My blood pressure inexplicably soared, so my daughter, Kristine, chauffeured me to the ER. NOT the dreaded ER!
We waited over nine hours. A wasted day of frustration? No…it was destined to be a day of unexpected opportunities.
I had forgotten my prayer spoken days earlier, “How do I DO this?” “How do I TOUCH others?”
A lady in a wheelchair was sitting alone, brows together and head bowed, holding her arm. I asked if I could quietly pray for the pain. She nodded silently. I prayed.
She began to pepper the security personal with demands that she be seen. He wasn’t responsive and she threatened to blow her brains out, as she angrily wheeled outside. He just shrugged. Kristine followed her, calmed her and explained ER protocol to assuage her agitation. She spent the next hours sipping Coke in the sun!
A thin, elderly man came in by EMS, but no bed was available. He complained often and loudly that he couldn’t breathe and that he was cold. He continued yelling for a blanket. I went to him, put my fleece jacket over his arms and chest and whispered, “Jesus is giving you the breath to complain and yell. You’re doing fine.”
A lady with a foot injury tried to hobble to the restroom. Kristine immediately rescued her and wheeled her down.
Kristine recognized a physician who had treated her daughter, Kinsey, three years ago. He was across the room, beneath a mask. He was the ONE doctor who was not aware of Kinsey’s death. He was touched and broken as we shared our deep grief. He even knelt in front of us and prayed right there in the ER.
Colossians 4:5b, “…make the most of every opportunity.”
Vickie Richie
~Christ Fellowship