House Calls

Also know as "Doctors Luke and Laura Part Two"

 

I stayed up late last night, if you happened to glance at the time stamp on the email you might have wondered what was I thinking writing until 1:00 in the morning! But I am committed to passing on what is going on, and enlisting prayer especially for those enlisted!

 

I fell asleep, only to wake up a few hours later having ingested too much water while my thumbs were busy typing on the 2" keypad of my portable world. As I made my way back to bed in the dark, my roommate asked in a clearly awake tone, "Are you okay?" I assured her it was just the common nightly necessity for the well-watered.

 

And then she said, "I'm not."

 

I stopped motionless at the edge of her bed, "What do you mean?" She replied, "My shoulder is hurting so bad I think you might have to take me to the Emergency Room." "What!" Then she hesitated and said, "Maybe some ice will help." "Great", I'm thinking about the trek down the hall with some reservation. Probably sensing this, the next thing I heard was, "No, just pray."

 

Now that I can do.

 

But the next sounds that came out of my mouth were not prayerful. No, I confess they were far from intercession. The next sounds she heard were a string of expletives. "What, what, what?" my roommate was asking. Was this some new form of asking for a response from the heavens?   

 

Actually, on my way to intercede I had stepped on a piece of broken glass (from the first night's accidental breaking of the microwave plate). I switched on the light, blood pouring from my heel, I sat down on the edge of the bed and alerted my friend I was pulling the glass chunk from my heel. As I hobbled to the bathroom to grab a towel to stop the bleeding, I turned to her and said, "I bet you quit thinking about your shoulder."

 

As I applied pressure, she got up and said, "Maybe I will go down and get some ice." Since the light was on I watched as she walked to the door and pulled off her nightgown. I thought, "her pain has made her delirious!" "What are you doing! You can't go down the hall like that." She said, "No, I am changing into my swimsuit pullover so it doesn't look like a nightgown."

 

She stood in front of the mirror adjusting the pullover and said, "you know, I think this looks more like pajamas. I'm not sure I should go out like this."

 

"Don't worry," I assured her, "the Darth Vader mask around your face will distract them." (She wears a C-Pap for her sleep apnea). When she returned with the ice, the bleeding had stopped and I prayed, "We praise you Father for the pain. We praise You for the blood that was shed on our behalf, we praise You even now men and women are in harm's way facing much worse to fight for our freedom..." You get the picture.

 

After the amens, I said out loud to the minions that had disturbed us, "We are not fighting "for" victory, we are fighting "from" victory. If that is all you've got - bring it on!"

 

We started singing: "I love, you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You oh my soul rejoice. Take joy my King, in what You hear, may it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear." I think that covered the profanity. We also tried to remember the words to a few other ones but soon tired and gave up.

 

It was quiet, until we both burst out laughing. We laughed for the better part of an hour. Yes, it did probably hurt when she laughed (my foot was elevated and fine).

 

"A cheerful heart has a continual feast." Proverbs 15:15

 

We are fighting an unseen enemy that is trying to halt the work being done. My roommate just expressed this was the worst continuous pain she has ever experienced in her life (and those who know her, know that is saying a lot).

 

This afternoon the wives are being pampered, and the guys are going to go do physical activities. There is a special evening planned for the couples and the children are going to be away from them for the longest time tonight. With 11 children under the age of 5 that has a lot of potential tear time!

 

But there will always be laughter!