N ALL WALKS OF LIFE, we can reach the point of total frustration with our daily routine and stresses. Not too long ago, I reached that point.

I wondered if I was being called to leave the nursing profession. I truly wondered if I had fulfilled my role as a health care provider. I tried to think of other areas within health care that might help me regain my sense of being where I felt God needed me to be.

I remember praying one night for a sign that would guide me to where I could once again feel I was working in the right role. In reminding the Lord that I could be stubborn and blind at times to His messages, I asked Him to use a baseball bat to get my attention if need be! I know God truly listens and answers prayers.

Two days later, I was working as the house supervisor when I received a phone call from a surgeon in the operating room. He asked me if I would go and speak with a family in the waiting room to inform them that their loved one had taken a turn for the worse. Taking a deep breath, I prayed for the right words and headed for the surgery waiting room. As compassionately as I could, I let the family know that their wife/mother/sister was not doing well and the doctor would be out to talk to them as soon as possible. They were aware of the overall poor prognosis and seemed prepared for the worst.

As we sat and waited together, one of the patient’s daughters looked at me and asked if I had been working on Nov. 12, 1996. I told her that it was possible. At that point, she didn’t hesitate to affirm that, indeed, she was sure I had been working that evening. Her son had died that night in our emergency room following a tragic car accident.

“You were my angel of mercy that night, and now the Lord has sent you to me again because He knows my mother is dying,” the daughter said.

It didn’t take a baseball bat to get the point across after all—I heard God’s message loud and clear.

Nila Halloran, RN
CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital
Lake Charles, Louisiana