I had a whole blog post planned for this week, about our summer offering from Christian Formation, a 10-week AntiRacism Challenge for adults and youth. And I will still write that post soon, perhaps next week.
But admittedly I cannot write it today. Because I have something much more important to say.
And that is: thank you.
On Sunday, my sister, who had been having some episodes of lightheadedness, suddenly passed out while on a walk with a friend. They wisely went straight to the hospital afterward and learned the cause of her dizziness: a large pulmonary embolism. For those of us who aren’t well versed in medical language – that’s a blood clot in her lungs. Or, to be more accurate, as we later learned, a series of clots that likely started in her legs and moved upwards. Very scary stuff.
The truth about crisis moments is that your world suddenly gets very small. The things I was so worried about before those words came across my text messages paled in comparison to her getting better. To her being okay.
But I knew one thing, despite the shock and the confusion and the fear: that we needed to widen the circle. We needed more people to pray. So I did what remains a very surreal thing, and typed out a prayer request on our Message Line to send to all of you.
And in the hours and days that followed, I was reminded of something that I can often forget. As a pastor, I spend so much of my time and focus on caring for the church, on caring for you, that I often lose sight of something equally important: that you care for me too – for all of us, your pastors.
You at Winnetka Covenant are especially good at that.
By the following morning, I had emails, and text messages, and phone calls asking about us. About my sister, of course, but also about my parents and me. I had someone call me and offer her incredible expertise gleaned from long experience with blood clots. Someone else offer to come spend time with me. Have dinner. Watch movies.
My sister, too, felt the impact of those prayers. Friends from afar sent balloons and called. Friends from close by brought food and medicine to her dog, who had been suddenly placed in boarding. They came with snacks and flowers and clothes from home, the all-important charging cords and a tablet to watch tv on. Books and cards and her own pillow for better rest. And now she is getting better, and today or tomorrow she will go home. My parents are on their way. I will fly to visit her soon.
The tears are going to come, I know. But they won’t be just because I was afraid. They will be because I felt the arms of God wrapping around us all, through the ways that you cared for my family and I in these tender, fragile days.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
-Pastor Jen
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