To make a long story short, in January I started walking 5
lengths of our local mall everyday in hopes of getting into a healthier
lifestyle. From the beginning I started
noticing the regular walkers. Of those
regular walkers I especially noticed three gentlemen that walk daily. Although I don’t “know” them personally, I am
guessing that they are three generations; the grandfather, the father and the
son. Over the last three months I have
gotten to “know” them better, knowing when they arrive at the mall to walk, how
many laps they go, and I enjoy seeing them every day and saying “hi!” A few weeks ago the oldest gentleman (the
most talkative of the three) stopped me and asked a question about my youngest
son and told me about his horrible cough/cold that he had and couldn’t get rid
of. At that time something in our
conversation prompted me to share with him the fact that I am working on my
health sciences degree in hopes of becoming a nurse but since then we haven’t
had much conversation. Today, out of the blue, the oldest gentleman, stopped me
and said, “I know you are working on becoming a nurse and so I just have a question
for you.” He proceeded to tell me that
his wife has cancer and they are going to ensue with trying some new treatment
plans. I am not sure why he chose to
stop me and share this with me. I can
only guess that he felt like I may have some knowledge because of my education,
or maybe it was something deeper. I don’t
know! As we finished up our little
conversation (which only lasted three minutes at the most) I told him I would
be praying for her. I don’t know her
name, I don’t know his name, but I know she has colon cancer that has spread to
her liver. Since that conversation this
woman who I know I nothing about, is weighing heavy on my heart. God tells us to pray for everyone, even our
enemies, so why not pray for a complete stranger. God also wants us to have empathy for one
another. In fact the Bible says “Rejoice
with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” ~Romans 12:15. We are also
supposed to love and care for other people the way that God loves and cares for
His children. I Peter 3:8 says, “Finally,
all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a
humble mind.”
This odd conversation this morning has taught be a very
valuable lesson. We can pray for “unknown”
prayer requests because God knows the whole story and, believe it or not, God
will lead you to pray when you don’t know the whole story. I believe in the power of prayer and so today,
I will be praying for someone I don’t know and I will have the peace of mind
that I did my part, and I will remember that God knows what tomorrow holds and therefore,
He knows the plans He has for this woman.
One of the shortest verses in the bible says, “pray
continually;” ~I Thessalonians 5:17 and that is just what I will do!
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