acts of love, they will know genuine purpose.
All of us who are followers of Jesus are “Created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God has prepared in advance for them to do” (Ephesians 2:10).This is one of the main reasons we are still on earth.
People who lack purpose will often find no reason to live, especially when they have experienced significant loss or pain. However, people who are loved and who are actively loving others do want to live.
As we help our friends value their fellow residents and staff through acts of love, they will find purpose and a desire to live their lives to the fullest.
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” ~ Psalm 92:12-15
We have seen, time and time again, the actual stories of residents who, even in old age and poor health, are still effectively ministering the love and Word of Jesus to their companions. What beautiful testimonies to the resiliency of the human spirit that is sustained by the grace of God! Even in our old age. ~ Bill Goodrich
