~ by Jenny
It’s late on a Monday night when my husband hangs up the phone and says, “Will you go to the hospital with me? A member of the church was traveling through our area and was in a car accident. They are releasing her from the hospital, she is injured, alone, and doesn’t have anywhere to go.”
When we arrive at the hospital I ask the nurse at the desk if she could help me find Susan*. “We’re giving her a ride, but I’ve never met her before,” I explain.
The nurse looks at me strangely and then tells me that Susan is waiting in her room. We follow another nurse through a maze of curtains, automatic doors and miscellaneous hospital equipment until we are standing near a large nurse’s station. She points to a curtained area next to us and says, “She should be back in a minute.”
My husband and I stand and wait by the empty bed, wondering if each person that passes by might be the one we’re looking for. Then a woman, whose back is to us, turns from her conversation with several nurses. She has a black eye and a cut over her nose.
“Are you Susan?” my husband asks.
“Oh! Are you here to pick me up?” Her hand goes to her face, covering the painfully swollen black and purple area. “I look horrible.” She seems to be on the verge of tears.
As we talk with Susan, trying to assess her needs and situation, it is easy to see that she needs a soft, quiet, safe place to rest her head. As we drive her to a nearby hotel she tells us about the series of traumas that have happened throughout her day, the car accident was just the most recent. Our heart goes out to her and we are happy to be in the right place at the right time to help.
“After they examined me at the hospital they asked if there was anyone they could call, anyone I knew in the area. I said, ‘No, no one’. I felt so alone, I didn’t know what to do. Then I remembered who I am!”
She looks me in the eye with a bright smile, which contradicts the painful injury on her face, and says, “I told them ‘I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!’ That’s who I am!”
After she repeated her declaration of faith to the hospital chaplain, he contacted a local leader in the church, who then called my husband because we live near the hospital.
Susan isn’t the only one grateful for her membership in the LDS church. It was a blessing to my husband and I to be of help to one of our fellow saints. It gave me the same assurance that Susan felt, that I am a loved and cared for child of God. He let Susan know that no matter where she is or the difficult circumstances she encounters that He is aware of her needs. Sometimes we are asked to endure things that are difficult, but God will send comfort and support as he asks us to bear up under our trials.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
*name has been changed
I love this post. How true that we are never alone. Not only is the Spirit always with us if we’re doing what’s right, but there are always fellow saints anywhere in the world who are willing to offer us a helping hand.
-Nikki
I also love this post ~ that is one thing that I noticed when we moved….knowing who I was meant that I was able to find a whole group of people that believe what I believe.