Standing on my Soap Box

Today was a LONG day. My dad had surgery to repair a compressed neck area. The surgery was a success, and I saw him in the recovery room, and he was feeling great (read, high on medication they gave him)!  Today was also a sad day. As I sat in the surgery waiting room set aside for family members and friends of those people having surgery I watched out of the corner of my eye, as friends and family received news on their loved ones.

I watched a mother who was sitting in the waiting room with friends of her 37 year old daughter. They had just found out that the daughter, who had a brain tumor removed, was going to have an MRI done, to make sure there was no more tumor that they could safely remove. These three women laughed at great memories, and cried as they pondered the future of their daughter/friend. They supported each other.

I spoke with a man who just found out that the reason why his 30 year old son was having bad headaches was because he had a brain tumor. He and his family were in a conference room just around the corner of the waiting room. By the time evening hit, I am sure half his community was their to support him.

I also watched as an only child waited for what seemed like forever for information on her mom who had surgery for melanoma that the doctors found 2 years go. She was their alone. As we all sat in this room, we would also talk with her, supporting her as we supported those we were with. This all made me remember a blog post I did a while ago called Get Along. This post was about getting along with others.

Today brought it all back to me. You never know when something is going to happen and you need to have your friends or family around you to support one another. Support doesn’t mean that you are trying to make everybody happy. As with that mother and her daughters friends. They all cried with each other. I have no clue who they were, but I eventually went down to the gift shop to buy them a box of Kleenex as I needed to go for a walk, and this was a good excuse to go.

Don’t wait until tragedy hits. Build relationships now. One day you will need those relationships to support you. We are relational beings, and as such, we need each other. When the tough stuff comes, (and you know that it will), who will you reach out to?

Also, don’t hide the tough stuff from others thinking that you are brave and can handle it all. Your shoulders are only so wide. I put it on Facebook that dad was having surgery. I asked my friends and family for pray. I knew that I was not going to make it today without prayer. I asked them to pray for the surgeon. Golly, he was working with the spine and the spinal cord. One mistake and he could have done some major damage. When we withhold the opportunity to pray from someone we are withholding an opportunity for God to bless them for their willingness to reach out and hold someone else up in prayer.

So with all this said…tomorrow is another day, and my Dad has some recovery time ahead of him. Hold on to your special people. Cherish them, don’t hold grudges, forgive easily and LOVE.