Our Discipleship Steering Committee has issued its monthly challenge for February 2021 to Westminster College students, members and friends of NWPC: It’s the month of Valentines and love. We are prompting you to think of stories that showed love being given or received. We all have those special moments. Write them down and share them. Let people know you noticed the kindness or love shown and it motivated you to share it with someone else. Many of us remember a camp song called “Pass It On.” Let’s do it! Send your story to media@nwpresby.org.
We will share the stories below at the end of the month.
Submitted anonymously:
“Several years ago, I had some routine surgery which went very well, except that, subsequently, I contracted a staph infection. I learned that staph infections should not be taken lightly. I was hospitalized for a couple of weeks straight and was fortunate enough to have some excellent medical care that helped me to recover.
While I was hospitalized, I had dozens of visitors, one who drove from the south side of Pittsburgh to visit me in Sharon. He and I had grown up together. To this day, I don’t know how he even knew about my situation. His visit prompted me to think hard about whether or not I would have visited him (or even send a card) if I had discovered he was in a Pittsburgh hospital under similar conditions.
One of the positives that came out of my experience is that I learned a lot. I learned how important it was to hear from people when you’re too sick to stand up and you’re wondering if you’ll ever be all right again. “Embarrassing” is the word I’ve used to describe my feelings; I can tell you that it was also humbling. It was painfully clear that my friends were so much better at this than I had been.
In the years that followed my hospitalization, I have made more phone calls, written more get-well cards, and sent more sympathy cards to grieving families than I did in the total of my first 70 years. It took a “bad” experience to teach me a “good” lesson, and I think – I hope – I am a better person because of that.”
