My Own Memory of John

     It's interesting how life twists and turns.  I've heard life's journey compared to a giant tapestry on which the Lord is continually creating the picture of our lives. These threads of our lives met and intertwined with those of John and Betsy about a dozen or more years ago...

     We first met John and Betsy at a church we both attended.  Our three daughters were young and roughly the same age as their three daughters.  Both John and my husband, Greg, were teachers.  Our Christian Walk, teaching, and the six daughters between us gave us many things in common. At that time, John and Betsy headed up the Nursing Home Ministry.  We had never before volunteered for ministry work, but through their invitation, we joined in with John and Betsy and several others to spend certain Sunday afternoons at a local nursing home. 

     It was indeed a heartwarming experience for me to witness the heartfelt dedication John and Betsy demonstrated toward the elderly people at the nursing home.  They had to patiently and tenderly prompt the residents to attend a service that John led.  This meant rounding up the residents from their various rooms and physically walking or wheeling them to the service.  John carted his equipment back and forth from home each time he held a service.  He played his guitar, sang, and gave a bible lesson that was simple enough not to be too challenging for the seniors.  Then John would ask if anyone wanted to profess their faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.  Every time we gathered, John would ask that all important question.  And often times the same seniors would profess their faith as if it were the first time they had ever heard John's message.  But John was patient, devoted and good natured.  And those qualities made him a terrific teacher to the elderly. 

John never lost his patience with the senior residents even though some of them couldn't remember having ever seen or heard him before that day.  He would tell them again, as if for the first time, that Jesus was their Lord and Savior, and all they had to do was ask Jesus to come into their hearts in order to spend eternity with HIM in heaven.  So many times we would see tears well up in the eyes of the residents there at the nursing home.  They felt such relief and hope through John's teachings.  So many of them were close to "coming home".  Through John's message, they felt overwhelming peace.

     So this was our family's first introduction to participation in ministry.  And unfailingly, John was a wonderful example of God's love in action.  I can't think of a better example for us and our children then to be introduced to being "of use to the Lord" through John's leadership in that ministry.  I will be forever thankful for God's guidance through John's loving example.

     The tapestry of our lives continued as we eventually moved from New Jersey to North Carolina and then to Florida.  We kept scant touch with John and Betsy with just an e-mail between us here and there.  Life went on as usual.  Then one day we received an e-mail saying they were traveling to Florida in August and could we meet with them.  That reunion between the four of us never took place.  Life for John and Betsy took a "different" twist and turn when they reached Florida.  The tapestry threads coming ever so near...but never quite touching again between the four of us.  At least not until we all join John in the eternity that he spoke about so often in that nursing home those many years ago.  And John, again, being patient, devoted and of good-nature is waiting for us in a place further along in our eternity.  That last twist in the tapestry threads that leads us all home to Our Lord.
 

Eileen DeMarco
 

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