Circle the Wagons

It was a few years back when a California woman received her cancer diagnosis and she was determined to beat it.  Early treatment was successful, but earlier this year the cancer returned and this time it had the upper hand.  Doctors were not optimistic. 

As this year began, a southern California man had a scary situation.  He suffered a brain hemorrhage and then was in a coma.  This vibrant young man lay helpless in a hospital bed with an unknown future.  Friends and family members came and were by his side.

Both of these stories are true.  In both cases a cry went out to circle the wagons - to unite for the common cause of helping a beloved person return to health.  People not only gathered in person but hundreds sent messages and posted on social media.  People cared.  As it became obvious that the woman would die, the love and the prayers continued to flow.  She passed away a few days ago, and her husband has already commented how helpful all of the prayers and concern have been.

The young man has a happier ending to his story.  Actually, it isn't an ending but a new beginning.  He was just discharged but now faces a lot of rehabilitation.  He was on the brink of death and for weeks he didn't walk or talk, but now he's on the mend.  A great encouragement along the way has been all the folks who came to visit and all the prayers.  Over 400 people kept tabs on him via facebook.  Wow!  He and his mother have said how grateful they are for all the concern, in fact at his discharge he wrote "Thanks for the thoughts, love, support and prayers."

When we circle the wagons, we can do incredible things.  Just our presence can be pretty wonderful to folks who need us.  Of course we don't have to wait for a crisis.  How wonderful it is to be there for others even when all is going well.