Heather Bellamy spoke with Sheila Jones about what God's teaching her about growing old and dying.

Sheila: Same as usual I suppose, just getting up in the morning, loving Him, praying, being available, being willing to put aside my own comfort and self-indulgence and be available to people. When other people want things, just to be available to them.

Heather: When you grow older, there can be a sense of insecurity about your own safety, well-being, or provision. How does He meet your needs in old age?

Sheila: I suppose my security is in Him. He's promised to look after me. He's made a good job of it so far. I have had the odd accident, but my security is in Him. There's a verse in the Bible that says, 'My times are in His hands' and I believe that. I believe that I have a right time to die. I just pray that I go at the right time and not be kept on and on artificially, but that I may be released to go at God's time.

Heather: You mentioned that you had a couple of accidents. In life there are many health issues. How do you handle them as a disciple? Because following God and being a disciple is not just about the easy, or good things in life, it's who we are in those health issues too and how we find Him.

Sheila: I suppose I just get on with it! I have osteoporosis, which means that I have become much smaller and my breathing isn't as good, but I thank God for all that I can do. Some of my friends, when we are talking, we often say, "We give thanks for all we can do."

There are so many things that we can't do that we used to do. I can't go skating and riding a horse and all of that, but I can walk; I can still drive my car; I can go to the shops; I can see my friends and most of all I can talk on the telephone. There are so many things we can do. It's better not to fret about the ones we can't do.

Heather: What impact does it have on you losing more friends through death as you grow older?

Sheila: I've only lost one close friend recently through death. I've lost contact with more friends because we are not able travel as we used to. That means it's lovely to have the telephone.

As for my friend who died, I have great joy in the fact that she has loved Jesus for as long as I have and the promise to her was the same as to me; those who believe in Him will never die.

Heather: There's a story behind that in terms of your discovery of what that really means. Can you tell me about it?

Sheila: I read in the Bible that one day Jesus said to His friend Martha, "Those who believe in me will never die." I thought that was very funny. I said to Him, "Lord I trust you. I believe You tell the truth and You say we don't die, but God we do die! So what did Jesus mean? Please explain it to me?" And He told me a little story, He said:

"Just imagine that you're old and ill and very frail and you're lying in your bed. You are finding it difficult to breathe and you are in quite a lot of pain. Your family have come to sit with you because it looks as though you won't have very long and you're lying there feeling quite sad and miserable and frail. Then suddenly you see me. You see Jesus coming towards you and I say, 'Hi there Sheila, come here to Me.' And you think, 'Aww, how super!' You get up and you run to Jesus. Your pain's gone; you're full of joy and the people around say, "She's gone." That's true, you have gone, but you've not died."

I found that very helpful. God is very helpful when He explains things.

He said, "When you love Jesus, when you believe in Him, you don't die. You go to a full life that you have been preparing for."

Heather: Please could you also share about the concept of heaven and preparing for it, in a similar way that you might when you're preparing for holiday?

Sheila: It struck me once that when we go on holiday, we get the brochures and we think of where we're going and what sort of place it is. Maybe we're going skiing in the Alps, or maybe we are going to Bermuda to the beaches, or Australia, or somewhere to see the family, but wherever we are going, we're getting ready. We buy the right clothes; we get the tickets; we look up suitable travel; we decide where we are going to stay; we think of how we are going to enjoy it and what we are going to do there.

Yet so many times we don't give any thought to where we are going after we die. If we love Jesus, we are going to heaven. The Bible tells us what we are going to do there; what we're going to wear and who we are going to meet. It's exciting and I could go on about it for a long time. I think it's so important to get ready, otherwise we will find ourselves on a plane and we won't know where we are going, or what we need, or anything! We are not prepared!