Lessons Learned from a Wise Lady

Reva Lachica Moore (revawall@bellsouth. net)

An elderly lady with a good sense of humor, Ms. Glenda would have me in stitches each time she calls. She doesn’t tell jokes. She just talks about everyday life. But the way she tells it, makes me laugh, easing off stress and lifting my spirits. Often, I work so hard to the point of exhaustion, but a call from Ms. Glenda makes me stop and take a much-needed break.

Three years ago, I first met Ms. Glenda who is 86 years old when she gave a generous donation to our organization. A petite lady with an unassuming smile, Ms. Glenda is sweet with Christian virtues. She always seems upbeat, caring for others and for her husband of 58 years.

But one day, someone called with tragic news. Ms. Glenda’s husband had a heart attack and died! Stunned and upset, I couldn’t make the call to Ms. Glenda. In solitude, I prayed to God to give comfort to my dear friend.

Yet, in her grief and harried time, Ms. Glenda called to tell me about her big loss. She thought that maybe no one would let me know. In my few words, I tried to console her in her deep sorrow. Though grief-stricken, she seemed to still have a hint of quiet laughter in her voice.

Every few days we’d talk and from her voice I could tell she had been crying. “It will take a long, long time, Ms. Glenda, but things will get better.” I tried to comfort my grieving friend. Each week proved better with great promises of newness and normalcy. Then my husband and I left for the Philippines and I wondered how Ms. Glenda would cope with her sorrow. I continued to pray for her.

After we got back from our trip, I heard from Ms. Glenda right away. I asked her the same questions: “How are you getting along? Are you still crying a lot?” She said she was doing much better, and the times of crying come and go. But from her tone, she seemed a little better. Then her words of wisdom started to pour from her lips.

“Don’t ever take anything for granted,” she said. “Make everyday with your loved one count. Find time to listen, even if you have to listen a hundred times. If he asks and didn’t hear you, answer even if you have to repeat the same words over and over. Never part with a disagreement. Don’t let the sun go down with anger in your heart. Talk things over. Do not hold a grudge and so on and so on.”

And I would listen intently. And then I would ask, “So, did you do all that, Ms. Glenda?”

“Well, if I had only known that he was going to go like that, I would have been more loving and more patient.”

“But I’m sure you were. Don’t be too hard on yourself,” I interrupted.

She continued, “Often I would tell him something and he couldn’t hear and would ask me to repeat and repeat and repeat and I’d ask him, ‘Why don’t you put your hearing aid on?’ (Ms. Glenda chuckles a bit). I have said those words so many times, it seems. On some mornings he’d come back after he leaves for work and I would ask, ‘What did you come back for now?’ And he’d answer, ‘I forgot to give you a kiss, and he’d plant a kiss on my cheeks.’” Ms. Glenda speaks with emotion and chuckles some more, and I’d be laughing, too.

“Don’t feel bad, Ms. Glenda. You were a good wife and I’m sure you had more patience than most of us.”

“And you know, I was so busy on the morning he died. I was warming up food in the kitchen. I went back to the room where he sat. I saw him sitting crooked, and I started to fuss at him. ‘Why are you sitting crooked?’ Then I went back to the kitchen. I didn’t know he was having a heart attack! I should have paid more attention.” Ms. Glenda continued, crying and laughing at the same time. I knew she was not laughing in a bad way, but just comforting herself for her negligence. And I joined her in her laughter. I was very happy that my grieving friend has started to laugh again.

Last night Ms. Glenda called and we had a good hour of laughter once more. When I told her that lately I’ve lost so much sleep due to lots of work and problems, she gave me the best advice.

”Reva, go to sleep. God is awake all the time. There is no point for both of you to be awake trying to solve your problems. He can do it by Himself!”

I took Ms. Glenda’s advice and went to bed early. Then I prayed, “God, Ms. Glenda is right. No need for both of us to stay awake. You solve my problems because I am going to sleep.”

Last night I had the best sleep in a long long time. Thanks for the reminders from a wise lady.

“Brian, we love you!”

