Please Don’t Say “Just”

posted on Aug 04 by Linda Beck in the Guest Authors, Linda Beck category

When I spent six days in the hospital receiving steroids for what appeared to be a multiple sclerosis flare up, other tests had been done to rule out all that it might have been. After five days of solumedrol, the pain was gone and I was not having as much trouble breathing. I guess one could say, I had “survived” another attack.

In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Sometimes it seems I take a step forward only to take two steps back. Sometimes I get weary of the repetition of multiple sclerosis, and that’s when I try to give it to the Lord. Thirty-four years of emotional ups and downs and in and out of hospitals has taught me so much about my physical problems.

The one thing I’ve learned is how the medications that help in one way have negative side effects in other ways. As in other things in life, sometimes I have to take the bad with the good.

Because of the scripture shown above, I know Jesus will give me “rest for my soul.” I’m sure five days of complete bed rest was part of the healing. I had intelligent, understanding doctors and nurses, and the hospital staff was there for me as I needed them. I had left my wheelchair van in the parking lot with the windows open because I didn’t know I was going to be admitted. With the threat of rain, one of the security guards got my keys and went out to put the windows up. The next day when I happened to remember that I had left medication in my van, the maintenance man went and brought the medicine in out of the heat. He was in the room fixing a phone when I thought about the medicine, and he volunteered to go get it.  It just so happened that we went to school together so thanks again, Danny!

You may be wondering about the title in this story. In my antique dictionary, the word “just” has about eight different meanings. In this situation, “just” means merely, only, simply, etc. One day, I asked the housekeeper a question and she said, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know; I’m ‘just’ the cleaning lady.”

I know the words that came from my heart were a gift from God. I said, “Oh, please, don’t say you are ‘just’ the cleaning lady. After all, cleanliness is next to Godliness. Are you a wife, or a mother?”

She nodded and smiled sweetly. She thanked me for “putting it that way.” And this applies to security guards, maintenance men, and all those other folks that get patients to and from where they need to be.

Actually, this can apply to all of us. In my case, I’m not “just” a MS patient; I am a survivor. I’m not “just” a mother; I’m also a grandmother.” I’m no longer “just” a journal writer; I’m an author of two books. I’m no longer shy or “just” a speaker. Instead, I am a Christian who is no longer “just” a Bible reader, but one of Jesus’ disciples trying to use speaking and writing to teach others what I’ve learned and how I try to practice what I believe. (Matthew 28:18)