Altar Call –
Opelika-Auburn News
Walter
Albritton
May 10, 2015
Another Hannah to
whom the Lord has been gracious
There is in the Bible a devout woman
named Hannah. Her story is in the Book of First Samuel. She prayed fervently
for a son. The Lord answered her prayer. Hannah and her husband Elkanah named their son
Samuel “because I asked the Lord for him.” Hannah dedicated the boy to the Lord
and Samuel grew up to serve the Lord.
There is in this Bible story a beautiful
line: “The Lord was gracious to Hannah.” When I read that phrase I think, “That
is just like God!” If I have learned anything at all about God in this journey
called life it is that God is gracious to those who call upon him for help.
In my family there is another Hannah to
whom the Lord has been gracious. Like the biblical Hannah, my granddaughter
Hannah Louise Albritton is a devout believer. As a child, she dedicated her
life to the Lord Jesus and asked for guidance that she might serve him.
During college days, Hannah decided her
calling was to become a Speech-Language Pathologist. Last Saturday to the
delight of her family, Hannah received a Master’s Degree in speech-language
pathology from the University of Montevallo. After expressing her gratitude for
the help of Jesus, her family and her friends, Hannah said, “God has blessed me
well beyond what I deserve. I am ready now to serve the Lord by doing something
I love. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for me!”
Hannah’s training included serving for
several months in a public school and a nursing home. While serving in a health
and rehabilitation facility as part of her graduate school externship, Hannah
shared these sensitive and inspiring observations:
“I have had some great patients here and have
enjoyed the experience very much. One is a sweet lady I will call Mrs. J. Now
in her eighties she has dementia and has significant word finding and
short-term recall deficits. When I ask her where we are, she says, “Oh, I know
I know it, but I just can’t think of it right now!” or “I’m just going to be
honest with you, I don’t know.”
“She
ALWAYS apologizes for not knowing something. If I’m trying to get her to name
fruits or vegetables, or if I’m trying to get her to say the word “ice” by
describing it and she can’t think of the word, she’ll say, “I’m so sorry. I
don’t know what’s wrong with me today” or “I’m so sorry. I just can’t think of
it.” I constantly tell her not to apologize and that it’s ok that she doesn’t
know. Sometimes she will even hit her head, chest or hand for not being able to
come up with the word.
“It saddens
me that she is completely aware of her deficits and cannot understand why she
has them. However, instead of being angry or sad all the time, she has a
wonderful attitude. She is always smiling, with only her bottom dentures in,
and always telling every woman she sees how pretty she is. She tells me that I
am so beautiful or pretty several times during each session. To say the least,
I love this lady.
“One day
we went to see another patient who was in the dining hall with others listening
to a man sing. The residents enjoy having this older man come often to sing old
gospel/camp meeting hymns. While sitting there, I spotted Mrs. J. She was right
up front, sitting to the left of the singer, but facing away from him towards
the rest of the residents. She was swaying back and forth to the music, singing
every word of the song.
“As I
watched her sing “Take me to Jesus,” I realized that, even though she cannot
communicate efficiently with other people, she was having no problem worshiping
her Jesus. She might not know where she is but she does know she is in the
presence of her Lord and Creator. She cannot remember what she had for
breakfast, or even that she ate breakfast, but she is able to meet the Lord in
worship and go to a place where it does not matter what you know or remember. I
sat there with tears in my eyes as I watched this precious lady worship the
Lord with a purity and sincerity that I had never witnessed before.
“I do not know why God allows people to
acquire diseases like dementia that steal a person’s memories and ability to
reason and even cause mothers to forget their own children. Perhaps the reason
is simply that we live in a fallen world. But I find it amazing and comforting
that God created us in a way that, even if we are afflicted with a terrible
disease like dementia, a few parts of our brain are still able to function,
like the portion in the right side of our brain responsible for processing
music. This is just one awesome way the Lord draws us near to Him, even in our
weakest and most debilitated state.
“It was
such a blessing to be able to witness sweet Mrs. J singing the words “take me
to Jesus” and to know that soon that will be a reality for her. I realize that
instead of being sad or feeling sorry for her, I really should envy her. More
than likely, she will meet our Savior sooner than I will and all her pain and
sorrow, sadness and tears, and worries and shame will be gone.
“My mind
may be functioning normally but perhaps to God my mind is just as impaired as
Mrs. J’s when I am not using it to communicate with Him and think on things
that please and glorify Him. I should learn from Mrs. J and use my mind, while
I still can, to think of ways to further the kingdom of the Lord and share
God’s love with others. Even though Mrs. J’s mind is fading, she is continuing
to show God’s love to others through her sweet spirit and her song of beckoning
to Jesus.”
Congratulations Hannah! The world is a better
place because there are people like you in it – people with a servant’s heart
who use their skills to serve the Lord by serving others. Your grandmother and
I are in your balcony! + + +