One of the things that a pastor does is visit people; that is a prime responsibility of my work as Pastor for Pastoral Care.

There are limitations, however. How do you ever get to everyone? I think the answer to that is you don’t. Here is where a member like you can be such a blessing to someone who is home bound, recovering in a hospital, or living in an adult care facility. You can multiply the number of people who are visited, that I just might not be able to reach for a while.

My wife, Teresa, used to visit an older lady who had pretty much lost her memory. Each time she visited her it was like the first time. While she was there the lady was ecstatically happy being visited. Just before she left the lady always said, “Come see me again, won’t you?” Of course, she always did. She knew she wouldn’t remember, but she also knew the joy her visit brought. Know anyone like that?

Visits can include phone calls. One of my high school classmates became a friend. I went into ministry and he went into dentistry. Some years after graduating he started coming to mind one day. After about a week of that I decided the “still small Voice” must be trying to get me to call Bud, so I finally did. He was happy to hear from me, but asked how it was that after all that time, out of the blue I called him? I told him it was the still small Voice prompting me. “I don’t think you would know,” he said, “but my Dad just passed.” Would you believe, it happened a second time—only that time it was his sister who had passed. Now, there is no way I would have ever known what was happening to Bud’s family, but God knew, and He let me know, and my call was a blessing.

Picking up from that, is there anyone you know who keeps coming to mind? Do you suppose the still small Voice of the Holy Spirit is the One prompting you to connect with them? Besides being a blessing to me by your multiplying the individuals who are visited, your contact/visit just might be the event that makes all the difference in their life.

If you’re interested in being more involved in visiting you should maybe take a look at Pioneer’s Homebound Ministry. Why sit in front of the “tube” when you could be making a real difference in the life of a lonely individual?

But as I said earlier, if the Spirit is reminding you of someone you know, it just might be that they need a contact from you. Go ahead: pick up the phone…or get in the car and go. You’ll be glad you did.