As I walked through the corridor of Churchfield Park Care home, I heard someone shout me with excitement. When I turned around I saw it was Shirley, one of the residents I met on my second visit to the home but had not seen since then. I was surprised that she even remembered me. We spoke about our weekend and what we had been up to lately. She was so warm and lovely. A thought came to to my mind "When you show kindess to someone and give them the time others don't vie them, they will rememeber you". I learned some new things about Shirely. She spent all of her adulthood caring for her father and her disabled brother. She never married nor had children. I could not comprehend the loneliness she must have felt, all those years alone and even now. Never having someone of her one, never having a soul mate, a partner. All of her life was spent serving her family. She was selfless and deprived herself of her own happiness to make her family happy.
After speaking with Shirley I spoke to another lady called Bridgette. I had never seen her before so I assumed she was new. She told me she had been there a week but was going home on Saturday. She was put in the home to have a rest and be cared for. Her son recommended it. She lives alone and admitted at times she struggles but enjoys having her independance and her own space. Bridgette is originally from Ireland. She moved to London to train as a nurse. Whilst on her training course, she attended church. She told me that for them to attend church on sunday mornings, it meant that they could not have breakfast. The matron was against them going to church so out of spite didn't not allow those who went to church to have breakfast. Breakfast was during the time of the service. Bridgette did not care though. She said she would rather go without breakfast than miss church!
She faced many prejudices in life, due to her faith. But her love of serving God and others out shone everything. She told me how she loved to go and clean the church, prepare things for the service, serve coffee and whatever needed doing. As she was a single women, she wanted to dedicated her time serving others. This reminded me of a verse in the Bible thats says "He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord" - 1 Corinthians 7:32.
She later married a Geordie man (as she put it) and then again she faced a lot of prejudice. People did not understand why he had married an Irish woman when he was from Norththumberland (near Newcastle). When she talked about her marriage, she said, "the amount of time I spent with him was nothing compared to the amount of time I have been without him". He died 35 years ago and she never re-married since. She did not want to as he was the love of her life. So after his death she went back to her first love, helping out in her local church. Now she is retirement and is somewhat immobile and spends all her time at hime. She has a son who is close by and who she attends church with. She is not able to go and help as much as she would like due to not being able to walk properly, but she does what she can.
After I spoke with Elouise. I noticed something different about Elouise. Remember I previously wrote in another article that the first time I spoke with Elouise, I noticed her communication skills and her speech were quite and as a result of a stroke she suffered 10 years ago? Things don't register in her brain very well and it takes time for her to respond back? Well, she was communicating well with me today. Everything I said she replied back, so much faster than usual and I understood everything she said. I have been praying for Elouise and I have seen changes since I prayed for her. I was so amazed, I couldn't believe I was speaking to the same person I met a month ago. More is still yet to come and I cannot wait to witness her complete healing and to share it with you all.
I learned alot about having a spirit of servitude today. And it made me think how I have been serving others. How has my time been spent and how my attitude towards life and people has been. I am really grateful to have the opporunity to elarn from tese wise women and I look forward to may more experiences with them.
Proverbs 23:22 "Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old."
Sibon Phiri
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