Chaplain Jeanne

my mother and sister on our vacation to Fort Myers

Visited an 86 (still driving) year old man who stopped me after an earlier visit to introduce his wife to me. They had been married for 10 years now. She used to work for the hospital as a volunteer and had enjoyed her work. She saw her husband name listed as a patient (he was not at that time) and decided to go and visit him in the hospital. He had heart surgery. They both had friends who had been trying to get them together. Both had met once when their spouse were living who now had died of Alzheimer’s. They both finally agreed to see each other and finally got married.
Met a man who said a car had hit him and here he was in the hospital. He told them not to touch him and to take him to _____ hospital. Here he was. Kind a sense of humor. He had a visitor with him.

Another man who said he was a pastor here in town was thinking about retiring, but then he did not want to. He did not know what he would do with himself. He seemed to be a very busy pastor in preaching, doing funerals, and visitation. He is regular about visiting in the nursing home. Wonderful! He said he used funerals as an opportunity to preach the Gospel message. He is a fire and brimstone type preacher, if you know what that is. The type that I was raised in with revivals and camp meetings. The type that put the fear in you. He seemed a nice enough gentleman. He shared me that he met a 7th Day Adventist who said she worshipped on Saturday. He told her that he did not care what day- if it was Saturday or Sunday. She told him it DID matter to her. I told him I felt the same way as he did. This pastor did not feel that the name on the door of your church is what got you to heaven. Good thoughts.

One precious lady shared she took millions of meds at home and gave me a list of all that was wrong with her. What a list! She prayed and prayed and God sent her a friend when she was so lonely. This friend was a believer (used to be a chaplain) and liked the way she knew the Bible so well. She shared how her two kids were taken from her and how she prayed and God allowed her (Maybe some years later) to see them again. They had been adopted into the same family. Wonderful! She really seemed to have a great belief in prayer and shared how God answered her prayers. When she needed food, He had provided time and time again. God is so good! She has been a blessing to many people, and is thought of as the little Christian when people see her around town.

A guest of a patient whom I was visiting shared how she disliked going to garage sales. Her sister would go often, and if she did not see anything she would just tell them, "Oh I was looking for a lamp" or something that she would see that they did not have at the garage sale. One time, she got caught in that. The lady took her in the house to show her a lamp. I do not know what happened after that neither did the guest who told me the story. She said she did not have any luck with Amvets. She and her husband had cleaned out the garage or attic and had a hugh pile of stuff for them to pick up. They drove by the house real slow and went on by. She thought maybe they did not want to do all the work in getting the stuff. Who knows! You hear all kinds of things in a hospital visiting patients.

Nursing Home Worship Service

Great nursing home worship service....23 of us present....spoke on "Shinning as Lights in the World"..they love to sing the old hymns. I get requests for "Beyond the Sunset" over and over. It is wonderful that they got some new mics and a screen now for worship:) The new hand held mic was so helpful today, although the wireless would not work.

Chaplain Jeanne

Met a man and his wife today who said he was a Children’s Pastor. He seemed to be looking for a job; although, he is presently working as a Children’s Director for a Methodist Church. He said he was not Methodist. He has also worked for a Church of God. He told me that they just got a new Music Director who was a Nazarene. That was interesting! I happen to know the individual when he gave me their name. He was really excited, I could tell, about working with children. He loves it! I found the visit informative.

Another man sat up in his bed and wanted to talk. He seemed very glad to hear that I
was a chaplain. He shared about himself and his salvation experience. Due to his eyesight getting bad he cannot drive any longer to attend church. He talked for a long time and I cannot even remember all he said. I had prayer for him and strangely enough he wanted to pray for me. That rarely happens to me, but not sure how to take it. Now that sounds crazy; doesn’t it?

I feel it is an honor to give spiritual pastoral care to these patients. It is also good at the nursing home when the residents share how enjoyable the sermon was or the keyboard playing. I guess all I can do is allow God to use me as He wants to when He wants to and make the most of it. If we can be a blessing to others what is any better?

