God Sighting: Celebrating Purpose Through Serving
Always a hard worker, LaJean Moats got connected with the Volunteer Coordinator at Tabitha. Newly retired, she wanted something to do to “keep busy.” Honestly, she cannot even remember whom she spoke to when she got started, but she does remember how long! LaJean has been serving at Tabitha for 12 years!! She does so in the winter months, volunteering about 35 hours a week!
Over the summer months LaJean is employed by her son, Todd, who owns his own landscaping company. She maintains flower beds. But when that work is over, LaJean is off to Tabitha to work filling the supplies in all the buildings. She goes through the main large buildings, ensuring that the cupboards are stocked with all the necessities the nurses need to care for the residents. She even goes to the small homes on their campus. If she gets done with all that early, LaJean has no problem at all with heading to the laundry to fold the residents’ clothes. She is truly a willing and humble servant. She just wants “a job to do.”
The last 12 years have not always been easy. LaJean’s husband, Larry, passed to life-eternal in 2019. They were nearly inseparable and she cared for him until the end. But in her grieving, her need to continue to find her purpose is what healed her and still continues to drive her.
Given her tender age, occasionally LaJean has to answer some questions by the staff. “Sometimes I get asked what I am doing because they think I’m a resident who is wandering the halls.” Given that she is older than some of the residents, one can understand why they ask!
In response to the question of why she continues to work so hard, LaJean is very clear, “I just need to be kept busy.” But then she quickly adds, “Tabitha has been so good to me… I get more out of it than I ever give.”
What is clear is that she continues to find her purpose. Even more, she continues to provide purpose. “I think I give some of them (the residents) something to look forward to. They smile and wave and I check on them and visit with them.”
LaJean says she will continue to serve as long as she can. Always humble, she said of her serving, “It is really no big deal.”
Finding one’s purpose, serving and bringing purpose in life is always a big deal! And the vibrancy LaJean embodies each day is proof of this. LaJean definitely, “loves deeply, grows spiritually and shares abundantly.”
By Pastor Greg Bouvier