Bekah Says

Perspectives

Do you ever go through times where you just feel like being selfish? A visit to Patten Towers today brought my selfishness into perspective.As Jackie, Lorrie, and I went up the elevator, the fire alarm starting going off. I have never been in the elevator before when the fire alarm went off, and it was kind of an frightening experience, to say the least! We were at the M floor with the doors open when the elevator started buzzing, and the doors shutting! We pushed them back open and ran down the stairs to the lobby. Getting stuck in the elevator was not on our list for the day. As we waited for the fire department to come, we saw a man we recognized from various activities with Patten. His name is Merle. As we talked with him about going on the River Cruise (which he thoroughly enjoyed) he said, "Hey, wanna see something beautiful?" He was reaching into his wallet, and took out a picture of two little girls. "Who are they?" Lorrie asked. "They're my daughters, replied Merle, "But I can't see them. My wife and I are divorced and I don't get to see them." Tears began to form in my eyes. He started talking about them. About their personalties. What they like. And he carries them with him everywhere in his wallet. Meanwhile, the fire department had gotten there and it was safe to go upstairs again. Merle said goodbye as he headed off to go up the elevator. Oh how much more Jesus loves us than Merle loves his daughters! That put things into perspective.We boarded the elevator again. Our destination: Michael on the seventh floor. When Jackie and I were at the Zoo with Patten last Sunday, we talked with Michael for a while. He was pretty hyped up, but he calmed down after talking to us. Jackie said that we'd visit with him on Sabbath. I asked him, "What's your favorite food?" He looked at me apprehensively. "Why...?" "Because maybe we can bring it to you!" I responded. "Well...chicken teriyaki," he said matter of factly.So armed with chicken teriyaki from China Kitchen, we rang Michael's doorbell. He came to the door and looked at us. "Hi Michael!" we all chorused. The first thing he noticed was the food. "What's that?" he asked, suspiciously eying the bag Jackie was holding. "Chicken teriyaki!" A huge grin spread across his face. "I didn't think you guys were gonna come!" He kept saying it over and over. His face was beaming. He invited us in. We stepped into a large room with a dilapidated couch, a couple mattresses on the floor, and a TV. He sat down on his bed and chomped down on the egg roll. We visited a few minutes and then left for the eleventh floor to visit Sally. A few dollars spent on chicken teriyaki. A few minutes of visiting. A few hugs. That's all it took to make Michael's day--and it was so worth it to see the look on his face. Perspectives.We rang the bell on Sally's door. "Who is it?" the raspy voice croaked from inside. "It's us! We're back!" The smile on Sally's face didn't look as bright. She was in more pain than usual.At the beginning of this year, we didn't know if Sally wanted to continue Bible studies, or if she just wanted us to visit with her. Then, a few weeks ago she came out with this, "I keep waiting so long after I talk, because I'm waiting for you to preach at me again!" Well, I guess that cleared that up. We asked her if there was anything in particular she wanted to study. "Well, I keep trying to read the book of Revelations, but I don't understand it." The light bulb went off. Of course she wanted to study Revelation. Last year she mentioned to us several times that she was "reading Revelations, but I don't understand." So yesterday we had our first exciting study on the book of Revelation. I know the Holy Spirit was there to help her understand. She put her marker in her large print Bible for Revelation 2. "So I can be ready next time when you come."