Chaplain Jeanne

Patient wanted the Chaplain to hold his hand during prayer. It was odd when all of the sudden my ears hear all this jibber jabber as I prayed. I did not understand any of it and mostly tuned it out. That was a first for me on praying with someone talking in tongues.

Had a wonderful service for the elderly this past Saturday. The services have been going so well with good attendance. Preached on exalting Jesus Christ. At the end, I gave them all a crown with the words “Happy Grandparent’s Day on the crown. Normally I have been giving them a handout or outline about what the sermon is about. That way, they can review during the seek or use as a devotional. I explained how God was the one who crowned Jesus and that I wanted to crown them today with it being a special day upcoming. We sang so many songs. They love the one “Beyond the Sunset” which we sing over and over on different weeks. They do provide an old keyboard that is not the best, but it works most of the time. The hospital is supposed to be getting mics so we are heard better for those who have a hearing problem.

Chaplain Jeanne

One lady I visited had a guest who decided to share her testimony which I found interesting. She has always been a good kid not getting into trouble or doing any great sins like drinking or smoking. One day, she was around some older adults (she was at about the age 14-15) and one of the adults looked at her and asked her if she when to church. The question hit her like a ton of bricks. She did not go to church. She started feeling really funny and so odd with turmoil going on inside her and she did not know why she was feeling this way. She felt like she had done some great sin all of the sudden. The adult told her she would pick her up for church and Sunday school. She said, what was that you said?” She looked at her dad who was actually her uncle and he just looked at her. That night was her first prayer and she asked God to let them not come to pick her up to take her to church. Well, they showed up the next morning around 9 am or so. When she went into the Sunday school class the teacher said they would be learning about the life of Jesus. He was God’s Son. She said she did not know God had a son. She then reflected back on when she was in 4th grade when a nice teacher had a figurine of Jesus on the front of the class. The teacher talked about God and told her who the figure was. She thought she had heard the name of Jesus somewhere and this was where she had heard it from - that teacher. She attended the church and got saved. She said that God found her; she did not find him. She later went to do some mission work on several events. I told her that it was the Holy Spirit who has spoken to her heart and she agreed. It is amazing how God will speak to our hearts and convict of sin. He has a way that works best for each one of us.

Visited another patient who had begun having some pain and the doctor did surgery taking out his gallbladder. The gallbladder disintegrated in the doctor’s hands as he went to take it out the gangrene was noticed. He was being pumped with antibiotics as a result. He did not know anything was wrong until he had some discomfort and felt like his stomach was empty. That is not like the way my gallbladder attacks have been. I have had lots of vomiting.

One lady was not very friendly and quite short in her responses to me. I had prayer with her, after her family member wanted me to do it and she completely changed in her attitude. She said to stop in again and say more prayers. She was a Catholic and did not think a Protestant was good for her at first.

Christmas Resources » Ministry Resources for Children's Workers

Christmas Resources » Ministry Resources for Children's Workers

Chaplain Jeanne

One man said he had just got bad news; the doctor could do nothing more for his lungs. He trusts God and submits it to His will. That is fully trusting God, I must say. He expressed he did not know how long he would life- short or longer. Had prayer and gave him a scripture card.

Wow! Don’t try to visit someone in a BAD mood. This guy really was and let me know right up front. I had this happen to me twice today; not the typical patient. I was courteous and left. One patient told me she was agnostic then said atheist when I offered her a Scripture card to read.

Amazing! A lady who was a mother and grandmother shard how her daughter said she would NOT have 4 children like her sister did. She had one child and tried for one more – she got triplets. This patient had lost her husband, her house, ended up with breast cancer, and then later began having seizers. The doctor told her she would never be allowed to drive again. She had such a good attitude about it all; had prayer with her. She was only 52. Age does not always mean everything!

Another patient who was in her 40’s had surgery to move an organ over that was weird inside her. During the process the doctor accidentally clipped her intestine. He went back in again and cleaned out the leakage, and she is still sick. Yuck! Poor thing! I talked with her mother and had prayer for them both.