Waiting Room Stories

There are too many stories to try to tell them all here, and there were thousands more before we came and will be many more after we leave.  One night a black family came in and seemed to be in great turmoil. Of course they had a family member who had been burned, but what seemed to be troubling the grandmother more than anything was some kind of strife within the family. Some of them were out in the hall talking loudly. Another family member, we thought was a son-in-law tried to talk to her about just letting go of the family trouble and concentrating on the person who was injured. Jeep noticed their need and quietly went to them, told them he was a Christian Minister and asked them if they would like for him to pray with them. By that time, most everyone else had left the tiny waiting room, and there Jeep knelt and prayed with them. The old grandmother seemed to feel much better afterwards and I don’t know about her, but I was very touched by this spontaneous act of Christian love.

We see many of the family members who wait here witness to their faith in God, as one Hispanic woman whose child had been run over by an SUV. Evidently, she was the only member of her family who could speak English. Her mother, husband and children only spoke Spanish. She was very upset and when the time was just right, Jeep offered to pray with her. It is in tender and compassionate moments like that, I am reminded just how blessed I am to be married to this man!

A retired man about age 70 was burned as he was working to restore an old tractor. This was his hobby and he had restored many antique tractors before, but something went wrong this time and he was badly burned. He died before we left Georgia to come home. His wife was a very pleasant person and my heart aches for her.

During the time we were in Georgia we celebrated, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Joe’s 48^th birthday, and the 3^rd anniversary of our wedding. We missed the Memorial at North Union Cemetery, where most of our relatives are buried. The Memorial is a time for family reunions and we always look forward to it. We also missed Jesse’s high school graduation, and all of the activities associated with it.