Sitting with Elaine

It’s been a long, hard week. If you’re Facebook friends with Dayle you might already know that our beloved big sister had a fall last Saturday, fracturing her hip and putting a 5-stitch gash in her head. Her road to recovery hasn’t been without challenges, but she is making progress, and we are grateful. As of today, she remains in the hospital. We’ve taken shifts, staying with her. Not because we don’t have anything else to do, or anywhere else to be—I have a full-time job—but because every hospital patient needs an advocate onsite, and Elaine isn’t just another patient; she’s my sister, and I love her.

Anybody can say “I love you,” of course, but love is a verb, and when life takes an unexpected turn, it can require action... and sacrifice... and time. You don't have to move mountains or part the Red Sea. In many cases, all you have to do is be there. As Mother Teresa once said: “If you have a sick or lonely person at home, be there. Maybe just to hold a hand, maybe just to give a smile. That is the greatest, the most beautiful work.” Indeed, indeed. And what a privilege it's been to do some of that “beautiful work” this week, serving Elaine and sacrificing Gayle.

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," John 13:35.