Just A Little Good News

Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart,

and good news gives health to the bones.

Proverbs 15:30

My husband and I took our two boys to visit Grandpa (my father-in-law) who lives in a Christian-based assisted living center.

While we were there, the weather service issued a tornado warning. That meant everyone had to go to the basement for safety. This is no easy task with residents who don't hear well or move too quickly.

Grandpa has mild dementia, but he can move pretty fast! So we were among the first to arrive in the very warm and stuffy basement.

The staff stayed busy helping residents out of their rooms. So we were the only non-residents in the basement for much of the time. And the crowd grew restless.

I can't blame them. Many of them had been listening to the weather alerts for hours.

So there we waited with no news, no staff and nothing to do. Did I mention it was hot and crowded down there? That didn't do much for the mood either.

Although it didn't seem to bother Grandpa, he turned to me and asked:  Why do you suppose all these people have gathered down here?

I smiled. I wanted to tell him we had all gathered for a big party. I didn't, but it did give me an idea. While this gathering was far from a party, surely we could do something to make it more fun.

So we began to walk up and down the hall talking to residents. My husband watched the radar on his iPhone, and I gave them updated weather reports. A friendly face and a little good news went a long way to make the evening more bearable.

We knew these residents heard the Good News of Christ regularly. So we concentrated on giving them a little good news for the moment.

Who needs you to bring them good news? What will you tell them?

Stacy