Lessons from Dr. Black

There are some people in life that just seem to have it all together, and even though you know that no one has it completely all together all the time, some people just seem to have this incredible peace and contentment and wisdom in their lives.  One of those people is Dr. Black.  Dr. Black is a chaplain at UMC.  Today, we had the privilege of having her on 5 South visiting one of our patients.  After she was done talking to him, I had to stop and talk to her.  I gave her some chocolate and she said, "You know, my mother and I have decided that we're going to have tattooed on our chests for all medical personnel to see: 'Withhold everything but chocolate!'"  Then I asked her, "Dr. Black, how do you know what to say to people?"  She smiled and said, "I don't.  We're trained to do this, but I rely on the person, my training, and the Lord.  Refocus hope.  You know, hope is 'I hope I can run this marathon,' then 'I hope I can learn to navigate this path with a wheelchair.' Then you have your hands removed and it becomes, 'I hope I can get through this.' You have to take it one day at a time."  Refocus hope.  Sometimes we so often have to refocus hope in our own lives.  But, friends, you know the truth is our hope is Him.  When we refocus hope, we refocus Him in our lives, realizing how full of hope we are because of Him.  And the awesome things about Jesus is that we will ALWAYS have hope.  Because of His love for us, He gives us everlasting hope.  Another patient told me, "There's always a silver lining to every cloud, no matter how black it is."  It is undeniable where her hope comes from.  She has her Bible sitting beside her bed, and she always speaks His truth into my life when I come in her room.  That is hope.  Do I share that hope back to her?  Am I sharing hope with those around me?  Do I let them know by the way I live and speak that there is always hope and His name is Jesus?  Refocus hope.  Good lesson, Dr. Black.