at beside with Hannah, part II

I went back to visit Hannah again this afternoon, still perturbed by the fact that I could feel sweat rolling down my back and it was a third of the way into November. I keep waiting for Fall to stop being so spineless and stand its ground. Summer's had its day and is now acting like those people in your life who utter protracted, aimless monologues at you, like they're trying to make up for lost time when they were a child.

I digress.

Hannah was her jovial self, but not in an over-the-top, "you are from another planet" way. She's just optimistic and, to be honest, it was rather refreshing to hear someone whose outlook wasn't so bleak.

She's been there almost two weeks now and will likely go home Friday.

But I write not to tell you of minutiae but to continue the story that continues to unfold for her...and I think also for yours and my benefit, courtesy of our Maker.

Last night, a number of nurses were visiting her to check on her progress. When the small contingent had finished their review, one stayed back, and waited for the rest to depart. Hannah had never had a conversation with this young nurse before, but without hesitation, the young woman came right out and asked Hannah if she would help her understand Scripture. She owned a KJV but with her family back on another continent, she had no one here with whom she could share her desire to understand Scripture's overall message.

Hannah, wide eyed at the fact that she'd never spoken with this woman before, began a simple explanation of the Gospel. In time, the nurse seemed to grasp Hannah's unvarnished, extemporaneous retelling of the grace of God.

Hannah, as you may remember from the last post, had prayed for another nurse's pregnancy in recent days, but somehow knowledge of Hannah's knowledge of Scripture had found its way to this other nurse. And now this second nurse, desirous to get beneath the surface of the Biblical text, sought her out--this octogenarian undergoing some pretty grueling physical therapy each day.

Hannah's exasperation early into her hospital stay stemmed from the sense that she was of no purpose in present circumstances. Praying for the pregnant nurse began to chip away at that notion; this second encounter put it to rest.

It's what she said in passing that stays with me: the joy in being available to the Father for His purposes made her pain bearable. She hadn't sought the pain; she wasn't relishing the pain; but the engagement in representing Him in whatever way she was able did something to the pain. I doubt it acted like some sort of analgesic, but it did make its size and significance begin to shrink.

Hannah is what you call "abiding" in Him. It's no opiate, but it is the way to being included in His work, which has the interesting capacity to make whatever suffering therein mysteriously more, as she said, bearable.

thus endeth her lesson today....