Last night at 11pm, my friend and FPC staff member Kyle Gilbert called my home phone. If anyone calls my home phone at 11pm, something is seriously wrong. On the other end of the phone he was obviously in severe pain and asked if I could take him to the Emergency Room. We were awake (a miracle for me) and I took off to pick him up and take him to the hospital.
We had a blast and laughed a lot, even though he was threatening to operate on himself to relieve some of the pain. The outcome: at 4am this morning the doctor said it was Gall Stones and soon he would need surgery (soon as in the next few weeks). Then, we left to go to get his prescriptions filled and I dropped him off at home at 4:30am.
Funny thing: three and a half years ago Kim and I experienced an extreme case of food poisoning and vomiting on a plane bound for Dallas for 3 hours with a 6-month old in our arms. It was the worst day of our lives! When we landed, we had to get to the hospital. It was 1am, and I called Kyle and said, “I need you to come get Hayden.” He did and they kept our 6-month old who they had never met for several hours until we were out of the hospital.
So, what’s the point? Community is real. You need people around you that you can call at 11pm to take you to the ER and stay there all night. I have at least 5 guys in my life that would be “ER Guys” – any day, any place, any time (these are friends, not just pastors on staff).
Do you have ER Guys or Gals? If not, put yourself out there for someone. If you don’t, you will miss out on one of the greatest parts of life!
Wow! for you to be up that late Kyle is a great friend to you! All kidding aside, I used to think you could only ask biological family to do stuff like that. However, God has definitely shown me His family and “mine” is much bigger than that! I have several “ER” people that would go above and beyond for me. God never ceases to even almost overwhelm me with His blessings!
Last summer I got up in the attic too long and Misty was out of town so I was eating frozen Angus burgers from Sams all week. To make a long story short, my potassium got low and I had to be rushed to the E.R. because turns out potassium helps regular your muscles, and guess what your heart is?
I texted my friend I have known since Kindergarten from the ambulance and told him I was on my way to the hospital. He lives in Oliver Springs, but had just finished doing something and was at Turkey Creek 2 minutes away from the hospital!
The doctor came in and started asking me personal questions, and stopped and said, who is he? (referring to my friend Jason) I said that is a friend of mine, he said are you sure you want to answer these questions with him in here, and I told the doctor I have known him since Kindergarten we live in the same dorm, he already knows everything anyway.
(corrected post)
Last summer I got up in the attic too long and Misty was out of town so I was eating frozen Angus burgers from Sams all week. To make a long story short, my potassium got low and I had to be rushed to the E.R. because turns out potassium helps regulate your muscles, and guess what your heart is?
I texted my friend I have known since Kindergarten from the ambulance and told him I was on my way to the hospital. He lives in Oliver Springs, but had just finished doing something and was at Turkey Creek 2 minutes away from the hospital!
The doctor came in and started asking me personal questions, and stopped and said, who is he? (referring to my friend Jason) I said that is a friend of mine, he said are you sure you want to answer these questions with him in here, and I told the doctor I have known him since Kindergarten we lived in the same dorm, he already knows everything anyway.
You are right, having people in your life that you know without a doubt you can call on, no matter what, now that is priceless and worth every minute that it takes to build relationships that are like that…
It’s awesome to have relationships with people that are like family even thought their not “family.” It is a huge blessing!
The reality for me is that my “ER” friends are closer to me than most of my family. Honestly, I would rather be around them most of the time anyway!!! I am so thankful for those friends that would drop anything to help me at any time!
Having ER friends is great, but it can be a challenge to BE an ER friend, especially if your friend seems to live in the ER. Challenge or not, I want to be an ER friend to others that I care about. It really says something about how others view you when they call specifically on you when the chips are down. It’s all about loving, and being loved. Trusting, and being trusted. Great post, Dr.Whitehead!