Least grateful/most grateful
Friday afternoon was rolling into Friday evening and I stopped what I was working on to see I had a missed call and a text message from my best friend on my cell. "CAN YOU CALL ME?" Flashed on the screen and suggested some intensity, since she usually won't text more than a word at a time. She hates texting.
I called and found out her husband had been rushed to the hospital and that she needed a ride to meet him there. I left my work, picked her up and we were to the hospital within an hour. Her husband was very ill, so ill that the doctor decided he needed to be transported immediately to a hospital in the area that specializes in dealing with what was wrong. In an hour of being at the local hospital, he was being moved by helicopter to receive appropriate care. Those few hours of phone calls to my BFF's family and friends, prayers said out loud and in our hearts, hand holding and saying 'I love you', rushed the reality check of life's fragility to the center of my attention.
The wonderful news is that my friend's husband is now stable, and almost unbelievably - will be coming home later today. I am ultimately most grateful for this blessing.
In moments like this, what is most important comes to the surface. In the midst of dire circumstances what matters most isn't how much money you have, what honors or accomplishments you've gained, or what kind of car you drive. What matters most is that you have a friend to be there for; and that your second-hand Stratus is just what's needed to get them where they need to be.
New perspective is lovely and challenging. This moment on Friday held some clarity for some things that had been getting me down.The things or people that I find myself frustrated with - and spend too much time fussing over - probably never give those circumstances a second thought. If they don't consider them important - why do I? Why should I? This is something that needs to change in me.
However, the things and people that are important - like my BFF, her husband and my family - are my comfort and bread. In that moment I knew the precious values of this friendship. In light of this friendship, all the other circumstances are dross.
What I am least grateful is the dross that discourages and distracts, but what I'm most grateful are the dear, precious ones that know we'll answer when they send the message we most need to hear... "You are my bread, too."
Comments
Glad you could be there for your friend~