A Final Plea: Presence & Love.

Somehow, I've always been asked for advice. It doesn't help being a nurse. Suddenly, everyone assumes you know the answer to every medical related question. I'll confess at one point, I'd read every self-help book available at the library. In all honestly, I was rather determined to help people and myself in the process. They would ask and I would spout out advice. Ironically, a professional and personal heaviness developed. I realized I couldn't help or even temporary fix them. Pride covered me like a blanket, as I denied this rather large fact. I discovered with time that people simply yearn for a safe place to ask questions. My focused shifted from a desire to fix via advice to a deepened desire to be present and simply listen.

It was in the wee hours of the morning, as my pager vibrated in my scrub pocket. I left the nursing station and walked towards room 213A. I heard a soft and weak whimper behind the curtain, "nurse… nurse… nurse." I reached her beside, as her bald head glistened like a full moon. Her pale skin resembled vanilla ice cream. Her eyes were rather sunken and her bony body lacked any form of muscle mass. She reached out for my hand, as she gasped for air and whispered, "Nurse...will you just hold my hand."

I sat at the edge of her bed, as my hands softly gripped her frail hands. She stammered, "I am fifty and dying." A pause and she continued, "nurse… I know I am dying. The cancer has won. But all I want in these final hours is someone to hold my hand."

So, I sat and held her hand as I watched her lose the battle. I'll never forget her final words, "suddenly your dying and you realize nothing matters but the presence of those you love." Followed by a final plea, "tell my daughter that I love her."

And than she died…

Five minutes later, her daughter reached her mother's bedside. I recall relaying that profound plea of love for her daughter, as we both wept.

Oh, the power of presence.

Oh, the power of a single word, love.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge---that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19).

I believe that's why God calls you into his presence. He gently reminds you, "Oh my child, nothing else matters... just simply rest in my presence and know my love." His deepest desire is that you grasp how you are loved and fully accepted, as his child. Furthermore, each and everyday he offers a gift unto you, which is his presence.

Is it a gift your willing to receive today?

And than he will ask…

• Have you been present with those that you love?
• Have you taken a moment and hugged or held the hand of someone you love?
• Have you sat with a friend, without your cell phone, and been present?
• Have you kissed your child's forehead and verbalized the overwhelming love you have for him or her? 

The power of being present grants an unexplainable exchange of love. Today, it's time to receive the gift of God's powerful presence and his profound love!

From the heart of someone who desires to be present and listen,

Charlene