The Kindness of Strangers

Whenever I talk to Mary (still in Rochester, MN), one of the things she inevitably mentions is the thoughtfulness of strangers. She can’t understand why people who’ve never met her might be interested in her situation, much less offer to pray for her.

Many of you blog readers are in the group she’s marveling over, and one of you, a woman neither Mary nor I have ever met, did something truly special last week.

Prayer shawl.In the days before surgery, someone named Rachel asked (through this blog) if Mary owned a prayer shawl. Though I’d heard of prayer shawls, I had the misconception only priests or rabbis wore them, and only in a church or temple.

My second misunderstanding was that prayer shawls were all about prayers prayed while the shawl was being worn, but Rachel straightened me out: “While a prayer shawl is being made,” she wrote, “prayers are being said for the recipient.” And here was a stranger wanting to make something beautiful for Mary, with prayer in every stitch. Astonishing.

Prayer shawlsRachel said, “The shawl can be used in any way someone would use a shawl, as a wrap, as a covering when resting, or just to touch while it rests beside you.”

I called Mary, and it didn’t take 2 seconds to say “yes”. For some- one who believes wholeheartedly in the power of prayer, such a gift was of grand proportions.

As God would have it, the shawl (of Mary’s favorite color) arrived in my mailbox the day before I drove to Mayo Clinic. The evening before surgery, Mary and the rest of us went out to dinner, Mary’s last food-by-mouth for many weeks (due to her feeding tube). Over coffee and dessert she opened the box.

Prayer shawlOnce again she was stunned by the kindness of a stranger. As it turns out, Rachel has made prayer shawls for many: she became a widow shortly before I did and wrote, “My husband was a great part of this ministry. He might come home from the dog park, the grocery store, or the community center and tell me about someone who was dealing with something in their life he thought would be made easier if they had a prayer shawl.” And Rachel would get to work.

Her selfless act for stranger-Mary moved us all, challenging us to watch for strangers in our own lives who might need encouraging. We never know when that person might be a messenger from God, because with him, anything is possible.

IMG_0605Rachel closed her email with, “I’m honored for the opportunity to make this shawl for Mary.” And now she is a stranger-no-more.

“Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)

 

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Praise for grown “kids” taking time off work and driving far distances to spend time with Mary and Bervin
  2. Praise for God’s provision of co-workers in Mary’s ministry work at home, who have picked up the slack for her since February 15
  3. For relief from rumbling gas pain in her abdomen
  4. For steady weight gain, despite only relying on the feeding tube for nutrition

Not Mary!

Hotel roomMary and Bervin spent last week living in a hospital room at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Then over the weekend she graduated, making a move to a hotel across the street, walking over there on her own steam.

Throughout the week Mary pushed herself in every category. When nurses asked her to take 4 hall-walks a day, she took 6. When they asked her to get out of bed and sit in a chair a couple of times, she did it many. When she felt loopy from pain meds, she asked that they be decreased. Despite several set-backs, especially with nausea, she beat the surgeon’s prediction that she’d be in the hospital at least a week. Not Mary!

Most of us quickly seek the path of least resistance, because it’s the easiest way to go. Our natural bent is to find comfort, especially in the case of physical pain. But then there are those special people who quietly set comfort aside and take wise action instead, acknowledging that comfort and wisdom don’t always go hand-in-hand.

Fanny MayFor example, Mary loves chocolate. Good chocolate, like Fanny May. She says, “I’m familiar with each piece in the box. The curly-cues on top identify the filling inside, and I know them all.” Yet she wouldn’t dream of eating one after another. Not Mary!

Last week when several of us were in her room at Mayo’s, the Pain Management Team swept in, 3 doctors in white lab coats armed with clipboards and expertise. With knitted brows they studied the numbers on the IV and epidural screens, amazed at the low doses.

“You’re getting only minimal doses,” they said. “Would you like to increase them?” Not Mary! Her pain level was already manageable, a result of not medicating herself through the years.

How does a person get like that? Mary wasn’t always. She and I did some crazy things as teens and twenties, but the difference came in that she was quick to learn from her mistakes and their consequences, while I had to make them repeatedly to gain the same ground.

Mary often mentions dad’s example of being moderate in all things (except moderation, which was an always-thing). When she talks about him as a role model she’d like to emulate, I remind her she’s been doing it for years.

And now, with the raw discovery of pancreatic cancer and the massive surgery following it, her wise way of living has come in handy. She didn’t need high drug doses and felt stronger quicker than expected, even escaping her hospital room sooner.

In the hotelShe and Bervin will stay at the hotel near the hospital for a week or so. They’ll learn to manage her temporary feeding tube (batteries and bags of formula), making sure she’s close to professional help if needed.

May her speedy recovery continue!

“Wise choices will watch over you.” (Proverbs 2:11)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Praise for Bervin’s exceptional care, love, and closeness
  2. Praise for the abundant “milk of human kindness” from so many
  3. For Mary’s patience while her “insides” heal
  4. To get the knack of managing the feeding tube

 

 

Failing to Faint

Cancer is not for the faint of heart. When any major life-calamity hits us, we have several choices in the way we respond. We can flee, fight, or faint. Tomorrow morning (Monday) Mary’s doctor and his surgical team at Mayo Clinic will “put her under” and go through the complicated steps of something called the Whipple surgery.

SurgeryThese doctors and nurses are pros at this procedure and have done it many times.  Because Mary has been called “an excellent candidate” for it, the medical staff is confident she’ll get a new lease on life as a result.

They aren’t saying they can cure her, but they do label the surgery “curative”. My layman’s understanding is that after Mary has recuperated, she’ll feel cured. On a best-case basis, her cancer crisis will have all but disappeared, which sounds pretty good!

As with every cancer diagnosis, in the early days Mary was overwhelmed – faint of heart. But she refused to stay there. It wasn’t 24 hours before she’d pulled out her best weapons (God and his Word) and begun to fight, though what she chose to go up against wasn’t cancer but her personal enemies: fear, worry, doubt, and… faintness of heart.

Scripture reminds us in half-a-dozen places not to let ourselves grow faint, whether we’re facing surgery or any other crisis. It also gives us the how-to. Here’s one example: “Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and do not tremble or be terrified because of [your enemies]; for the Lord your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies.” (Deuteronomy 20:3-4)

The Bible’s most frequently cited instruction on this is found in Isaiah 40:31: “Those who wait on the Lord… shall walk and not faint.” More than likely this is referring to walking through life without becoming faint of heart. Instead we’re to be confident in God’s ability to keep us from it.

Mary and BervinAs Mary is wheeled away from her family toward the O.R. tomorrow morning, she may be tempted to slip toward a heart-fainting, but if she does, she told me she’s ready with a secret weapon. She’ll follow our mom’s example. When Mom was faced with a similar crisis, she hummed a favorite hymn to lift her from a near-faint:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

After that, even as Mary sleeps during surgery, she won’t grow faint.

“The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.” (Isaiah 40:28)

Mary’s prayer requests several hours before surgery:

  1. Praise for so much loving support
  2. Praise for God’s wisdom that has come through prayer
  3. Pray for Dr. Truty and his surgical team
  4. Pray that Mary will be a good example of someone who trusts Christ
  5. Pray for courage to face the unknown