When You Work for the Church

When I wrote Make Haste to Help Us, O God, my husband had been in the hospital for almost two weeks, and due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, I had been allowed to see him in person just once. The restrictions added another layer of stress to an already stressful situation, yet we wanted to do whatever we could for the health and safety of patients, medical personnel, and all concerned.

But how do you care for a loved one in the hospital when you can’t be there? How do you care for yourself in a personal medical crisis in the midst of a pandemic? By sharing our experience, I hoped to encourage others dealing with health issues and hospitalizations during this time.

Readers responded with words of blessing and prayers for strength and healing. One reader asked for permission to reprint my blog post in her church newsletter. A pastor wrote my prayer in a spare page in her Bible. An editor for Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology asked to include my piece in an upcoming issue.

I’m grateful for the way our experience is being shared to encourage others, and a re-edited version of my blog post is now available in the current issue of Vision on “Health, Healing, and Hope.” I’m happy to recommend this helpful resource:

In this issue, there are some references to the current COVID-19 pandemic, but most articles address a wide range of issues that are pertinent to Christians in every age and circumstance. Authors share openly about their personal struggles with illness, their experiences as caregivers, and their encounters as persons involved in pastoral or chaplaincy care. Some address the topic of health as it relates to social, economic, and political concerns. And there are authors who raise questions about how persons with disabilities are treated within the church and society.

Print versions of the journal are available, but each issue is also available to read free online. I hope you’ll find this resource as engaging and hope-filled as I do.