A hospital mop & a string of questions

Hospitals are horrible.  That’s what some people say.  The sterile hallways.  All the blinking lights and beeps from the machines.  It can be scary.  But today I share a hospital story that has the Lord’s light shined into it.  One Friday last month, I visited a friend whose surgery would be the next week.  Part of her preparation for surgery involved discontinuing her blood-thinner, and doing so required an early hospital check-in.  By outward appearance, you’d never know the medical turmoil this friend has endured.  She’s one whose gracious smile simply beams into every corner of the room.  Her bed was on the far side this time.  Having greeted her roommate first, I walked across toward the window to hug my friend.  We talked for a while.  We sat.  We talked more and just kept company.  Then sitting bedside for us to pray, I could hear new activity in the room.  Continuing to pray, I heard the click of a mop, like when the mop head hits the handle.  My eyes opened to a new voice that promptly said, “You know just the right words.”  I turned to acknowledge the speaker, who I then saw was a female member of the hospital’s housekeeping department.  Already I loved the fact that she felt comfortable enough to jump right into conversation.  And indeed she was just getting started, for a whole string of energetic questions ensued.  “How do you know God is real?”  “What about in the beginning?  How does the idea of Jesus go back to the very beginning of the world?”  And the list went on.  Her inquiries hit deep, they made me think, and I loved it.  I stood in awe of the Lord’s orchestration.  He had set a surgery schedule, a visitation schedule, and a cleaning schedule to all intersect that day around lunchtime.  The intricate detail of when we would each depart our separate homes and each enter the parking lot, the elevators, and even that particular room on the 7^th floor was all orchestrated by God.  The idea is evidenced in 1 John 1:7, which says, “But if we walk in the light, as he [God] is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”  As we seek the Lord and walk about this earth, He’s going to connect us in some amazing ways.  The light He shines will bring paths to intersect and send forth a fountainous fellowship of joy.  And contrary to what some say about hospitals, these moments on this Friday were quite wonderful.  Thank you, Lord.