the past 48 hours...

So...

My first day/night as duty chaplain went well, I think. I wasn't paged at all after midnight. I was able to be with a woman who was getting ready to give birth to a stillborn. It was a very sad and moving experience for me. I felt grateful that I could be there for her.

After my morning report to my group, I shared a devotional reading from Psalm 42. (The chaplain going off-duty offers a report of everything that happened in the past 24 hours and then shares a devotional/reflection.) When I got to the third verse, I started crying. I explained to the group that I was crying because the night before, when the woman cried, I cried with her. The psalm is a mix of honest lamenting and hope. It seemed a fitting psalm for that morning.

In other news, I decided to look for another temporary place to live for the months of July and August. When I went to pay my rent for June, I realized I just couldn't do it. I had the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach. At that point I called up the person I am subleasing from. We agreed that she would use the security deposit I gave her to pay for June's rent and would look together to find someone to take the room. I've been looking on craiglist for a room myself. I may be in Brooklyn sooner than later.

Yet in other news...and getting back to some sadness...Kirk texted me to ask for prayers. His mom was just diagnosed with cancer. I find myself truly wanting to be there for him, even if it is in a different way than it would have been before. Cancer is a scary thing.