The next 3 days that we were in the acute care wing of the hospital were busy and quiet days. Busy with physical therapy and resting. Lots of walking the halls and getting my husbands strength and balance back. Lots of naps from all the walking that exhausted my husband. Oh eating too. Getting back on solids again and giving his body fuel to burn. A good bye to our good nurse friend who was going off shift and then on vacation for two weeks. We didn't plan on being there when she got back. She didn't look forward to seeing us there either. Her trusted assistant and our friend was still there and made sure to visit a little bit each time he came to the room.
Looking back on our days there I wondered why I encountered the people I did. A mother that I happened to ride in the elevator with one morning spoke to me. She told me all about her daughter who had just had a pretty serious surgery. That it was really hard for her daughter right now and her as well. I let her talk. After she finished I shared that I understood how difficult things could be. She told me she knew I did because we were both with our loved ones on the same floor. I then told her our only option right now is to be strong. To dig deep and find our strength from the depths of ourselves because that is what we needed right now as well as our loved ones. She affirmed that and thanked me for saying it. It was exactly what she needed hear.
As I look back and go over my encounters and the events I realize none of it had anything to do with me personally. I was only a vessel. How things were handled, the quiet strength that others claimed they felt while in the company of myself and my husband, the encouraging words shared with strangers who were there doing the same thing I was.......it was all grace. Grace that had been prepared for me and given to me in perfect time. I had only to recognize it. Once I did, it didn't matter that I was speaking encouraging words even though I was going through my own challenges, or offering quiet strength for others to feel while I felt like I was running low because amidst those demands I had the quiet flutterings of reassurance, gentle grace and strength laid at my feet as my foundation to grow on. I just had to see it. I knew it now. I had to allow Grace to Unfold.
Showing posts with label Grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grace. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Grace Unfolding - Part Ten
Trusting Him. Having active faith. Christ already has a plan for us and knows before we do what we will need and the perfect time that we need it. Grace has been prepared for us. We just have to accept it and take the time to know it.
Day 5 in the hospital and 2nd day after the big surgery. Transfer papers from the ICU to the acute care wing in order. Patient prepared and moved to a transport bed. Our good byes to the wonderful nurses that cared for my husband in the ICU. The move up two floors and to the east wing of acute care involved literally stuffing the bed and people into the elevators and a maze of hallways and back entrances for moving patients though the hospital. Arrival to our room in the acute care unit was like a home coming. The two nurses and their assistants who had done such a big part of my husbands care for his prior surgery a few months before were there. Some coming on shift and others going off but all made it a point to stop by his newly assigned room. They were happy to see us but not under the circumstances. We had hugs all around and confirmations that the ones going off shift would be seeing my husband soon in the next days. Then it was our nurse who had become our friend and her assistant who had also become our friend left in the room with us. We visited and got caught up. I was relieved as well as my husband to know that we had these two to care for him for his first day in the acute care wing. We didn't have to tell our stories again about how my husband processed pain. They already knew and had witnessed it. They had seen my husband at his worst and helped me to process through it all. Kept me strong and bolstered my husband. We had prayed together, laughed together and cried together. We had become friends a few months before and now in their warm embrace and tender knowing care my husband was on the road to recovering again except this time it was with trusted friends. Grace had been prepared for us.
Day 5 in the hospital and 2nd day after the big surgery. Transfer papers from the ICU to the acute care wing in order. Patient prepared and moved to a transport bed. Our good byes to the wonderful nurses that cared for my husband in the ICU. The move up two floors and to the east wing of acute care involved literally stuffing the bed and people into the elevators and a maze of hallways and back entrances for moving patients though the hospital. Arrival to our room in the acute care unit was like a home coming. The two nurses and their assistants who had done such a big part of my husbands care for his prior surgery a few months before were there. Some coming on shift and others going off but all made it a point to stop by his newly assigned room. They were happy to see us but not under the circumstances. We had hugs all around and confirmations that the ones going off shift would be seeing my husband soon in the next days. Then it was our nurse who had become our friend and her assistant who had also become our friend left in the room with us. We visited and got caught up. I was relieved as well as my husband to know that we had these two to care for him for his first day in the acute care wing. We didn't have to tell our stories again about how my husband processed pain. They already knew and had witnessed it. They had seen my husband at his worst and helped me to process through it all. Kept me strong and bolstered my husband. We had prayed together, laughed together and cried together. We had become friends a few months before and now in their warm embrace and tender knowing care my husband was on the road to recovering again except this time it was with trusted friends. Grace had been prepared for us.
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