When David was in the Burn Unit, fighting for his life every minute of every day, it was next to impossible to see how God was going to be able to use that experience for good. It was a long 4 months of just putting one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time, until one day he was discharged and transferred to a rehabilitation hospital that was much closer to our home and our kids.
A few months later in March of 2000, we travelled back to the Burn Unit in Galveston for David to have a surgery to put a skin graft on a split that had torn on his knee. We asked the surgeon if David could stay in another part of the hospital because we weren’t looking forward to being back on the Burn Unit, but they wanted to be able to keep a close eye on him (and they didn’t think he needed to be on the labor and delivery floor). 😉
It was emotional to see my husband lying in a bed on that Unit again. It brought back so many memories from his long stay. However, God had a plan that was much bigger and better than ours. While we were in the Burn Unit for this surgery, we met another couple that was about our age. Raul and Claudia. Raul had been burned and was being treated on the Unit. Both of the guys were confined to wheelchairs at the time. Over the few days we were at the hospital, I had the opportunity to visit with Claudia and David was able to connect with Raul. We didn’t have any formal training on how to be peer counselors, on what to say or what not to say. We just shared our hearts. We spoke about the ups and downs. We tried to offer encouragement to this couple. They shared their fears with us. Likewise, we shared some of ours. It was just causal conversations with another couple that was beginning to understand how a severe burn injury was going to impact their lives.
We know this meeting was set up by God himself, and it provided us our first opportunity to comfort and show support to someone else who was experiencing a tragedy that hit very close to home. It brought our experience full circle and we were able to begin to understand how God might use our deepest, darkest places for good. If we hadn’t been put through the refining fire, quite literally, we wouldn’t know how to relate to someone else who was experiencing a similar situation.
Over the years we’ve had many opportunities to share our story, and we are overwhelmed by the response we receive in return. Most people haven’t experienced a burn injury, yet our story resonates with them. Why? Because we all know what it’s like to experience pain- whether it’s physical, emotional or spiritual. Pain is simply a part of life. Once we struggle through the pain, we’re able to bring comfort to others because we can understand what they’re going through.
Reaching out to comfort others is a huge step in the healing process. It automatically takes the focus off of ourselves. The pity party stops when we focus on the needs and hurts of someone else. If you are struggling today with whatever you’re going through, I challenge you to reach out to someone else who is hurting. Figure out how to extend a helping hand to them. Maybe it’s just providing an opportunity for them to talk. Maybe it’s sharing your own story with them so they might be encouraged. Maybe it’s delivering a meal to them. The possibilities are endless. But I encourage you to take the first step. I’m certain that when you comfort someone else, you forget your own troubles.
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