There are so many experiences that happened to me at Maryview hospital that will cause me to always remember it fondly. It was definitely a rough hospital as far as the amenities go. Most of the rooms were 2 people per room. Supplies were tough to get at times. Weekends were frequently shortstaffed, Sometimes you would have pts. all over the floor as opposed to right together. Those however are not the things I remember. I remember the culture difference from anything I was used to. I remember the people I worked a lot with. People like Keith, Ricky, Joyce, Demetria the secretary who gave me flack everyday in a playful way. She called me Moo-laanney!! It was a joy to work with them. They have taught and continue to teach me as I remember them in my thoughts how people go through life with such different viewpoints. Cultures are so different even here in the same country. I must say that I was a little concerned that I would discover that the gospel would not hold water when placed against the differing cultures of the world. Well, so far it has. Though all people are different, we all struggle with different individual personal struggles. For some it's food, others sex, or temper, or attitude. Whatever our struggles we all seem to have something that is a thorn in the flesh. One of my spiritual mentors who died the year I was born is a man named Samuel Shoemaker, an old minister. He made a statement that I believe to be true and have quoted to others on many occasions. "We are all some kind of weakling, and those who think they are not, pride is their weakness, and that is the worst of all."
The "customers" as the patients are sometimes called in this world of political correctness, were mostly black women as I recall. I loved them! Though we are all different as are they, it seemed they all had things in common. It may be because the hospital is in Portsmouth which is the poor part of VA. Most of the patients were lifelong residents of this poor town. Almost all of the older black women whom I had the pleasure of serving had wonderful things to say about God. I frequently felt the Lord urge me to ask them if God can be trusted to watch out for me as I grow older in this life. Each of them told me a different story with the same conclusions. "God is good......ALL THE TIME!! I would listen to them and you could sense the intense persecution they had endured simply because they were black AND they were women. Yet they all said things like," God has been good to me! HE is a good God! HE ain't NEVER let me down....No sir!!" Many of the men patients I had echoed the same sentiments of how Good God is. The openness with which they speak of Gods goodness was unheard of where I come from in Massachusetts. No way you could talk about God that way at work!! Here I was in VA and it was the pts. bringing up the Lord with me! Many times was I able to pray for my patients. They were so open to receiving prayer for their illnesses. People did not put on heirs in this hospital. I really loved that about Maryview. That is what sticks out to me the most. That I could be of service in the spiritual sense to my patients AND their families! I am the blessed one for being there. The joy is in the journey someone once said. I am a grateful man. I am doing my best to live in that joy. I have no final destination here on earth. The joy of the Lord is my strength. That is a scripture verse that the lord has written on my heart. I wonder if there is some type of interwoven connection there with that word joy? The Lord has us on a journey. I get excited when I grasp the reality that I am living life on the edge. We are living out our heart's desire to see the world. God is going before us and we are living life! Thank you Lord.