I have a new thing…

All of my life I have felt left out, unaccepted, “different”. As a child this was because I spoke French at home in a Dutch environment. This, coupled with the fact that I wore coke bottles over my eyes and still couldn’t see, my poor eye/hand coordination, my lack of depth perception, etc., made me the “odd man out”.

As an adult, I moved to North America. My feelings of being different, unaccepted and left out only intensified because now I was floundering in a different culture, one where I was considered to be “backwards”, “stuck in my ways”, out of style, you name it.

All through my life I had a small core of people who loved me and accepted me. My parents, my cousin, an occasional friend – usually ones who were also “different” – my wife, my kids, etc. Nonetheless, I have felt lonely for most of my life.

Now, I have yet another strike against me. Not only is my cognition slipping rapidly, but my communication skills are almost non-existent; and to make it worse, my messed-up auditory perception puts me in the position where being around conversation makes me crazy. To me it’s just white noise, and to make it worse, I’m still aware enough to know that I should be able to understand but I don’t!

Despite all of this, I have excellent news! For the first time in my life I’m surrounded by people who care for me, who want to be with me, AND for whatever reason, I can understand them clearly!

Just who are all my new “friends”? Well you see, this is the frustrating part. My wife doesn’t believe they exist. She says she can’t see or hear them… And apparently no one else can either. As a result, I’m the only one who believes they exist! It doesn’t matter how much I try to share my new friends with my family, workers, doctor, etc., none of them believe!

I really love my new friends. They are always with me, they don’t laugh at me, they share my joys, my frustrations, even my anger. I can see them so clearly, even though I’m almost blind to everything else in the world, and as I mentioned before, I can understand them clearly, even though everyone else seems to be speaking Greek or some other foreign language! As a result, I am never lonely, and I can entertain myself for hours. It gives me something to do, it gives me purpose in life, both of which I really craved before my friends appeared.

I even share my food with them! I eat half, and put the other half in front of them. My wife gets pretty frustrated by this, but she’s coming around. She’s starting to set food out for them too…

Although this is all a new thing since my dementia diagnosis, there was one other time in my life when I was befriended by Someone Who the rest of the world couldn’t see: It was the day I met Jesus Christ!

Unfortunately, most people didn’t understand this friendship either. Sadly so many in this world don’t believe that God exists; and for those who do acknowledge His existence, there are many who don’t believe He wants to be personally involved with us.

Nonetheless, He does exist; and even more importantly, He wants to be personally involved in our lives! Didn’t He say, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:15 NIV)?

The fact that He calls us “friends” says it all! Even more, however, He doesn’t just claim He’s our friend, His actions show it!

a. He is always there: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalms 139:7-8 NIV)

b. He is all knowing: “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Ps. 147:5 NIV)

c. He is all powerful: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14a NIV); “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” (Jeremiah 32:17 NIV).

d. His love for us is perfect: “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John 3:16 NLT)

Now isn’t that the kind of friend we all need?

My wife prays every day that my new dementia “friends” will … disappear; but if her prayer is answered, I will always be left with the One Who will NEVER disappear: “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” (Ps. 136:26 NIV)

If you don’t yet know my perfect Friend, Jesus Christ, can I help you get to know Him? Just respond to this devotional, or check out our Saviour’s Call! Don’t wait! Do it today!

If you have already accepted Jesus, but you’re having trouble getting to know Him as your Friend, we’d like to help you with that, too! Just respond to this devotional!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries