Words of Encouragement

When I was a young teen, I was hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic for brain surgery. A friend had carved a rather
large wooden cross to accompany me, and I displayed it on my bedside table.

Staff and visitors often commented on the cross, inquiring about the faith it must represent. “I’m depending on God for everything,” I would tell them. “I know he is going to get me through this.” I’d even confided to one of the staff that I felt God had called me to be a missionary.

On the morning I was scheduled for surgery, a nurse came into my room to administer my pre-op injection. As I rolled onto my side for the shot, she said to me: “One of the other nurses said you want to be a missionary. Don’t you think that’s kind of a far-fetched dream?”

With that comment, she slapped a Band-aid on my hip and promptly left the room. Her words stung more than the injection site and I wanted to cry. But just then, I noticed the elderly lady pushing a mop in the corner of my room.

“Listen to me, honey,” she said. “Don’t you pay no mind to what that nurse just said. With that spirit of yours, you’re already a missionary.”