”Oh my goodness! How are you?” My doctor asked as we were reunited at my appointment the other day. If you recall from previous posts, Dr. J grew up in Jerusalem however her father is from Italy and her mother is from Jordan. She is nominally Muslim yet extremely spiritual. Last year about this time, she was struggling with the sudden tragic loss of her brother, an opportunity I took to be a support and share God’s love. This brought us into more of a mutual friendship rather than a strictly professional doctor/patient relationship and we discussed everything from her ex-boyfriend to the way she celebrates Eid during my appointments. Unfortunately I let that relationship get away from me as I stopped my appointments for 5 months while trying to get my changing health insurance figured out. I had been thinking about her over the weekend and my back was hurting, so I decided to go in Monday morning.
The second I saw Dr. J again, I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have waited so long. The amount of joy she expressed showed me that our friendship had been more important than I had realized. She asked me questions about the things I had told her during my appointment 5 months prior. She said that she had so much to tell me and that she felt like we were as close as best friends. She even gave me a gift to thank me for being there for her during her brothers passing, stating that many of her friends and even family weren’t as supportive.
Our conversations that session also revolved around the various animistic spiritual encounters she’s had through the past months. She’s seen and experienced many peculiar things through attempting to communicate with her deceased brother. Entering into spiritual conversations is never a difficult task with her, but being able to respond to her stories within her short pauses in conversation does seem to be more of a challenge. This seemed to be especially true as she had 5 months worth of stories to tell me! She also shared, because of our closeness, that she had just a couple days earlier found out that she has cancer and will be having surgery within the upcoming month. I again offered to be available for her through this difficult time.
Dr. J offered to take me out to lunch so we can talk more- pray that this would be an awesome opportunity to build our relationship outside of her work place and that I would be able to share much more about Jesus. May this be an opportunity for her to engage with Bible passages and stories and learn more about the hope and the love that comes with knowing Jesus and that He is enough. Please pray for Dr. J’s physical, spiritual, and emotional healing.
-C.B. (NYC)
The second I saw Dr. J again, I realized that maybe I shouldn’t have waited so long. The amount of joy she expressed showed me that our friendship had been more important than I had realized. She asked me questions about the things I had told her during my appointment 5 months prior. She said that she had so much to tell me and that she felt like we were as close as best friends. She even gave me a gift to thank me for being there for her during her brothers passing, stating that many of her friends and even family weren’t as supportive.
Our conversations that session also revolved around the various animistic spiritual encounters she’s had through the past months. She’s seen and experienced many peculiar things through attempting to communicate with her deceased brother. Entering into spiritual conversations is never a difficult task with her, but being able to respond to her stories within her short pauses in conversation does seem to be more of a challenge. This seemed to be especially true as she had 5 months worth of stories to tell me! She also shared, because of our closeness, that she had just a couple days earlier found out that she has cancer and will be having surgery within the upcoming month. I again offered to be available for her through this difficult time.
Dr. J offered to take me out to lunch so we can talk more- pray that this would be an awesome opportunity to build our relationship outside of her work place and that I would be able to share much more about Jesus. May this be an opportunity for her to engage with Bible passages and stories and learn more about the hope and the love that comes with knowing Jesus and that He is enough. Please pray for Dr. J’s physical, spiritual, and emotional healing.
-C.B. (NYC)
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