“Somewhere living in New York there is a Jewish woman who is the best example of ministering to others I have ever known. I’ve never met her yet she ministers to me daily. She is my model of how I should be serving others.”
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Service
When a Man Loves a Woman
“When a man loves a woman, he sacrifices.
My husband has spent the last 20 years in the military. 20 years of heart, soul, sweat, and anguish. The plan has always been that he would retire this year after his 20 years were done. Our children are heading into the teenage-years. A time when they need their Dad around.”
Read more. . .
The Drudgery of Laundry Irresistibly Overcome
“For those small moments that I breathed in the fresh smell of laundry and enjoyed the warmth that it brought to me, I thanked God for laundry.” Read more…
Two Halves Make a Whole Me- Creativity and Service
“Creating something is life-giving, freeing, exhilarating. It makes me feel alive and not just exist. It feeds something inside of me that craves expression. There have been multiple medical studies over the years about just how important it is to create and how it can cause healing and help us in other ways.” Read more…
These Halls Are Sacred
Recently I had the opportunity to go to Seattle Children’s Hospital to drop off some blankets for the children who have to stay there long term.
Because I have a child with Special Needs, I often come to this hospital but we utilize the other side of it. We are there to see specialists or have tests run. On this side of the hospital, the halls are teeming with families. If you ever need to feel better about your struggles in life, spend some time there. No matter how bad things are, someone here has it worse off than you. I’m always grateful when I go there that we have our own problems to deal with. But I am also humbled to be amongst so many brave warrior families who get up every day and walk this walk. They truly are my heroes.
On this occasion, we were in the other part of the hospital. The part where children come to stay for awhile. This side of the hospital is very different. There are no children in the hallways. They are all tucked away in rooms very sick. Here in these hallways are parents with very long faces, the cares they were experiencing written plainly on their faces for any parent who has been in their shoes to openly read.
My heart sank and then constricted as I walked these halls. We haven’t had occasion to need to use this part of the hospital since moving here two years ago. But there have been other children’s wards, other hospitals in our past. I have been that scared parent not knowing when your child will be able to come home, the one hoping that this surgery will fix things.
The men and women who work there as doctors and nurses are a special breed. Every nurse I’ve ever talked to about this, says that Pediatrics is one of the hardest places to work because every day you are having to hurt little children who often don’t understand why, as they deal with blood draws, surgeries, and being ill. You have to be able to take that in stride and know that in spite of the pain you are fighting to help them.
As we walk these halls, I realize, these halls are sacred. They were made so, by the many tears and prayers of the families who have walked these halls. By all the children who have fought battles worthy of David and Goliath and won. Or lost. Because some do lose.
Volunteer at your local children’s hospital or ward. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
*This was written the end of 2017, since then we have had the unfortunate need to use the other side of the hospital…
Watch the video here-
