Beauty for Ashes

The hardest part of a hospital stay is enduring the nighttime hours. Deep into the night, you hear the low moaning of a child in pain. Those groans grow louder until they are full blown sobs and howls. Sometimes it's my own baby screaming in pain, and other nights it's the cries of our neighbors that keep us up.

The cancer unit is an eery place where healing often occurs through painful procedures, ingesting poison, awaiting the scars to cover up the wounds. Bald headed children walk around the halls, pale from missing the sun, and parents trail behind them trying to keep up the hope that is sometimes stolen away by each piece of bad news.


But this is also the place where strength is reborn and where seeds of empathy are planted. Because how much more can you feel for your neighbor's turmoil when your eyes have barely begun to dry from your own tears? And when can you exercise strength better than in a battle for your life? The other day, Ava stopped mid-play and began to pray for the patient whose cries she heard through the walls...

Ava: Dear God, please remove his pain. Please, please remove his pain.

Being broken is not easy but, maybe, it is necessary.
‪#‎beautyforashes‬