She called my name and invited me to walk with her. She introduced herself as Wanda. She led me down a long hall making small talk along the way. At the end of hall way we walked into a large room. She started asking me several questions. The questions grew more personal.
I am guessing Wanda might have been in her mid fifties. She was not tall and attractive. She had a beautiful smile and a good sense of humor. We connected quickly. We laughed and kidded with one another. She asked me to follow her to a bedroom. She instructed me to untuck my shirt and to lie down on the bed. I asked her if I could just sit on the bed but she said for what she needed to do I need to lie down.
Before your mind wander too far let me set the record straight. Wanda was my nurse. The bed she led me to was the bed in the surgery waiting area. She had to hook up my IV, take my blood pressure, check my blood sugar levels, and hook up a heart monitor all before I went into surgery for my left eye.
I recall the whole scene vividly. The mattress on the bed was thin and the bed was narrow. I remember rubbing my finders on the rough texture of the sheets. I saw the lights above. I could hear the man across the aisle snoring. Wanda had to hand crank the foot of the bed to slightly elevate my knees. I joked with her the doctor needed to spend some money and get them automatic beds. I noticed in the background country and western music playing. I remember the slight pain when she inserted the needle into my right hand. Wanda did not strike me as a country and western girl. I commented on the music and she said it was not her style. She went over to change the station but said they did not listen to anything too radical. I told her I was not radical ,,,, except for Jesus!
I heard the nurse at the desk next to my bed comment, "I heard that." Wanda replied, "I know that's right." I followed up saying, "Somebody's about to preach up in here." That brought chuckles.
Wanda continued her duties. I told her that she could call me whatever she wanted. Mr. Edwards, ugly, fat, old, but when Jesus comes back she just call me GONE. I got an amen from her.
In her instructions she warned me that with any surgery there is the remote possibility of death. I told her, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The day of my death will be the best day of life." [Phil 1L21]
She came next to my bed to check the blood pressure machine and I said, "Wanda can I ask you a question? Do you know where you will spend eternity?" She testified of her saving relationship with Jesus and of His death on the cross and resurrection. At that I reached over and gave her a nigh five.
Later the doctor came in. He questioned what eye needed the surgery and marked it. He explained some of the procedure. I knew I didn't have long with him so I blurted out, "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior." He did not skip a beat replying, "I've got that covered."
A hospital surgery pre-operation room may seem a strange place to have church and to preach a sermon. Did I want to have surgery on my eye? No. Even as I write this my vision is still blurry as I recover. Did God set me in a new venue to peach His good news. Yes. I am sure the whole scene must have been strange for the other patients and any other nurses in the area. I am thankful to know Wanda is a child of God. I am also happy that my doctor confessed with his mouth he had that covered. I hope he meant by that he had indeed repented of sin and turned to Jesus in faith for salvation.
It was a strange place to have church and to preach a sermon. That small audience heard gospel truth. Who knows where the Lord will send me next? The next time you are at your doctor go ahead and share the gospel with him or her. The next time you visit with a nurse share the gospel. It may seem strange to them but the Great Physician desires to penetrate society outside the walls of religious buildings and other days than Sunday morning.
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