FROM NURSING TO VOLUNTEERING :
We know the expression “blessed to be a blessing,” but how often do we really meet someone who fits that expression? There are several at Operation Blessing, including a woman who had a career as a critical-care nurse for almost three decades. She then went through a couple of dark times regarding health crises with family members. But by God’s grace it was her volunteer work at OB that became a blessing
that helped her remain emotionally intact.
Her previous training, she says, was especially helpful in teaching her to identify needs, training her ability to listen. She became able to ask, in one way or another, “How can Operation Blessing come alongside you?” In one case, it was to help a daughter know that she’s loved. In another case, it was to help a man who needed to dress a certain way and finding just the right shoes for him. Another time it was being a blessing to the staff by – believe it or not! – playing the ukelele in the café at lunchtime. In her view, it has all taught her to become the blessing to clients that her background had prepared her to be. It’s what her faith has been preparing her to do. By coincidence – or perhaps Providence – she was interviewed for this article right under a framed quotation from the book of Joshua: “Do not be afraid of discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”