God puts people in our path for a reason.
If you have dived into Living Hope, you may have already come across Beth. Beth was my nurse when I gave birth to my firstborn, Kherington, 10 years ago! I never saw her again until that day she walked into my hospital room to help deliver Seth.
I won't retell those moments since they are in the book, but there is even more to the story, specifically, her side of the story.
Most people think that labor and delivery nurses have one of the best jobs in the world, delivering and holding babies all day long. This is definitely a perk! However, what most people forget is that there are also the days filled with grief and sorrow when nurses care for deceased babies and the moms and dads who are in shock and mourning.
This was the part that Beth felt ill-equipped for when she first became a nurse. Yet, I can testify that Beth brought healing to me even before I left the hospital.
When she walked into the room that morning and noticed me reading my Bible as I anticipated the delivery of Seth, she said a quick prayer of "Thank You, Jesus!" She instantly connected with me as another sister-in-Christ. God knew that I needed her comfort and prayers in that exact moment of my life.
I left the hospital wondering if I would ever see her again. Well, spoiler alert if you aren't past chapter 21, she's back in my hospital room as I wait to give birth to Roi. As she prayed over me again, there wasn't any doubt in my mind that this is how the Lord uses the Body of Christ. His love, grace, and compassion flow out of people's hands, words, and presence to bring us comfort and hope.
She left shortly after that, yet our divine meetings wouldn't end. Who knew that her best friend lives down the street from me? Her friend and I would meet when I was hugely pregnant with the twins (because you couldn't miss me on walks), and Beth had recently shared with this woman about my story of miscarriages and the shock of expecting twins! She gave me Beth's contact information, and a month or so later, Beth was at my house holding my newborn twin boys and helping me navigate the struggles of nursing twins.
Beth has had the blessing of watching this story of redemption come full circle. But not only watching, but being the hands of feet of Jesus to me - Delicately handing Seth to me, holding my hands while praying over Roi and me, walking into my house to soothe a stressed-out mama trying to nurse twins.
Then last month, we both had the opportunity to share with a group of a women at a church meeting how God orchestrated the details of our relationship. How one woman was in deep grief, and the other used the divine opportunity to reach out and bring comfort. In Beth’s words, “How God is always moving and active and working for our good and His glory!”
We never know how God will use us. We never know that when we walk into a room, an office, a store, a neighborhood there is someone that God divinely put in our path. For us to stop, reach out, and touch so that His love, grace, and compassion flow out of us to them.
Has someone been the hands and feet of Jesus to you? In turn, who can you be to someone as Beth was to me?
I don’t think we have to look very far.
Never miss a blog post. Sign up to receive directly to your inbox.