My watch rang and Jess was calling.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

My watch rang and Jess was calling. 

Yes, I have a Dick Tracy watch. For those of you too young to remember Dick Tracy; Dick Tracy was a cartoon when I was a kid about a million years ago. He had really cool hi-tech gadgets and one of them was a wrist-watch phone (which by the way, was later parodied in the sitcom Get Smart where Don Adams (Maxwell Smart) had a shoe phone. 

Anyway, my watch rang and Jess was calling. 

The Kids went to Leavenworth, Washington this past weekend, leaving Laurie and I with the grandkids and Ruby, their Husky.

Laurie picked up the kids after school and when I got home the party and pranks started. They played an April fools joke on me right away, Laurie pretended to have forgotten to pick up the kids and they hid, jumping out to scare me, oh my. We then had dinner, made a fire in the fire pit, and roasted smores and blew bubbles. We finished the evening reading C.S Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe until they fell asleep. Laurie and I talked how we were going to wear the kids out the next day with our adventures. 

We got up early the next day because we had big plans. We had breakfast, got into our adventure clothes and jumped into the car. The kids had no idea where we were going, but when we got there they were sure excited. We went to Hood River, and to a climbing club. the climbing club was located in an old church. Laurie's grandfather had pastored that church in the late 1920's and early 30's. We went in had a blast. The kids climbed and bouldered for 3-hours. Laurie and the kids slept on the way home as I drove along. When we got home we started another fire, ate dinner and had smores. Everyone had a great time and all were really tired. Laurie started a bath for the kids and I sat down on the couch, trying not to fall asleep.

That was when my watch rang.  

I got up and grabbed my cell phone, (I don't like talking to my watch, it's just weird) said, "Hello." Jess told me that Muriel was in the ICU and to call her daughter Sandi, so I did. Sandi told me that they were going to take her mom off life-support (I didn't know she was even in the hospital) and could I come down now? 

I looked at Laurie (who had come into the living room) and she mouthed, "Can you even drive right now?" I was really tired. 

I paused for a moment, contemplating not going, and that is when God reminded me of our You can scream, cry, and yell, but you can't hit the chaplain daily bread.  You  know the one where I said, "Do you have anyone in your life that you can be an instrument of God's love?" And I said I will be there in about an hour (She was OHSU and I was in Washington).

I wasn't in "chaplain attire" but I didn't have time to change. 

As I drove to the hospital I said a prayer, actually I was just talking to God. I said, "Please give me the right words to say, please give the right actions and if you would please, keep me out of the ditch."

When I got to Muriel's room and met with Sandi, and her son, they were in distress, as anyone would be, and quite at a loss as to what to do. I talked to Muriel (She couldn't talk but her eyes opened a bit), I prayed over her. After I had finished, the nurse and the doctor came in and turned off the life support. I talked with Sandi about how the last thing to go is the hearing so she should continue to talk with her mom. 

We talked about Muriel, told some stories, had a few laughs, and yes, shed some tears and hugs. 

I stayed with the family until after 11pm and then drove home. God was good to me, He gave me the words to say, the actions to perform, and yes, He kept me out of the ditch.

Muriel is in heaven now. 

I am glad that I didn't just say that I was too tired to go. I am glad that my myopic self-centeredness didn't get the best of me. I am glad that God was able to use me to bring comfort to a family in distress. 

Most of all I am glad that I got one last conversation in with my friend Muriel. 

I will continue to be in relationship with Sandi and her son. I will do my best to walk with them through their grief, their loss. 

Enjoy those around you, because you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Blessings,

Roger