Two angels

I am driving into Atlanta on Mondays and then back home after my treatment. On Tuesday, I am driving back to downtown Atlanta and will return home on Fridays for the next five weeks. Today’s drive was awful. Anyone who has driven in Atlanta knows what a mess the traffic is. Well, when it rains, it is exponentially worse. It rained all day, so it was a stressful day.

Complicating the stress level was visiting my friend in the hospital. Dr. Walter Mills is a retired dentist, and he had his third stroke in the last few weeks last Thursday. He and his wife of 60 years, Sue, are dear friends of Cheryl and me and our entire family. Walter’s situation is not good, and it breaks my heart to see him lying in the bed with a feeding tube and unable to talk or move his left arm and leg. Sue and Walter lost both their children in their early 50s from heart attacks—just one year apart. 

While visiting with them today, a nurse came in to get his vitals, and he spoke English with an accent. I recognized that he was probably from French-speaking West Africa, so I just randomly spoke to him in French. He turned quickly to me in a big smile and spoke to me in French. Raoul was from Cameroon, and he had been in the USA for 4 years. We had a good visit, and as it is in most cases when I meet a West African in the US, it is like we have been friends for a long time. Raoul lifted my spirits on a dark day. 

Each day when I arrive at Emory Proton Therapy Center, I go to the men’s dressing room, put on my gown and wait for one of the therapists to call me back. Today, a new face appeared in the doorway calling for me. I introduced myself to him and he told me his name was Ndipku, so I greeted him in French, and his face lit up with a huge smile as he responded to me in French. He was also from Cameroon and had been in the USA for 12 years. As we entered the treatment gantry speaking French with one another, the other two therapists were asking what we were speaking. I don’t think either of them knew that Ndipku spoke French. 

During my treatment I was praying and thanking the Lord for making me feel so much better about the dreary, stressful and painful day by sending two angels to brighten my day. While praying I realized that I was wallowing in my dreary day while making no effort to encourage  anyone else. Our problems and challenges are never too big to keep us from encouraging others in Jesus’ name.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, - Romans 15:5