Love Coming to Life

As you know, over the course of the last few weeks, Ryan's mom's health has been in a pretty critical state, which has changed the appearance of daily life for all of us. Her hospital stays and her need for care at home have caused us to be on the go quite a lot. And that's true not just for the two of us, but for all family members.

In all this, we've experienced measures of love we hadn't anticipated receiving. I decided I wanted to write about some of them, not to flaunt anything, but to give you ideas of ways you might be able to support loved ones in their time of chaos and/or hurt. Sometimes you might want to do something to show you care, but you might not know what to do. Here are some examples of things that have meant so much to us recently.

* One day, when we were at the hospital visiting Ryan's mom, a friend of ours from church happened to text me to check on us. I mentioned we were with Nita right then, and our friend (who has a beautiful, beautiful voice) said she wanted to sing for her. I asked Nita what she wanted to hear, and without hesitating, she said, It is Well. So our friend recorded herself singing that (acapella, in her car, actually) and texted it to me. I played it for Nita, and she and Ryan and I had a little moment of church right there in the hospital room.

* One of Ryan's co-workers left a basket of snacks and a Starbucks card on his desk. That was such a helpful gift for the days when he would work all day and then we would have three hours on the road and be gone all night visiting the hospital. We lived on coffee even more than usual, and the snacks were so helpful since it was sometimes hard to find time to cook!

* Texts meant everything. Even though most people didn't know the specifics of what was happening, we would receive multiple texts throughout the day from people just asking how we were holding up - or maybe telling us they were praying. Just to know we were on people's minds and in their prayers was a huge comfort to us. Made us feel loved in our weariness.

* One of the couples in our small group opened their home to host the study when we needed to be in Indianapolis at the hospital. It was so nice to know our crew could study and pray together even if we weren't in a position to lead like usual.

* Ryan's boss and his wife put together a meal-in-a-box for us. Chili, chicken, salad, chips, hummus, avocados, cheese, cookies...we could stick it in the fridge and eat it whenever we had time to eat but not to cook. WHAT A BLESSING!

* One of YOU sent me an e-card to Starbucks. Obviously that's a pretty perfect gift, but the love I felt when I opened that email and saw words of kindness and support far surpassed the actual cups of coffee. (It also taught me to remember this idea in case I need to support someone from a distance, too!)

* One of my friends emailed a prayer to me. We appreciate all the people praying for us, because those prayers were (and are) carrying us. But it was a blessing to open an email and see the words of the prayer right there on the screen. I could read through her specific requests and that was a sweet moment for me. (I used to email prayers to people...why don't I do that anymore?)

* One of you also sent a song to me!! Thank you for recording it and messaging it to me, so I could listen to it and be encouraged by the lyrics. (If you don't have friends who are musically inclined, make some. They are great blessings!)

Like I said, this is just a sampling, but hopefully it gives you some ideas of things you can do to reach out to those who are hurting in your own circle of friends. I know I have been learning so much about how the simplest things make the biggest impact. I hope I never forget and use these ideas to share with others!