Hymns of Praise

 

Hymns of Praise

Originally published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Think Positive, Live Happy

 

The sun is a daily reminder that we too can rise again from the darkness, that we too can shine our own light.

~S. Ajna

 

“What do you mean I have cancer? There’s no cancer in my family! That’s impossible.”

But it was possible. I stared helplessly at the doctor who had performed the colonoscopy. He patted my hand and told me not to worry. My niece and my husband sat with their mouths slightly open, as stunned as I was.

This couldn’t be happening! I couldn’t take it in. My best friend had just passed away a month before after fighting her cancer for four years. I had been with her at her appointments and chemotherapy treatments. I had watched her fight fearlessly. Her faith grew stronger as her body grew weaker. How I wished Joanie were with me now. But, in a way, she was.

As I navigated countless tests and scans, her face was before me. I tried to emulate her courage as I canceled our twenty-fifth anniversary trip; my surgery would be right on our anniversary. My daughter flew out from Minnesota to be with us during this time and take care of my disabled husband while I was in the hospital.

I had a lot of people praying for me, but I was still in pain when I woke up in the hospital. I asked the nurses to keep the shades shut and the door closed. Every bit of light or noise seemed to intensify the pain.

One morning after being medicated, I had settled down to try to nap in the darkened room. Just as I was feeling drowsy, the door opened a crack, and a man peeked in. “Is it okay if I come in and clean your room?” he asked. He had a big smile on his face, so I refrained from throwing my pillow at him.

“Sure, come on in,” I answered without any enthusiasm.

“Can I turn on the lights so I can see to clean?”

Oh, great, lights, too, I thought to myself. But I just said, “Sure.”

I closed my eyes against the light and hoped he would finish and go away. Surely with my eyes closed, he would see that I didn’t want to “chat.”

“You should open these shades and let the sunshine into your life,” the man said as he pulled them open. “It’s a beautiful day out there!”

I didn’t answer or open my eyes. He returned to cleaning the bathroom while humming a hymn! What was wrong with him? Couldn’t he read my signals?

“Do you like hymns?” he asked.

“Yes, I usually do, but I’m not feeling very well today.”

“Oh, I will cheer you up. I love hymns, too.” Now he added words and sang his way around my room.

Lord, I thought, why did you send this guy to me? I kept my eyes closed.

“Do you go to church?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” I told him. “Eastside Christian church.”

“You do? That’s where I go, too. They play praise songs there, which is great, but I love the old hymns, too.”

I opened my eyes wide now, and we began to talk to each other.

God, you must have sent this guy to sing to me and break through my fog of pain. Thank you, Lord.

As my new friend finished up the room, he shared with me that he had been an executive with a company that designed high-end wine cellars. He had traveled all over the country installing them in the homes of celebrities and other wealthy people.

“A few months ago, I was laid off,” he told me, “and I didn’t know what I was going to do to take care of my family. My wife went back to work, but I couldn’t find anything. Then a couple of days ago, this job just dropped in my lap. I can tell you, I was glad to get it. It doesn’t pay much, but I love cheering up the patients.”

“You certainly did that for me,” I told him. “I’m glad you came into my room and my life at this moment.”

Before he left, he asked if he could pray for me, and it was a lovely prayer of hope and encouragement. He came every day that I was there and filled my room and my heart with joy as he sang his hymns and left me with a prayer.

My attitude really changed after that. I was alive. They had discovered the cancer early, at stage 2, and I didn’t even need chemotherapy. I was so grateful.

I haven’t had any recurrence of the cancer since the operation, and I am thankful every single day. I look for all the good and happy things around me. My husband and I are starting to travel. Sometimes, we eat dessert first. I donated our old towels to an animal shelter, and we use the good ones every day. We volunteer and open our home and hearts to family and friends. We never end the day without counting our many blessings.

Every day, I “open the shades and let the sunshine into my life.” That was the best advice I’d ever heard, received just when I wanted to give up. My heart is filled with joy, and I want to spread that to others like the man who cleaned up my hospital room—and my attitude.

~Judee Stapp