When I think about Helen, I think of time standing too still. Who am I to say? I am not God. God is the author of time. Helen was a patient at the hospital for five years enduring Lou Gehrig’s’s disease also called ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Scierosis). A rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling the voluntary muscles. Eventually individuals with ALS lose their strength and the ability to move their arms, legs, and body. When muscles in the diaphragm and chest wall fail, individuals finally lose the ability to breathe without ventilatory support. The disease does not effect a person’s ability to see, smell, taste, hear, or recognize touch. No cure has yet been found for ALS.
I remember Helen being the first patient I would visit as a spiritual care volunteer. Have you ever met a person who impacted your life without saying a word? I have and that person was Helen. I know this wonderful woman of God impacted many other people too. Many volunteers, nurses, doctors, cleaning staff and anyone who went into her room. Helen was once a very active person, very athletic in her younger years. The hospital chaplain told me she had known Helen for many years and described her to me.
The beautiful part of Helen’s story is that her husband who was once also her jogging buddy. He visited her every day for five years. Each afternoon after his morning jog he would go to the hospital and sit by her bedside. He would read her bible verses because that is what she loved to hear. They would pray together and he would talk to her. Over the five year period of time he watched his beautiful wife gradually deteriorate before his very eyes. First her muscles weakened until she could no longer walk. Then she no longer could move her arms. Gradually, she became bed ridden and could barely move her toes. As time would go on she eventually could not talk or move anything except her eyes. That is how Helen could communicate when I met her. One blink for yes and two blinks for no. By this time in her life she was fed through a tube connected to her stomach and had intravenous because she could barley swallow.
The thing about Helen was that she was always positive. Many of the people who walked with her through those five years, witnessed her live out her strong faith in Christ. Though her body was slowly dying, her spirit was very much alive. When I met Helen the first day, I felt intimidated by her and even a little scared. I didn’t know what to say or how to react. When the Chaplain asked me to pray for Helen, I found myself a little dumb founded and tongue tied. The Chaplain introduced me to Helen. I wondered to myself, what on earth was I doing there? The Chaplain asked Helen if she would like me to pray for her and she said yes, with a blink of her eyes. I didn’t know what to pray for her. “God please heal her?” I simply prayed that Helen would feel God’s presence with her and yes that God’s healing hand would be upon her and that he would comfort her.” I was taken by surprise, finding myself feeling very uncomfortable. Hey, I told God I wanted to help people and I volunteered, so I got exactly what I asked for and much more. Through meeting Helen I was once again reminded how fragile life can be. My life was looking pretty good in comparison. I had to check myself. When you witness someone like Helen being such a good example of Christian perseverance, it makes one think about their own faith. How would I react if that were I? Then we thank God for what we have, hoping we would not suffer such a fate as ALS.
Helen was on a breathing machine to keep her alive. She could hear everything that went on around her. Within the next month she couldn’t even blink her eyes anymore. She had literally become a prisoner within herself. All bodily functions finally shut down. Helen was pronounced dead when her family decided to have the doctors take her off the life support. Helen’s body physically stopped operating. The disease that eventually took her life did not take her Spirit or her soul. Her Spirit belongs to Christ her Savior and in her faith she knew that her life here was to be a testimony of faith and love for others to witness. Helen knew that her earthly body was temporal. I believe Helen didn’t die. Only her body died. Now she is no-longer a prisoner in that body because she has been set free to live for eternity with God. We thank God for Helen’s life. Though I didn’t know her well, she was a stranger to me in reality. None the less, she was a woman of great courage and faith who touched my life with the blink of an eye. See you in Heaven Helen.
I remember Helen being the first patient I would visit as a spiritual care volunteer. Have you ever met a person who impacted your life without saying a word? I have and that person was Helen. I know this wonderful woman of God impacted many other people too. Many volunteers, nurses, doctors, cleaning staff and anyone who went into her room. Helen was once a very active person, very athletic in her younger years. The hospital chaplain told me she had known Helen for many years and described her to me.
The beautiful part of Helen’s story is that her husband who was once also her jogging buddy. He visited her every day for five years. Each afternoon after his morning jog he would go to the hospital and sit by her bedside. He would read her bible verses because that is what she loved to hear. They would pray together and he would talk to her. Over the five year period of time he watched his beautiful wife gradually deteriorate before his very eyes. First her muscles weakened until she could no longer walk. Then she no longer could move her arms. Gradually, she became bed ridden and could barely move her toes. As time would go on she eventually could not talk or move anything except her eyes. That is how Helen could communicate when I met her. One blink for yes and two blinks for no. By this time in her life she was fed through a tube connected to her stomach and had intravenous because she could barley swallow.
The thing about Helen was that she was always positive. Many of the people who walked with her through those five years, witnessed her live out her strong faith in Christ. Though her body was slowly dying, her spirit was very much alive. When I met Helen the first day, I felt intimidated by her and even a little scared. I didn’t know what to say or how to react. When the Chaplain asked me to pray for Helen, I found myself a little dumb founded and tongue tied. The Chaplain introduced me to Helen. I wondered to myself, what on earth was I doing there? The Chaplain asked Helen if she would like me to pray for her and she said yes, with a blink of her eyes. I didn’t know what to pray for her. “God please heal her?” I simply prayed that Helen would feel God’s presence with her and yes that God’s healing hand would be upon her and that he would comfort her.” I was taken by surprise, finding myself feeling very uncomfortable. Hey, I told God I wanted to help people and I volunteered, so I got exactly what I asked for and much more. Through meeting Helen I was once again reminded how fragile life can be. My life was looking pretty good in comparison. I had to check myself. When you witness someone like Helen being such a good example of Christian perseverance, it makes one think about their own faith. How would I react if that were I? Then we thank God for what we have, hoping we would not suffer such a fate as ALS.
Helen was on a breathing machine to keep her alive. She could hear everything that went on around her. Within the next month she couldn’t even blink her eyes anymore. She had literally become a prisoner within herself. All bodily functions finally shut down. Helen was pronounced dead when her family decided to have the doctors take her off the life support. Helen’s body physically stopped operating. The disease that eventually took her life did not take her Spirit or her soul. Her Spirit belongs to Christ her Savior and in her faith she knew that her life here was to be a testimony of faith and love for others to witness. Helen knew that her earthly body was temporal. I believe Helen didn’t die. Only her body died. Now she is no-longer a prisoner in that body because she has been set free to live for eternity with God. We thank God for Helen’s life. Though I didn’t know her well, she was a stranger to me in reality. None the less, she was a woman of great courage and faith who touched my life with the blink of an eye. See you in Heaven Helen.
No comments:
Post a Comment