A Weekly Meditation of Pastor Chang! (June 21, 2009)

Many Many Thanks!> (One Week after My Wife’s Surgery)

Last Thursday (June 18) was the day just one week after my wife’s brain tumor surgery. In the late afternoon of last Friday (June 19), she was finally released from Staten Island University Hospital where she had surgery. In the past week, I have received numerous ways of people’s expression of their love and concerns to my wife through prayers, phone calls, emails, cards, and visitations. These are all from the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am so overwhelmed. I cannot express my thanksgivings one by one to all of you, but I pray that whatever you have given to my wife and me, the Lord may double the portions and return back to all of you! It is a biblical principle: when we share the love of Christ, it will produce more and more. It is very amazing, isn’t it? Yet, we need to know that besides love, hatred also has the same power.  

This past week, I spent a lot of time staying in the hospital with my wife. I was just like a man working there. I knew that I might miss some phone calls. If anyone called and left the messages, I always tried my best to call back. But if no message left, I will not be able to return the calls. I am sorry! 

Originally my wife was scheduled to be home on last Monday or Tuesday (June 15, or 16) but after an accidental pass-out because she bended herself to the floor, the doctors retained her few more days for further check-ups. Until last Friday afternoon, everything was stabled, then, she was released from the hospital. 

During this period of time, I appreciate both Staten Island and Flushing church people’s understanding that I cancelled 3 Bible study classes and few visitations and spent more time with my wife in the hospital. This is the first time that I did not do in the past few years. I felt good!  So far, my wife only loses some recent memories, especially those issues happened in the past two weeks, such as: her surgery, why, when and what was going on? But she can recognize people easily and still remember the past things. Praise the Lord! I understand that this is the minimized temporary brain damage. Hopefully, later on she will be fully recovered.  

During these past few weeks I was in and out of the hospital, I observed a lot of patients and visitors. I discover: Anyone who has Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior is very different from those who do not have the faith in Christ. For example, there was one woman who shared the same room with my wife; she was found a brain tumor because of a car accident. The night before her surgery, she was so scared and frightened that she spent hours in the phone calling people to express her fear. Although my wife and I tried to comfort and pray for her many times, she just could not be released. I sincerely pray that she will get well after surgery and go back to church after getting well, because she told me she was a Christian but I really don’t know it is true or not! 

After visiting the hospital quite often, I begin to sense more the terribleness of sickness, although we all know it is part of human life. And we also know that by a terrible sickness a person’s earthly life can be taken away. We human beings are so hopeless. Yet, when we know that if anyone who is in Jesus Christ will have the eternal hope and joy, how precious it is! 

In the hospital, I also encountered many very good Christians who are medical doctors and nurses. They all express well their Christian faith as professionals on their jobs. In other word, they always do the best to glorify God’s name through their works.  Praise the Lord for such good Christians’ testimonies. St. Paul describes well, when he says, “But we have this treasure (the Lord Jesus Christ) in clay jars (our earthly bodies), so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ....) 2 Cor. 4:7-8)