"What the...?"

I spent most of my day visiting members in the hospital and a few who are in hospice, one of whom was the first person I visited when I first came to Our Saviors. We have had a special relationship ever since.

I walked into the hospice care center, introduced myself to the volunteer greeter, and before I took another step I heard my friend (let's call her Helen) down the hall. As soon as I walked in, she perked up and gave me a rundown of the happenings there. Helen has been in and out of hospice numerous times this past month, and on top of her most severe symptoms, she has early signs of dementia. This just adds to her spunky, outrageous behavior. We had a decently nice visit checking in, clearing up the confusion over the "elephant sandwiches" she thought they were serving for lunch, and talking about God in the midst of her struggles.

One of my questions to her was "If God was sitting next to you today, what would you say?" Her answer: "What the **** is going on?"

A good question.

Her second one?

"How come they are feeding me elephant meat?"

In every day life and especially when facing death, we are reassured by God, friends and family, neighbors, our church, and other care givers of the hope that is eternal. This carries us through that moment in which we take our last breath. I am blessed to have been a part of that reassuring with my good friend today.

Undeniably we have many things to be thankful for, don't we?

Grace and peace--
HGJ