An Unexpected Third Place

I spent half of yesterday in the emergency room. Don't worry! I'm fine.

Early in the morning, I started having pretty bad pain in my back, and began to feel nauseated, but after resting for an hour or so, I felt better. After lunch, and a good time playing in the park with some kiddos, the pain and nausea returned. This time, though, it got worse much quicker and wasn't going away. So after an hour, we went into the ER. By that time, the pain was in my abdomen. It took about 4 hours to be seen by a doctor, after being hooked up to an IV and laying on a stretcher, drifting in and out of sleep. The doctors couldn't find anything. Much of the pain had subsided, as had the nausea. They thought about doing a CT scan, thinking I may have appendicitis, but didn't want to make me go through it if my symptoms were improving so much. So finally, they released me with a few pain meds and an encouragement to come back for a follow-up.

None of that was fun. But some really amazing things happened in those hours. For one thing, Clarissa, my fellow intern and roomie for the summer, stayed with me all the time. Even when I threw up on her a little. She was so amazing. I can't express how thankful I am for her. My other fellow interns stuck out much of the evening with me, too. God has blessed me with great friends to work with.

Another cool thing was the community that was formed between the patients. We got to know some beautiful people there in the ER. Patients who were in pain and frustrated just like me were offering encouragement, sharing their stories, and being such a comfort. Clarissa, especially, got to know several of the women around my bed. As I drifted in and out of sleep, she just listened to them, laughed with them, and helped them find blankets when they were cold, or water when they were thirsty. By the time we left, Carmen, the woman next to me for most of the night, was giving us hugs, telling us she would come visit us in Texas, and even gifted Clarissa with her favorite sparkly hair clip!

We've been talking a lot about "third place" ministry here, which basically means finding the places where people have already formed community and joining them in order to bring the Gospel to them. This could be a gym, or coffee shop, or the park. Last night, we found one in the ER. It was unexpected, and maybe not the most enjoyable way to do it, but it happened. And for that experience, I am thankful :)