Miss Madeline

What a fun morning I had!  I was asked to do a Mary Kay makeover on a resident at Magnolia Manor, a local nursing home.  Miss Madeline was chosen to be the "cover girl" for all of the Magnolia Manors in Georgia.  Her photograph is going to be taken and put in a flier insert that will go in all the UMC church bulletins in GA.  I just am so grateful to have had this opportunity.  I think I've made a new friend.  I took a picture of her afterwards, but my picture doesn't do her justice.  She is a very pretty lady.  She's very shy, and not too fond of cameras, so I didn't have success getting her to smile for me, so I hope the other photographer will!  I will be eager to see what the flier looks like.  Maybe I can scan it in when I see it in our bulletin at church.  I enjoyed hearing her story.  Her husband was a teacher and administrator in Glynn County for more than 50 years!  Isn't that remarkable?  When her children grew up and left home, she became an elementary school secretary, and I imagine she was a marvelous one.  She told a story about how her school principle had to leave town for two weeks one time, so she basically was running things in his absence.  She was walking to school one morning, because they lived very close by, and she heard two little boys pass her and one whispered to the other, "You'd better behave, because that's the vice principal!"  She said that was a fast promotion! :)

When I was young, my Mom took us to Magnolia Manor in Americus where we visited a sweet lady named Miss Lottie Adams.  We picked her at random because we shared the same last name, and while Carrie Beth had her piano lesson with Mrs. Carswell (aka dragon lady) Mom, Abby and I would visit Miss Lottie, and while I had my torture session, I mean piano lesson with Mrs. Carswell, they would return and visit with Miss Lottie again.  I learned some important lessons from visiting her, probably the most important one of which was to never allow my respect or interest to lessen in someone simply because they are elderly.  These folks in nursing homes are just you and me in a wrinkly wrapping, and I was keenly reminded of that today during my visit with Miss Madeline.  I promised her that I would come back with Olivia and Benjamin sometime, and I truly look forward to that visit.  

You know how there are times in life when you're so aware of God's hand at work in your life?  That's how I felt about today.  This was a moment the Lord had planned out, and He decided that no obstacles were going to get in the way of His plan, and there were some obstacles presented in the last 24 hours.  But as Mike Meyers was known for saying, "Honey, it was like butta!"  It was seemless, and I praise the Lord that I was allowed to be a part of it all.