Come, Walk With Me

Working as a nurse is my joy! Come, walk with me along the corridors of my hospital into the rooms of my patients. Everywhere are windows of opportunities I want to show you.

We’re standing at the door of the Cardiac Thoracic Telemetry Unit, where patients from one month old to 90 years young come. They might be here for one day or five. They might be poor, rich, educated, or illiterate. Most are anxious and scared. Some are thankful. Some are rude. Each one is an opportunity from God.

I pray always to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that my care for each person is genuine. I’ve learned that anything I do and say is meaningful only if it’s done within a safe relationship. I want them to know they can trust me, that I want the best for them. I may see them for only a few hours, maybe a few days. But in that short time, I pray for God to show me how to build that trust. When He has helped me do that, He can do even more:

A battered wife confides in me. I listen and understand. When her loved one dies, she calls me. I share a song of hope by an Adventist singing group. I pray she will listen to it over and over! God knows she will need hope in the future.

The baby is fussy, restless. I show Mom where she can find “Jesus Loves Me” on her phone. The baby quiets and falls asleep. I know of other little ones whose moms play “Jesus Loves Me” months after their stay in the hospital.

A patient is anxious about surgery. He doesn’t speak English well. I find Luke 8 from my English-Arabic Bible and copy and send the Arabic verses to his phone. He likes the story of Jesus healing the woman who’d been bleeding for 12 years. He tells his friends that I am praying for him. He keeps in touch. He just sent me pictures of his young family.

A mother is weeping as her baby is taken into surgery. I flip through my photos and show her a painting of Jesus in surgery with the doctors. She dries her tears. When she hears the baby’s surgery was successful, she exclaims, “Jesus was in there with them!”

I am willing to be used by the Lord, and He does it! He is the One who prepares the hearts. It’s amazing to see how open people are for whatever I have to share with them! I’m reminded over and over again that these are people just like me. They have needs just like I do. How I long for them to meet Jesus!