THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

A friend in ministry, who happened to have graduated from the Bible school where I teach, shared with a group of us that he had just visited a former professor. She was a missionary who spent about four decades in Indonesia before returning to her home country. He said, a few years ago when he went to visit her, she still lived in an assisted living apartment where she had her full independence. This time when he visited her, she was already in a nursing facility, no longer walking, but sitting on a wheelchair.

I remember her well because I had the privilege of teaching with her for several years. We sat together during faculty meeting and we also used to spend time eating dinner together. Even though she was fluent in Indonesian, but I guess, from time to time she did enjoy talking to people in her native tongue. So, we used to talk quite a bit. Being older and much wiser than I, she also shared with me her insights and advices, which I greatly appreciated.

When I heard the report of her current condition, I couldn’t help but feel sad. It is a sober reminder of how quickly time is fleeting and how temporary everything is. Strength and independence can swiftly be a thing of the past; friends and loved ones someday will only be present in the memory lane. I wish I could make time stop but I know I can’t. You see, I used to have that wish when our children were little. I used to tell them that I wish I could make time stop so they would be 3, 5, 7, forever. But, time goes on and they are now 28, 30, and 32—all married and one with three children.

And, one day it will be Santy and my turn to sit on wheelchairs, to be given a bath, to be fed, to be tucked in a blanket, and to be visited by FIBC Visitation Team: Ian, Joshua, Matthew, Clementine.

Pastor Paul