May 12, 2010 – Hospital Call
Today started out well on accident. Last night pastor asked if I wanted to come to the office with him. I was really excited, especially when he told me we would only be leaving at 9 a.m. That meant I had some more time to sleep. Ya see, I have just finished up four years of college and sleep is far from a commodity.
I decided to set my alarm for 7 a.m. This would allow me to have a good amount of rest and an hour to spend time in God’s Word.
My alarm went off at 7 a.m., then again at 7:20 a.m., then again at 7:40 a.m., then again at 8 a.m. and so on; until I finally woke up at 8:53 a.m. I was really disappointed and ran off to the shower. After cleaning up a bit I ran into my bedroom and got dressed. Then I ran downstairs to meet my Pastor.
By this time it was 9:20 a.m. I was so frustrated with myself not only did I wake up late and not have time to spend in the Word, but I also was going to make my Pastor late. As I rounded the corner and flew down the stairs, all was quiet. No one was stirring. I sat down and looked at my watch. To my surprise, it was only 7:21 a.m. I figured my watch battery had died, so I looked at my phone. 7:21 a.m. flashed on the screen. “No it couldn’t be!” I looked at my ipod. 7:22 a.m. glared into my eyes from the over brightened screen.
Sure enough. I had woken up 2 hours early. This was great news! I WILL HAVE TIME WITH GOD AFTERALL!......
Now, I am going to pause for a second and take a little excursus…..
If I had to choose two things in my life that I struggle with the most it would be time management and idealism. What do I mean by this. I procrastinate and think I can accomplish nigh to impossible things, even if the track record says otherwise. I hope for the best (idealism) and plan to get the worst (procrastination). I am not going to lie, sometimes I do accomplish these goals; but more often then not, I go up in flames; never to see the goal I was reaching for.
…….Soo back to this morning.
YES! I did it! I had successfully accomplished the goal that I had never accomplished in the last four years of college (well except for a few times). I woke up early and now had time to spend with God…AWESOME! So what do you think I did for the next two hours. SPENT TIME WITH GOD?!
NO! I some how squandered away two hours doing nothing. Then I made eggs for the boys and myself, and Pastor and I left shortly after a filling breakfast of eggs and cream of wheat.
We arrived at the hospital to find Cathy in terrible pain. Her fingers and face were swollen and she had dark rings around her eyes. Several times she broke down crying, saying, “I just want to go home….I just want to go home.” Each time she cried, I almost cried. I couldn’t imagine not having family that could come see me. Ya see, Cathy is a single lady that lives on her own. The only family she has is her dog and our church, Calvary Bible Fellowship. Pastor has stuck it out with her through thick and thin. Today was no different.
After several spats with the nurse she finally got to see the doctor who told her that the phlegm in her lungs needed to be coughed up before she could take pain pills. This was not a good answer for Cathy because she her whole body ached with terrible pain. Cathy made a close to the visit with a “Thank you for coming.” And we were on our way. This was eye opening. I was disturbed by the state of Cathy’s body, but at the same time I felt this draw to love her like Christ. I felt the need to comfort her and give her hope. As moments like Cathy’s bedside, come and go, I feel the call of God to be a Shepherd more strongly in my life. This is an exhilarating and frightening thing all at the same time. Nonetheless I know God will grow me in the manner He sees fit.
Thanks for Reading,
“Shepherd In Training”
