Shine.

**All names and locations in the story have been changed**

“In a favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people.”
Isaiah 49:8

The white-washed walls seemed to scream out. The blue tile seemed covered in misery. The air seemed deathly sick.

Clinging to the walls, the nursing home inhabitants seemed locked in a prison. To most, they were.

Some starred into space. Some mumbled to themselves. Some drooled. And some smiled.

There is always something special about the ones that smile.

It took me a while to get used to walking down the halls at the nursing home. The stench hits you so suddenly you think you want to puke.

It’s not old people you smell. It’s old people without control over bodily functions. I learned that quickly after having to wait for diapers to be changed before entering rooms.

At first, I held my breath and kept my head down. Luckily, now I don’t really notice. And the old, creepy-looking people hovering in their wheelchairs next to the walls are simply people.

***

There was a woman in room 100A. Mrs. Smith. Her roommate, the one I came to see, called her Mama—just because it sounded good.

Mrs. Smith didn’t speak. She had to be fed her food. Sometimes, she would yell when they changed her diaper. Her roommate said they didn’t always treat her that great.

They never treat anyone that great.

Mrs. Smith, though, even lost in her own mind always seemed to be smiling. Almost always. Despite having never spoken to her or knowing anything about her, there was one thing I did know about her.

Mrs. Smith was a Christian. There’s no doubt in my mind. And the more I thought about it, the more I noticed she seemed to act like she was at a church service.

That’s why I was happy when I came in to room 100 two weeks ago to find another woman in Mrs. Smith’s bed.

I want people to notice I am a Christian without me ever speaking to them. Just like with Mrs. Smith.

I want people to look at me and know that they know that they know that I am a Christian. That I love and believe in Jesus Christ with all my mind, body, and soul.

I’ll never know what type of life Mrs. Smith had. But I know I want people to see me like I saw her.

If God can use me as a way to reach others just me having a joyful, Christ-like glow, I would be so very, very lucky.

Somewhere in heaven right now, Mrs. Smith is singing with angels. She liked to sing. All her suffering lying in room 100 is gone.

I am so very happy for you Mrs. Smith.

Love Transcends.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." John 15:12

The busy halls had quieted down by the time she set the baby back into the incubator and made her way out of the Shands NICU.

She took the shuttle bus back to the House and smiled at me as she walked through the front door.

"Hey! How are you?" I asked.

"Tired," replied the 60-something woman as she signed back in on the Ronald McDonald House sign-in sheet.

I checked the sign-in sheet. 8:45 a.m. That's when she left for Shands. The clock now read 8:40 p.m.

For almost 12 hours that woman held her grandson on her chest--near her heart. In the 12 hours she left twice. Once to use the bathroom and then to eat lunch.

"Because I have to because I am diabetic," she added, the sad look in her eyes clearly revealing she would rather skip lunch.

Every day she does that. Sunday to Sunday. She holds that sweet little baby and prays he gets better. She loves him back to health.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she told me. "I know I'm biased, but I think he really is the cutest baby in the world."

"He's precious," I replied, smiling as the sweet grandmother pulled out a picture of him.

Then, she wearily walked into the kitchen. Dinner was cold. There wasn't much left. But she sat down and ate it. More out of exhaustion I think.

***

That's love. That's what love is. Love is holding somebody until they're all better.

We get so wrapped up in what we need to do, what we want, and what we need to do to look like the good Christian.

But that doesn’t matter. God calls us to Love. It's that easy. Or maybe that hard.

Look at how much He loves us. He send His SON to be nailed to a cross so we could have a wonderful life. That's how much God loves every single person in the world. Enough to let His son die.

If we could all just love every one we met like that grandma at the Ronald McDonald House loved on her grandson, think of the people we could help.

Sometimes it's hard. But it's always worth it.

I wish I could hold the whole world long enough for them to get all better. I wish I could hold them close enough that they could feel God's love.

I can't hold the whole world. But I can try to.

Remember

Faith and love aren't always easy. In fact, more times than not, there difficult.

It can be really sucky trying to listen to God, to be content with where he has you, and to be patient for what you desire.

It's that simple. It just sucks sometimes.

But you and I are incredibly blessed. We have wonderful things in our life. Things that give us lots of joy. Things that give us much pleasure.

I know I have struggled to settle down, wait on God, and be content with where he has me and with the wonderful blessings I have. So in case you happen to be struggling to, I hope this calms you as much as it did me.

"My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn!
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, about the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth. "

Psalms 108: 1-5

…….

"Can a woman forget her nursing child
and have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before me."

Isaiah 49:15-16


God is always there. Even you when you don't know it. Remember that.

Up on the Mountains.

The mountains are beautiful.I'm always at peace with God when I'm at the top of a mountain.

Life's easy there. It's where we are closest to God.

But we can't stay there forever. As much as I would love to live on the top of a mountain, God doesn't want me there.

"Those moments are only to serve as inspiration.... We were made in the valley and that is were we have to prove our stamina and strength," Oswald Chambers explains in his devotional book "My Utmost for His Highest."

I honestly wasn't expecting to get that much out of the Oct. 1 entry in his book, which I pulled off the self by chance.

The moments on the mountain are meant to inspire us and help us see things from God's perspective, so we can reach those who don't know Christ, Chambers says.

We think we need to be THAT close to God all the time. We think we need to live like angels. God calls us to come down from the mountain and help His people. We're humans for a reason.

Don’t get me wrong. I'm not bashing being on the mountaintops. I love them.

As Chambers goes on to explain, those times on the mountain with God are extraordinary and serve a wonderful purpose in our time with God, but it would be selfish of us to stay up there with God when there are hundreds of thousands of people down in the valley who need us.

This was an awakening for me. I get so consumed with making sure I'm close to God and completely in tune with Him, I forget the whole point--to climb back down the mountain and show others how to climb up.

What would happen if we all remembered to be rock climbers?