Edna and Grace

Several ladies were sitting in the lobby of the seniors' home, when my friend Sherry and I entered. They sat quietly staring into space. A couple looked our way, so we introduced ourselves, and that's how we met Edna and Grace.

Grace had a gentle face with a sweet smile. She sat placidly, her gnarled hands loosely folded in her lap. Her face had many deep lines. When I asked her, she told me she loved Jesus very much and had loved Him for years. She was now 94.

Her blind eyes teared up as she spoke of the recent hurricane and loss of lives. I hugged her and asked if she were eager for the coming of the Lord. She replied, "Oh, yes." She felt He would be coming very soon.

I turned to Edna in the chair next to her. She had been sitting bolt upright, listening to us without a word. "Are you looking forward to the return of the Lord?" I asked innocently.

Suddenly she stood to her feet and with her face six inches from mine she declared, "The longer He takes the better. He'd better take a few hundred more years!"

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Sherry's raised eyebrows. It was obvious to both of us that this was not our new friend Edna who was speaking. I looked into her eyes and quietly but firmly said, "Well, in the name of Jesus I am telling you, He is coming soon."

She pushed past me, walked in a big circle around the room and finally stopped and stood at the doorway watching us. I prayed silently that God would set her free to be happy and blessed like Grace.

Meanwhile Grace sat peacefully smiling in her chair. I turned back to her and asked, "Grace, do you miss reading now that you are blind?" She said, "Yes, I miss the newspaper and my Bible."

I offered to read to her from the book of Ephesians, which she liked because she had once visited Ephesus. The first verses contained her name. "Grace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

I want to tell the boys how important it is that, while they are young, they obey Jesus immediately and never allow thoughts of fears or anger to control them. We all can decide where our thoughts will wander, and which attitudes we will harbor.

If we don't, we run the risk of a toxic build-up in our minds, which will most assuredly come flowing out of us in the future when we are old and vulnerable.

Childlike trust in God's character and the Bible's over 7000 promises can erect a fortress of peace that will "stand guard over our mind in Christ Jesus." Even when we grow old, we will win the battle for our minds.