Parish Nurse

Bridge over Troubled Waters…Helping the Hurting

At some point in each of our life journey, we will either be at a place of hurting and/or we will know of someone who is in that place. Painful situations occur from sickness, injuries, surgeries, emotional issues, and the resultant feelings can be frightening, and make us sad, distracted, and isolated.

Most of us feel empathy for others going through a troubled time, and we wish we could somehow help the person. Some of us will hop right to it, but often we simply don’t know what to do or say, and are reluctant to step out of our daily routines.

Oftentimes the love and concern we bring to a hurting person will help far more than any medicine or surgical procedure can. Here are some strategies that can give you confidence to serve people who are hurting and take away the fear of not knowing what to do.

·         Remember that your presence is powerful. Just go to the hurting person and be physically with them. Gentle touches and hugs can be offered and may be desperately desired by the person.

·         Pray for and with them. Hearing your voice bringing their name and needs before God will lift their spirit and help them feel safe and loved.

·         Talk about what is going on in your own life. It will distract the hurting person from their pain and give them something else to think about for a while.

·         Use humor. Funny stories and laughter are good for the soul.

·         Play music. Music is healing to our emotions and helps bring peace to our hurting hearts.

·         Reading the local news from newspapers or off the internet is helpful.

·         Read scriptures; they remind us of God’s love for us.

·         When church meets, and your loved one cannot attend, you can pick up our new, easy to serve communion cups with wafer to bring to them. If you do not feel comfortable serving communion, please call the church or one of the parish nurses or other members of the Caring Ministries Team, and we will be happy to serve communion and pray with the hurting person and their family and/or friends.

·         Know when to leave.  Watch for signs of weariness ad do not over-tire the person.

Proverbs 16:24 states “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.””

Family, friends, and church members have the ability to restore a sense of normalcy to a hurting household, and free them from the isolation that often accompanies illness.

These suggestions do not cost us anything but time. Giving an hour of less of our time to someone in pain blesses them, and a blessing is received in return.

Please feel free to call Sue or Connie is you would like one of us to make a visit with you to someone you care about, but feel apprehensive about going alone.

As God has love us, let us love one another.