The lost art of being human: Visiting the sick and why it changes us forever
I remember completely in my young adult life, before kids, having more time. More time to be human and kind. I remember a friend in high school getting a kidney transplant and my twin sister and I going to hospital to visit her. I immediately knew we had done the right thing, because we were laughing so hard that her monitors were going off. The nurses were not mad at all and loved how happy the atmosphere became. To this day, I think and pray for Heather often. I long for a miracle to get a new kidney and a creative miracle.
I remember in Alaska, visiting people in the hospital that I didn’t even know as I was interning with a church up there at South Anchorage Assembly of God under Pastor Rich Smith and Pastor Clyde Selby at the time. It was standard to aim to walk in love always. I learned a lot.
I don’t know how or when it happened that “life” got in the way and my visits turned into phone calls and then texts. I know that since my Mom has passed away a couple months ago, that what is really important has surfaced again. So, purposing to be more human, to be full of love, to express the love that I really do feel inside to encourage people and for them to know “they are not alone”.
On the mission field, Tanzanians are awesome at this. They visit each other a lot and often. Sometimes inconvenient but they do it. I remember when I first came over to Tanzania and being sick and feeling so bad. I was Thankful for my teammate, Brian, who brought me to a doctor. I was also so thankful for Mama Street, another missionary, who cooked soup for me and checked in on me before I had friends. She was Christ to me, she visited me when I was sick and I will never forget that.
Sometimes it’s a visit with a small gift and other times it is help. My friends in Tanzania had their second child early at the hospital. They had no family around as both of them were not native to the country. In fact, it was Christmas Day and the husband was on the road to a wedding in the north country. So, my friend was in the hospital all alone, scared with things racing through her head. Stats being given to her and just a crazy season. I got the call and was there in 15 minutes and walked through that crazy season with them. Not because I am a super hero, but because I loved them, and it was what we do for one another.
Today I just went to visit my cousin, Tori, and we say and laughed and just shared for an hour or so. It was so nice. We need that as a human, we need each other. So thankful to loving family, friends and others who have loved me well and helped instill those habits in me. I want to be more like Him in all that I do.
Today we picked up subway sandwiches and sometimes it is nice to prepare a meal. I enjoy soup when I am sick, but others prefer other things. Let’s remember that outside of the mundane life, we live for so much more. To encourage each other in the Lord, bring love and be that love to the hurting.
I would love to challenge each other, to take up that seemingly “ancient art” of visiting and praying for one another. To pour out what is in us so that we may be filled again.
Share with me when someone visited with you, what it meant to you. Give them a shout out and share a thank you to them. Share a story of how you visited someone, and you know it impacted them in a positive way.
What are some of your favorite foods that you like to eat when you are sick? I am really wanting to learn here.
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