I owe you a Catch.

Marti had a relapse yesterday and we ended up in the hospital last night armed with two pages of descriptions and drug recommendations from our daughter, who is an ER trauma doctor in Hawaii. It was great to be able to just say “here,” and hand them the papers whenever a new nurse or doctor questioned us about anything. We watched them smile as they read things like: “What I would do if you came to my ER (other than be excited that you were in Hawaii) …” Anne covered everything. It was as if they opened their mouth to ask Marti a question and closed it in the next second as they read the answer to the question Anne had already anticipated.

Just before we left to come home at two in the morning they gave her a high dose of steroids through an IV. I knew we were in for trouble from that point. The last time she was on steroids late at night, I was up most the night answering baseball questions, something to which she had suddenly taken a keen interest — this after being extremely critical of the sport for as long as I have known her.

I went to bed at about 2:45 this morning and when I woke up about four hours later she was still up. Even now, she is reading the morning paper. She’s probably read every word by now. They say we typically use about 10% of our brain power. There’s a movie about someone who invented a drug that gives you 100% access to your brain. If I go into our room to talk to her about anything right now, I am convinced she got a hold of some of that drug. When she finally conks out, I might be able to get something done. Our “While She Was Sleeping” theme is definitely playing out today.

A trip to the hospital is a great excuse for not getting a Catch out yesterday, but unfortunately I can’t use it. We didn’t leave for the hospital until 6pm. The problem is, I’m trying to get at something personal and difficult for me in this next Catch and so far, after three tries I haven’t gotten there yet. That will most likely be the Catch I owe you tomorrow.

Meanwhile, while she is sleeping, I’ll tell you about a conversation we had last night while waiting in the ER waiting room. Three guys came in right behind us; one was in visible pain. He had had a crash on a mountain bike trying to complete a jump when he didn’t really know what he was doing. Every visible area of skin on his body and face was tattooed. Turns out these guys were from a Christian home in San Clemente associated with a church there that provides a place of recovery and hope for kids from difficult situations. One of the guys was the manager of the house and he was amazing. Coming from a difficult background himself, he has had his life turned around by the Lord and his joy and love was palpable. Even his speech was refreshing. He didn’t use any Christian cliches yet he could not stop talking about the reality of Christ in his life and what was happening with the other members of their house. Every word meant something.

There truly is nothing more powerful than a changed life. When someone becomes a completely different person right in front of your watching eyes, there is really no other way to explain it except for what God has done inside a person’s heart. Suddenly a person has love in their heart, they exhibit some selfless attitude when there was only selfishness before, or they have gratitude, or there is giving spirit where there once was taking.

And here’s something I learned from this encounter. What I thought about these guys before we started talking to them, and after we found out they were Christians seeking to get their lives back on track, were two very different things. I definitely pre-judged them before I ever got a chance to find out anything about them. The Bible says that we look on the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. Lord, if we could only see people the way You see them.