Piece 2 - Continuing to Construct the Puzzle

This summer has felt like a blur; constantly being in the midst of swirling, raging clouds of emotions and busyness.  I am a chaplain intern at UNC Hospital as a part of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and I love it, I really do....but it is exhausting.  The heaviness and the holiness of the things I have seen, felt, heard, and experienced this summer have turned my life upside down, and I know one thing for sure - I will never be the same.

I have sat with families grieving the recent, pending, or potential loss of their loved ones - and it has reminded me of the importance of telling the people I love just how much they mean to me.

I have sat with patients hooked up to enough machines to power a car, and tubes in and out of every orifice in their body - and it has taught me the power of silence to speak volumes.  It has also taught me about being brave enough to speak, even when you might not get a response, or when you don't even know if you are being heard at all.

I have sat with precious little children and babies laying in hospital beds way too big for them, with emotional and physical wounds that go deeper than I might ever know - and it has shown me the importance of being there, for staying with, just so someone doesn't have to face a scary experience alone.