Thought for the Day - Saturday 14 November

Thought for the Day Saturday 14th November Jesus replied, ‘You do not realise now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ (John 13: 7) Training as a nurse I stayed in the nurses accommodation for most of the time. Along with another two, we were the only ones from our class ‘living in’. One really harsh winter we were getting fed up not being able to go out (a bit like now but not for the same reason). We decided one night to walk around the grounds, so we bundled up and ventured out. Somebody suggested going over to the field across from the hospital, where the snow was pristine. We had great fun for a while throwing snowballs at each other. When we decided to go home we headed towards the hospital lights. The problem was that we didn’t see the ditch under the snow. Needless to say we all slid into it By the time we scrambled out we were saturated and freezing. ‘Ann’ started to mutter a prayer, thinking we were ‘doomed’, she had twisted her ankle. ‘June’ told her to shut up and just start walking. Actually,I often wondered why June hung around with us. She really didn’t believe in God but Ann and I were Christian and sometimes had talks about ‘bible stuff’ as June put it. At first she would just go to her own room then after a while she stayed but ignored us. Some years later I was surprised to find out that June had eventually become a nun and was now in a nursing order. We hadn’t said anything to her, any time we spoke about God or Jesus or church, she walked away or ignored us. We did always mention her when we prayed. She told Ann later that it was our attitude and belief that God is real that made her wonder what all this ‘God stuff’ was about. Now she knows. By the way, Ann and I weren’t saints. Not by a long way! We really didn’t understand that God was using us to convince June. Prayer Lord God You do work in mysterious ways, which we can’t fathom. At that age we didn’t even think about you working through us, we just lived the best way we could. Slipping and sliding through our lives. May all our lives be an example to the Junes and Johns who watch us daily, let them see your influence and wonder. Amen