Lessons Learned From A Hospital Room

1. Things don’t always go according to plan (Malaria is real and can knock you down for a while.  It takes away your appetite and fever spikes to 103 degrees are normal.  Your liver, kidney, hemoglobin, and platelets can all be affected and have crucial roles in a healthy functioning body). 
2. It gives you a lot of time to spend in the word, pray, journal, and lean on God
3. The doctors and nurses in Uganda are so kind and compassionate
4. I’m thankful for the stellar healthcare in America—but why do we charge so much?
5. There is lots of time to connect with your roomie.
6. You can still be kingdom focused and mission minded in the hospital!
7. I’m a pretty good caretaker 🙂 
8. The connections to people I’ve made in Uganda are REAL and AUTHENTIC!

Don’t worry friends and family!  I wasn’t actually admitted to the hospital…but a teammate was (which is still not good).  Part of my role as a squad leader is to stay with them in the hospital.  So, while the rest of the squad has traveled on to Kenya, my teammate and I are still in Uganda.  The room “purchased” had two beds…so I got to spend a few nights experiencing the hospital life and learned a lot!  So let me expand!

1. God knows all and his plan does not always align with ours.  But, in the end, he works it out for his glory.  I said my goodbyes on the night of the 25^th with a few of the people I had met and made friends with during my ATL month.  I was ready to leave Uganda (goodbyes are so hard) and ready to spend time with SOAR for the first few days in Kenya (we haven’t really had a chance to spend time together as a leadership team…so we got permission to spend a few days to build our relationship).  I was also very excited because I was going to meet up with my friend from college (Jordan) and her husband Marcus who live in Kenya!  They helped SOAR plan some activities, and housing and have given so much time to make our trip in so good!  During my ice cream hangout with the Ugandans, I got a message saying that a teammate had malaria.  I was the squad leader who would be with another team at the same location, so I was the one who should stay back because then we could travel to our ministry site together.  Between the hospital stay and recovery time to build up strength and appetite (which is still ongoing—we hope to leave on Saturday!) I missed both the SOAR hangout and my friend (who was leaving Tuesday so she can have her baby in the USA!) and an opportunity to meet up with a child my aunt is sponsoring in Kenya. BUT, God is still good and there has been so much fruit.  With all my extra time in Uganda, I’ve had a lot of down time to continue to build relationship with my friends I’ve made here and to catch up with a few who I didn’t get to say goodbye to earlier.
2. Prayer, journal, worshiping/listening to music, reading my Bible and spending time with God became the norm for several hours each day.  It was glorious.  I didn’t want to leave my teammate (after all, I had to make sure she ate, drank, and was well taken care of) so I stayed in the room and just embraced God. 
3. Every person that entered that room, was filled with compassion.  Whether the janitor, nurse, doctor, or meal delivery… each person had a smile and asked how we were and made sure we were comfortable.
4. God is the great physician, but he can use everyday medicine and doctors to do his will.  Their methods of gathering samples of blood or administering medications didn’t always seem like the greatest methods, but they got the job done.  It made me appreciate all the technology and advancements in the USA that we often forget to acknowledge.  But, I’m thankful for the medicine they had here to relieve my teammate when she was in pain.  And for four nights…the bill was less than $1,000.  Wow…  America we need to step up our game. 
5. Relationships were deepened.  My roomie was one of the first people I met on the race when went to training camp.  So much has happened since then.  We got to catch up on life…catch up on ministries that we have participated in…and just share about the joys and hardships of life.  We were able to pray together (for her sickness…for my family) and just spend some quality time.  So good.
6. We were LIGHTS!  Every time I prayed with my teammate, I prayed that we would still be mission minded and that people would see something different about us.  GOD ANSWERED!!  One night a doctor came in and told us we should probably close the windows so that mosquitoes don’t come in.  He just kept lingering there…so we engaged in conversation.  We ended up talking with him for about an hour about God, religion, the race, our jobs back at home, etc.  What a testimony we were!  When some other doctors came in on the day that we were discharged, they gave the final results of the bloodwork.  We asked about travel to Kenya…which led to talking about the race and being missionaries.  He said that he would be praying for us.  How often do you hear a doctor say that?!  Then, when our nurse came in to say goodbye at the end…we prayed with and for her.  She was touched and said no one has ever prayed for her.  Come on…let’s really be lights!  We have the power to CHANGE lives with a few simple words!! 
7. I was known to everyone at the hospital as the caretaker.  The visitor hours didn’t apply to me.  The security people knew who I was…along with the nurses, doctors, and everyone else who entered that room.  They would often ask me first how my teammate was doing.  I was given the task from the nurse to also make sure my teammate ate and drank LOTS of water.  So I did.  I cut up food, encouraged to eat more, gave hourly reminders about drinking…. took notes of what the vitals were…kept everyone informed.  My servant heart was fulfilled.  I’ve been told several times I’d make a good nurse 🙂   
8. I made a lot of connections and they have proven authentic.  When I didn’t leave, I let my friends know.  They knew I was staying with a sick teammate.  The generosity was unfathomable.  Prayers upon prayers.  People came for a quick visit just to pray.  They messaged me daily to see how the patient was doing.  They took our laundry and washed it for us.  People from past ministries were connected as well.  They prayed and checked in.  We were loved so well.  We were offered places to stay after we learned that we had to stay in Uganda for about another week of recovery.  This is true love…

This month we (as a squad) are supposed to write down what we are thankful for each day.  Although I wasn’t the one in pain and actually in the hospital, I still found so much to be thankful for each day.  I want to encourage you to keep a gratitude journal too!!   

One day…I was reading the bulletin from my church and the following picture was printed:

We died laughing for a few minutes….the irony.  Sitting in a hospital room because of a mosquito.  But I pray that it’s the truth and that you live each day with that mindset! 

“We have no right to ask when SORROW comes, “Why did this happen to me?” unless we ask the same question for every moment of HAPPINESS that comes our way.”