Waiting Room Weekend

I posted this last October 6, 2013. In lieu of the weekend just spent at the hospital I wanted to repost.

My weekend went all askew from the carefully planned out schedule I had put together. Life has a way of doing that to you. It wasn’t a list of fun things to do per se, but things to do nonetheless.

Instead I did this.

 Do you recognize this? Not the exact room, nor the exact picture, but I’m taking a wild guess here and assuming you’ve spent a little time here yourself. Am I right?

And now this is where words escape me.

My parents whom I love with all my heart.

More specifically my dad.

He has had a health concern for a couple of months and has been actively pursuing an answer for several weeks.

Friday night, after a huge chunk of time (normal for ERs), he was admitted into the hospital for testing. The results, at the moment, are inconclusive. They kept him for another night due to some concerns and more testing.

I’ve not yet been here with my parents. Not on this level. I don’t want to be here now. Not literally speaking, I wouldn’t be anywhere else but the hospital while this is going on. Thanks to my husband and kids I can be.

There is a lot of time to reflect while sitting at the bedside of a loved one, or a waiting room just outside the testing area.

1. Life is precious.

2. Relationships are too. Cherish them.

3. Time spent in a hospital, no matter how we dislike it, is never a waste.

4. Being there is a good thing…a very good thing.

5. Appreciate the good times.

6. Embrace the bad for what you can glean.

7. Be there…fully engaged in life.

8. Life changes, sometimes quickly.

9. We plan, life happens.

10. Lessons learned in life are priceless.

I’m not sure at this writing what awaits us, and yet, I am.

That’s the nature of life.

And faith.