Normally, when I visit my 93-year-old friend in the nursing home, I wheel her outside onto the second-floor patio so she can get some much-needed fresh air. Sometimes I bring her a hamburger and chocolate shake—her favorites! One day, with lunch in hand, we headed to the patio exit on her floor and were surprised to find that all of the furniture had been removed, supposedly because someone had tried to jump over the edge! (There is a lot of sadness in nursing homes.) So, we took the elevator downstairs to see if we could eat on the first-floor patio.

We found a shaded spot right near the building. Patients and visitors were coming and going through the sliding glass doors. Suddenly, a lady about 65 years old came out in a wheelchair. I noticed that her right leg had been amputated about halfway. The stump of her leg was bandaged and propped on a special cushion so she wouldn’t fall out of the chair. She parked her wheelchair not too far from us, pulled her hoodie down over her face, and began crying. This heartbreaking scene went on for about 10 minutes.

For some reason, the takeout place had given me an extra bag of fries, so I went over to the sobbing lady, gently tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was okay and wanted any fries. She gladly took them. I didn’t want her to choke, so I got her a soft drink from the patio vending machine. She was so grateful! Eventually, she rolled herself back into the building. As she passed us, she said: “Thank you! God bless you!” I said, “God bless you, too!” It was such a touching moment. We were in the right place at the right time to encourage a child of God. I don’t know if she was weeping due to physical pain, her difficult circumstances, or maybe even a family issue. Whatever the problem, the Lord heard her cry!

We can be the hands and feet of Jesus as we go about our daily lives, walking closely by our Savior’s side.

Dominie Bush is a traveling piano teacher in Saint Augustine, Florida, where she lives with her husband Don. She is the pianist at McDowell Baptist Church.