Tuesday 11/10/09 - "AN UNEXPECTED GIFT"

"AN UNEXPECTED GIFT"

I never know what will happen when I show up to volunteer at the hospital. Sometimes I am assigned to one of the two towers of the hospital and sometimes the other. I never know whether there will be a lot of people requesting pastoral visits or just a few. My priority is to visit those requesting pastoral care first before seeing those admitted more recently.

Today, the tower that tends to be the more difficult (in my opinion) and is generally assigned to the gentleman I shadowed when I first started, was the one I was assigned. My mentor was sick. There were a lot of requests for visits.

The very first woman I saw turned out to be a blessing, a gift to me. As I entered her room, it was dark and quiet. I softly called out her name and she beckoned me to enter. I told her who I was and why I was there. She said she would like me to visit. She apologized right away because she was feeling very sick, nauseous, and was sucking on some type of medication to relieve the nausea.

I sat down and asked her some general questions about herself. She quietly answered. After several minutes I asked if I could hold her hand, she said yes, and I took hold of her right hand with my left one. She gripped mine strongly and I placed my right hand over our clasped hands. We just sat in the silence, in the darkened room, this way, for what seemed a long time. In that silence, she suddenly said to me, "You have a gift". I was surprised and told her, "Yes, I do. I have a healing touch." I told her it was the first time I could remember someone saying that to me so spontaneously. She told me it surprised her that I took hold of her right hand. She said a year previously she had broken a finger on that right hand and when it healed had physical therapy. But there was pain that remained in that finger. When I held her hand that pain left. I had been praying in my mind as I usually do as I held her hand.

We held hands and talked a little longer. She was waiting to be taken for some type of procedure using a scope inserted down her esophagus. Near the end of the visit, we prayed. I asked her if there was anywhere else she wished me to touch and she immediately asked for a hug. I took her in my arms and as we embraced I found tears coming to my eyes. She said, "Please don't cry" and I told her they were tears of joy. She then told me she was feeling better in general. I walked out of this young woman's room (she was 36) feeling as though my feet were not touching the floor. I have felt lifted up the rest of the day.

All I can say now is, "Thank you God for this beautiful gift you have given me." It gives hope and relief, peace and calm to troubled people, people in pain. And what it does for me is indescribably wonderful. I am humbled to have been blessed in this way. I am filled with gratitude.

I share this story that it might uplift others as it lifts me up.

Prayer Girl

P.S. I did go to the gym after volunteering - first time in almost two weeks. It felt good and I'm so glad I followed through. It boosts my confidence to do what I know is good for me, to take care of myself.