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the Friday before I rededicated my heart to the Lord, I received an unexpected gift that shocked my system.
a poem from my patient the poet to my Outlook email, out of the blue, after hours.
I read it, and read it again, and again, each time stuck on its last line, a question:

“How could a rich person love God?”

she was in pain, physically, and our team knew very well how she may be in pain otherwise—this piece revealed a weight I gladly received in reading her words, sent out of trust to be tucked away in the corners of an email box, asking for feedback on its quality as a reader.

“How could a rich person love God?”

I felt an answer in my heart, but knowing how and when and through what appropriate avenue to respond has been a journey the Lord has been carrying me through.
we carry the burdens of the patients we serve with patience, surrendered to the reality that we’ll never know how they will respond to our efforts.
some kick and scream from the pain they’re in, some when they don’t get what they want (in a way); an entitlement she has boasted to carry numerous times citing our capacity for courtesy. our response is compassion when at all possible, and grace at all times.

the ordinary act of opening an email to find something so profound to later be able to continue to minister to her in our going as a team…
she could not have known how the entirety of the poem she sent me spoke to me, and truly was a gift when sending it over that night as a surprise.

though the pain she experiences was loud and brightly apparent in her words, brighter still is the Light of the World and our capacity to show up for others in response with hearts to serve filled with joy to increase their capacity for the trials they’re facing—

from valley low to mountain high, may all their strength lie in Him alone with enough room to breathe in His peace.

call & response

02.26.26