Sheila Evans: ‘God was opening doors’

Published 5:16 pm Saturday, December 3, 2022

When Sheila Evans got the call from Calcasieu Council on Aging to schedule a job interview, she had to ask, “Which job?” She had applied over a month ago, and the assistant coordinator position wasn’t the only one she had applied for.

“A few months into it, my husband told me that he believed God had sent me to that place.” Her response was, “Well I didn’t get the memo.”

“I had always enjoyed being around older citizens,” she said. (Evans never uses the word, only older.)  She was in her 50s when she got the job. It was challenging, fast paced. Eight months later, she knew her husband was right.

Dustin Granger, a volunteer who hosts bingos and luncheons at the center, was awed by Evans, a woman who treated others like family.

“The people there love her so much,” he said. “She was not just a friend, but like a part of the family, and though it sounds strange to say because she was younger than some of the seniors at the center, she was like a mother to some, to others a sister or a daughter. She gave them her all every day.”

“Sometimes you are in a position and you don’t know why,” Evans said. “I was in my 50s and finally learning my purpose. God was opening doors. Seniors felt comfortable talking to me, telling me about their problems.”

Often, she didn’t know how to respond. So, she talked to God about it. She asked Him for the words to say to each person. She prayed for them.

“When you take on someone else’s burden, it helps you with your own,” she said. “Some of them were mad at the world. Often because they had lost a spouse.”

In 2014, she lost her spouse and was able to share the experience with them. She also started a grief share group that meets once a month on Monday.

“It wasn’t just another interview,” she said about the call she received over 10 years ago from the Calcasieu Council on Aging. “I had wanted to do so many things with my life. I longed to see my dreams come true, but so many of those times I didn’t go to God with those hopes and dreams. This time I did. He had the perfect plan for me and now that assignment is over. His timing is always right. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).”

Today, she is retired from her job, but continues to volunteer at the Senior Center. Her latest challenge is downsizing as she gets ready to make a move after living in the same home for 27 years, a chore made even more difficult by her love of crafting and abundance of supplies.