by Reva Lachica Moore, revawall@bellsouth. net

Last April while I was sitting in a mall restaurant in the Philippines, I looked outside the window and saw my new friend Brian walk past the restaurant. In his hands he held two ice cream cones. Where is Brian going? Thinking that Brian didn’t see the restaurant door, I walked outside and ran after him.
By the time I reached the door, Brian was exiting the mall. Puzzled, I went back inside the restaurant and ran toward the glass window. There, under the canopy of the walkway to the mall, I saw Brian give the ice cream cones to two children. Then Brian disappeared. I hurried back to the restaurant door to look for him. Where did he go? Back in front of the ice cream stand inside the mall, I saw Brian standing in line. Then I saw him give an ice cream cone to a little girl close by.
This was my first time to see the kindness of 24-year-old Brian, the American young man from Sacramento who went with us to the Philippines. I first met Brian three months before our trip. Upon knowing that I came from the Philippines, he expressed his wish to be a missionary in a foreign country.
That day at the mall, Brian’s sympathy toward the “rugby” children showed a genuinely compassionate soul. At first, Brian gave them money but later realized that the children were giving the collected money to a grown up who watched nearby, so he stopped giving money and gave food instead.
The “rugby” children live on the streets of big cities in the Philippines. These children aren't orphans but their families can't provide the basic necessities for them, so they turn to the streets in search of food. Glue sniffing known as "rugby," is a common addiction amongst the street children who sniff this drug to suppress their hunger pains.
In his young age, Brian had big dreams of being extremely successful and wealthy. In a short period of time, he landed a good-paying job and started accumulating expensive things. But one day, Brian gave his heart to Jesus.
Remember the Bible story in Matthew 19: 16 – 24 about the rich young man who came to Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” And Jesus told him to keep the commandments, and the young man said that he had kept the commandments from his youth, but what does he still lack? Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Brian desired to follow Jesus and did what He commanded us to do. He sold almost everything he owned, gave to the poor, and went back to having only basic necessities.
During our next trip to the mall, Brian ordered an extra large pizza, but didn’t share it with anyone. Again, I wondered why. But as we walked out of the mall, I right away understood. The “rugby” children came running to Brian as if they were waiting for him. The group pushed forward forcefully with outstretched hands. Firmly clutching the pizza box, Brian handed a slice to each child. One of the children begged Brian for an extra slice while shouting to his brother nearby, ‘Utol! Utol! May pagkaon!” (Brother! Brother! There’s food!). The brother came. He was so skinny; his ribs stuck out.
On Brian’s arrival day in Manila, he was shocked to see so many children street vendors. He couldn’t believe how they could walk safely among the slow-moving cars, tapping on the windows trying to sell their wares. Brian’s eyes showed so much pity for the poor children. Brian’s generosity also showed when he spent most of his time with the children in church and bought snacks and sporting equipments for them.
In the middle of the week, Pastor Reuben accompanied Brian back to the mall. They brought with them 30 lunch boxes for the “rugby” children. They found a place nearby and they fed them.
One day we went to the beach for a picnic. In no time, a group of children from around the area had gathered around Brian. He gave them snacks, all the while singing “Jesus loves me this I know.” He went swimming with them, offering his shoulders as a diving board. They were so happy. Their screams of joy could be heard blocks away.
After swimming, Brian and Pastor Reuben went to the nearby market to buy food for the children. Each child went home with a loaf of bread and a bag of goodies. They were quite ecstatic to have found a new friend.
On Sabbath morning on our way to church, our van passed by the street near the mall. Due to heavy traffic, our driver stopped the vehicle. From inside the van I saw the same “rugby” children we had seen a few days earlier outside the mall. They were walking outside a restaurant as if looking for food. When suddenly, they spotted Brian who sat by the van window and they ran toward our vehicle.
“Brian! Brian!” The children knocked on the glass window shouting. “Brian, we love you! Brian, we love you!” I was quite moved by their love for the young American who gave them food and love. I believe the name “BRIAN” will be in those children’s minds for a long, long time.

JILLIAN’S CHOICE

Hosea 11:8 (NIV), --How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel ?--

(By William G. Johnnson. This selection is excerpted from his 2007 Devotional Book, Jesus, A Heart Full Of Grace, p. 209. All capitals and bold letters are supplied. Some punctuations are changed to eliminate internet incompatibility)

When a massive wall of water shattered Jillian Searle-s idyllic vacation, she was forced to make a horrific choice no parent should ever have to face: which of her two young sons to save.
Jillian was near her hotel pool with her sons Lachie, 5, and Blake, 2, on the Thai resort island of Phuket when the tsunami of December 26, 2004, struck without warning. –I just heard a terrible roaring, a loud roaring sound, and I turned around and I just saw masses, masses of water coming for us,-- she later told a television reporter in Perth , Australia . –I straightway thought, How am I going to keep my two children alive?—
Realizing that she could not keep the three of them afloat, she was forced to choose which of her boys to hold on to and which one to let go. –I knew I had to let go of one of them, and I just thought I-d better let go of the one that-s the oldest,-- she said.
Amid the churning water Jillian noticed a young woman clinging to a post. She begged the woman to take care of 5-year-old Lachie. As she pried his hand from hers, he pleaded, --Don-t let go of me, Mummy.-- The raging currents wrenched them apart. She looked back at Lachie, who had not yet learned to swim, and thought that was probably the last time she would see him alive.
Meanwhile Jillian-s husband, Brad, watched the terrifying scenario play out from a hotel balcony. He tried to rush to assist, but the rising water had blocked the doors.
When the water subsided, he found Jillian and Blake, and the family began a frantic search for Lachie. –You have to find him, because I let go of him,-- Jillian told her husband. “I gave him to somebody else, and I let go of him … And there is no possible way I can live my life knowing that I took his hand off mine.—
The story had a happy ending. Two hours later the Searles found Lachie with a Thai policeman. He had survived by clinging to a hotel door.
There is Another who longs after His children with inexpressible LOVE. His heart breaks at the thought of separation – separation that not He, but we, choose.
Don-t break His heart today.

Let-s pray: Eternal Father, You know our hearts and our entire beings more than we will ever know ourselves. Oftentimes, we deceive ourselves that everything is all right in our world and we go about, as if we don't need You and Your grace. Please SHAKE us from our stupor and INTERVENE on our behalf to do whatever it takes to separate us from our SINS, from our indifference to Your call to us to become RIGHTEOUS with Your help, and from our proud, selfish attitude. Help us to be forever grateful of Your eternal Love for us that keeps HOLDING ON to us in spite of our stubbornness. Please help us to CHOOSE never to be separated from You for always. Help us to choose Your righteousness, to choose to do right and obey Your will for us, over worldly pleasures, riches, power, position, worldly recognition and anything that will separate us from You. We pray for a HUMBLE HEART and a CONTRITE SPIRIT that we may not sin against You, and so we may see clearly Your plan for us to be a blessing to others. Please change us daily, inside and out, to what You want us to be - a true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, not only in words but in deeds - TO BE MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM EACH DAY. Help us to put into daily practice Your basic TRUTH: From everyone who has been given much, mu ch will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:48, NIV). Help us to SHARE Your blessings with Your suffering children, the poor, the destitute, the precious souls not yet reached by Your gospel of grace, and our needy AUP working students, who came from desperately poor families, and with our help, will someday alleviate their hard life. We humbly ask these things in the precious name of Your Eternal Son, to whom be glory, praise and honor forever. Amen

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