Visitation Day

  Keith, my 12-year-old son was not feeling well today, so I gave him a day off of school. Jessica and William were able to complete their schoolwork without me looking over their shoulders, so later in the morning I was able to go with Daryl to do some hospital visitation. The hospital for the Morongo Valley is the Hi-Desert Hospital in Joshua Tree. The hospital is small but very modern and busy. We first went to see a beautiful senior lady from our church who has been battling pneumonia; although she is under sedation and not able to respond, the nurse at the desk assured us that she could hear us.  Daryl and I both talked softly to her and then we took turns praying that God would restore her health. We next visited with the elderly mother of one of our church members. The mother had fallen last night and hit her head; she spent the night in the hospital, but was released soon after we left. Before we left we all held hands and prayed.
     Frank, whose wife Gladys went to Heaven last Saturday, was next on our list of people to be visited. Frank has had a difficult time since losing his wife. He did not want to go home, so an amazing couple in the church who were great friends of Frank and Gladys through the years, had Frank's hospital bed moved into  a bedroom of their home. They are sweetly and tirelessly caring for their friend.  Frank was in church on Sunday morning, but is now battling a persistent virus--everyone is hoping he does not get pneumonia, and everyone is hoping he can attend his wife's funeral on Friday.
      We stopped for some lunch.  I had a crown come off a tooth yesterday, so I'm not eating anything sticky, chewy, hard, or crunchy--my side salad and handful of fries were good though. Our waitress had an accent, so we got into a conversation with her about where she was from, where we were from, and why were all in 29 Palms. She opened up about a hurtful situation in her life, and we tried to encourage her to not give up on God.
     People are hurting everywhere. Death of loved ones, poor health, aging loved ones--life has so many struggles. I am so happy to have learned under the teaching of so many great people, but especially Mrs. Marlene Evans.  Mrs. Evans taught me so much about how to deal with hurting people. I remember her saying, " You don't have to find just the right thing to say. Just tell people you love them, and you are praying for them."  I'm so thankful on days like this to have had such good advice. It is so easy to search and struggle to find just the right words that will make everything all better; unfortunately, there really are not any words that can make it all magically better. The best thing we can do comfort others is to let them know they are loved and to really, truly pray for them.