Not All Warriors Wear Combat Boots

We’ve been thinking lately about brave men and women who put on combat boots, leave home and step into dangerous places to defend others.

And...that is courage.

But last week, I discovered another kind of warrior.

I accompanied a dear friend to a dialysis appointment. My friend’s kidneys no longer function, yet instead of living in complaint, this precious person keeps showing up -- with humor, determination and a conquering spirit.

Then I looked around the waiting room.

One by one, people arrived for dialysis. Some carried blankets because the treatment room gets cold. They would spend four-plus hours connected to machines doing what their kidneys can no longer do.

Four hours.

Then they would leave -- often exhausted -- only to return and do it again.

Suddenly, I saw warriors everywhere.

Some warriors wear combat boots. Others carry blankets into dialysis centers.

Some battles make the evening news. Others are fought quietly in hospital rooms, cancer centers, rehabilitation facilities and homes where someone is simply trying to make it through another day.

I left there changed.
More tenderhearted.
More grateful.
And more determined to pray.

Jesus came “to bind up the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18), and Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

Maybe we can't heal the person sitting beside us. But we can notice them. We can listen. We can encourage. We can pray. We can give a caregiver a break. We can thank the medical teams who serve day after day.

And perhaps we can complain a little less about our inconveniences.

There are warriors all around us fighting battles we know nothing about.

Today, I’m praying for them.

"Lord, strengthen the weary. Comfort the hurting. Guide the doctors and nurses. Give patience to caregivers and families. And help us never become so busy that we fail to notice someone who needs a little kindness, a little hope and a whole lot of prayer. Amen.