Last month I had to go to the medical testing center to get an MRI on my knee (its ok). While I was sitting in the waiting room, waiting, an elderly woman is pushed into the room in a wheelchair. I would guess she’s in her mid-80’s and she is almost completely unresponsive. Her daughter, who pushed her in, had to stand right next to her so she would be able to lean on her daughter’s hip or else it looked like she was likely to fall out of the chair. When her eyes happened to roll my way, I smiled at her, and there was no recognition or response.
Suddenly I realized that this scene reminded me of my mom and grandma during the last month of my grandma’s life on Earth.
My heart broke.
A small voice inside my head told me to pray for her, so I started praying. Then the voice said, “No, get up and pray for her.” My, very mature, response was, “No, that might be weird.” The response was only, “I don’t care.” So I sat there and argued for a couple of minutes.
During those minutes my body started to quiver and quake. It felt as if my internal organs had been attached to a very active shake weight.
So I leaned over to Carlos, our host, to ask if it would be culturally ok to pray for her. He told me that is was fine. I turned to the daughter and said hello in Spanish, and asked if she spoke English. She said she spoke a little; I asked her if I could pray for her mother.
The look on her face was a mixture of shock and confusion and simply asked, “WHY?” I explained that I feel that I need to pray for her, and she agreed to have me pray. I then asked if I could put my hand on her mother’s elbow, and she said it would be fine. So I got up, walked over, and introduced myself.
She explained to her mother who I was and that I was going to pray but there was no response.
So I started to pray.
I thanked God for her life, and her dedication to her family. I prayed for His peace, strength, perseverance, and healing hand to be with her.
When I finished my prayer I gave her daughter a hug and told her that Jesus is with her no matter what happens. As I sat down they wheeled her into the lab to run some tests. Her daughter stood at the viewing window anxiously waiting for the results and a diagnosis.
About 20 minutes pass and Carlos tells me that they have told the daughter that they need to run more tests because they can’t find the source of the problem.
Another 10 minutes pass by and the lead technician comes to talk to the daughter, meanwhile Carlos starts to translate for me.
The woman came from the hospital because she had a severe stroke, but now all the tests they have run show no sign that a stroke ever occurred. So the technician spoke with her doctor.
She is healthy.
Instead of re-admitting her into the hospital, as they were planning to do, she was cleared to go home.
Finally, her mother is brought out of the lab, and is awake, smiling, talking, and answering questions.
I may not know their names or their story, but I will never forget them or how God used my simple prayer.
