Minutes to Memories

I received a phone call from Oklahoma yesterday requesting I visit a family member in Gulfport Memorial Hospital. So I did early this morning.

But I'll be honest: I didn't expect it to go very well.

There's a reason for that, of course, and the reason is that practically every time I get a request like this it doesn't go very well. Typically, a distant family member is worried for the soul of their relative miles away, and with health failing the situation becomes urgent, so they call the preacher to go make a visit as a last desperate attempt at reaching the spiritual side. And in this situation, typically, the visit-ee has absolutely no interest in the visit-or, and the visit-ee makes that rather obvious. And it's no fun being that visit-or.

So as I drove the 25 miles to Gulfport this morning about 7:30am, I expected this day wouldn't get off to a stirring start.

But I was wrong.

I enjoyed meeting Barbara today. Her cancer has made life painful for her, but she and I had a most pleasant conversation to begin this Thursday. Her house isn't far from our church family's building, and Barbara actually said she hoped to come visit us if her health allowed her to get out again.

It wasn't really a dramatic lesson, but in a certain way it was: don't depend too much on your expectations.

And if you need further evidence, I'll send you a copy of my NCAA Tournament bracket.