I had just been returned to my room after surgery. The curtain between my bed and my roommate was drawn acting like a brick wall, hiding each of us from the other. I slept most of the hours after being returned to my new home so didn’t get to talk to or meet my new companion.
It was the next morning, with the curtain still drawn closed, that I heard a small voice crying. The crying got louder, and I asked, “Do you want me to call the nurse? Are you alright?” The small voice continued crying, so I peeked around the curtain. There lay an older lady, very small in the large hospital bed, crying tears of pain.
“What’s the problem,” I ventured. “What can I do to help?” She turned my way and in a small voice said, “I’m so lonely.” I asked the Lord in a silent prayer what I should say. It was clear to me that I was to engage her in conversation. “Do you have family?” I ventured.
“No,” she said. “They’re all gone.” I felt her pain and her loneliness.
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I answered. “Being alone is very difficult.” And then it seemed the Lord took over the conversation.
“You know, I have a friend that never leaves me. He is just a whisper away, and He loves me very deeply. Would you like to know Him and have Him always at your side?”
She seemed to perk up a bit and after a brief pause, answered, “Yes, if you think that would be possible, I’d love a friend like that.”
“Oh Lord,” I prayed, “give me the words to share your love.”
“His name is Jesus,” I said, “and He can always be at your side. Do you believe in God and know who Jesus is?”
She answered, “Yes.” Her voice was getting stronger.
Tell Him you believe He died for you and forgives you for all your indiscretions and that you would like for Him to be with you in all your needs and your loneliness.” She bowed her head and, in a voice above a whisper, prayed.
I quietly rejoiced that God allowed me to be part of her joining with Christ. We talked about God’s love letters in the Bible, and she said she was open to reading and doing a bible study to better understand all of what God had for her.
Unfortunately, because of my surgery I could not drive, and she lived a long 45 minutes’ drive away. I called my Christian friend and asked if she would do a bible study with her. She was able to spend time in prayer and study with our new friend. I rejoiced in the willingness of a sister in Christ to extend herself on my behalf.
Their friendship continued for a time. It was with sadness that I learned that my new sister in Christ went to be with the Lord several months later.