After the meeting at Maple Crest on the first Sunday of October, a lovely lady, in a quiet voice, said she’d like to buy a songbook. She went with the activities assistant to get the money from her room and returned with 36 quarters, wrapped in a napkin, and a plea to be able to send the missing dollar to me. I told her that $9 was perfectly okay. When I got home, it hit me that the $9 was very possibly her last money and I knew what I had to do.

On Monday, I wrapped the 36 quarters up in a plastic bag, added 4 more and headed off to the nursing home. I didn’t even know if she would remember me, but her expression told me immediately that she did. I knelt down beside her and gave her the little bag of quarters. She did not want to take it and resisted in her very frail manner, but I assured her that I wanted to give her the book as a gift.

She tole me that she LOVES the book and that she had been reading the words and knows some of the songs. I knew I had to speak with her about eternity. I asked if she knew where she would spend eternity if she died. She did not. I spent some time with her, kneeling besider her with people milling all about, telling the story of salvation. I prayed and then asked her to pray. She prayed to ask Jesus to be her Savior! I went to see her later that week. As I was leaving, I said, "I'm glad you accepted Jesus as your Savior." She put her hand on mine and said sincerely, "I am, too."