[MUSIC PLAYING] – I was feeling pain in my chest, a tightness, when I turned to my wife and said, “Honey, I don’t feel good.”
She said, “Let’s get ready quickly and leave for the hospital.”
As we drove, the pain intensified. We arrived at the emergency room. They took me in quickly and began to give me exams. And I spent several hours in the emergency room, till finally they told me that I needed cardiac catheterization, and that I needed to be transported to a different hospital.
And I began to think I haven’t been in a hospital since I was eight years old. What will be the experience? What can I expect from the people? What will they do to me and what will be the outcome?
Well, little did I know that when I arrived at the hospital, that I was going to discover some of the most wonderful and caring, loving people that you can find. I discovered that Lori, the Philippine woman that came here 30 years ago to be a nurse, decided that she was going to be by my side during those early hours as they began to work on me. She said, “I’ll never leave you. I’m going to be right there by you as we try to reduce the pain.”
And then Matthew. Oh, what a gift of God. As a matter of fact, that’s what his name is, a gift of God. Indeed he was to be. He looked at me in my eyes and he says, “I’m going to help you and we’re going to make this better for you.” And he did. And when he discovered that I was a pastor, he later on, as I was getting ready to go to for the procedure, he said to me, “I’m praying for you, because I want you to be back on that pulpit.”
You see, on that hospital, I discovered that these were the angels of God on Earth. Often we think that angels come with the white robes and wings. Well no, most of God’s angels on earth are ordinary people who are compassionate, loving, and respond to people’s need in the best way possible.
In that hospital, as I was feeling the pain and the discomfort, God visit me through ordinary men and women, who although were professionals, nurses and doctors, had a caring and loving spirit. I was blessed by their presence. I was blessed by the presence of God.
So I ask you today, are you an angel to others? And who are the angels that God has sent your way? May we embody that spirit and be the presence of God for those in need around us.
I just want to leave you with this. The good news is I’m well. The procedure went well. And thank God that God was with me through the process, and for all those who served me as I was getting better. God bless you.
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