Jerusha: I’m thrilled to introduce you to my new friend and fellow writer, Deborah Clack! Deborah and I met in an online class where I discovered she’s a gem of encouragement and joy. In honor of her visit to the FW Blog, I’m giving away one print copy of Pursued by Lisa Harris. So read on, and leave a comment below to enter the giveaway!
By Deborah Clack
“No toilet paper? In the whole hospital?” My English words meant nothing to the Hungarian nurse, but the panic in my tone must have communicated my problem.
She held up a finger to tell me to wait and walked to another room. When she returned, she carried big squares of gauze and a pair of scissors. After cutting the sheets into thin rows, she handed me the pile.
I sighed. Her solution wasn’t ideal, but it would work.
Picture post-communism Europe, 1995. I traveled with a ministry to teach English camps in Hungary, drank some bad water, caught a parasite, and was checked into a hospital that still operated under a strict bureaucracy of socialized medicine.
(I ingested a parasite. And the entire hospital ran out of toilet paper. I’ll give you a second to wrap your mind around those two things.)
That was the beginning of four of the most terrifying nights of my life.
My wonderful translator only visited once a day to talk to the doctors. Other than that, I was left with the five Hungarian words I knew. Each time a nurse came to take me for medical tests, my anxiety would go through the roof. Where were we going? Why? Would it hurt?
And, unfortunately, I was quite the celebrity in the hospital. Other patients would visit me, smile at me, scowl, or lecture me in their native tongue. When they touched my hair, I wondered if they were contagious.
One of my roommates pantomimed a hand coming through the window to steal my things. It never occurred to me I could be in a hospital and not be safe.
Fear settled into my bones on a level I’d never experienced before in my life.
On the third night, a young woman came to find me. “Elizabeth? French?”
The admitting hospital paperwork used my middle name instead of my first name, so it took an extra second to register that she was speaking to me, Deborah Elizabeth. But French? “No.” I shook my head. “I’m American.”
“Yes.” She smiled brightly. “French? Parlez-vous français?”
Do I speak French? she wanted to know. “Yes.” I prayed I could dust off the cobwebs of my high school language class.
“Le téléphone.” She held a hand to her ear as if it was a phone.
Telephone? This was 1995. Cell phones weren’t a thing. What telephone?
“Viens avec moi.” She excitedly motioned to the door. “Viens avec moi.”
She led me to a lobby, where a pea green rotary phone sat with its receiver lying on the table. The girl beamed and handed me the receiver.
This was bizarre. Putting it to my ear, I took a deep breath. “Hello?”
“Deborah!”
The voice on the other end was my mother’s. My mother’s! Tears poured down my cheeks.
This was unbelievable.
Let me back up. A few days earlier, I made the don’t-worry-mom-it’s-going-to-be-fine phone call and told her the name of the hospital. I had no phone number or address for the large medical campus in the middle of Budapest. I couldn’t even tell her what building I was in or my room number. I only gave her the name of the facility.
Internet searching for contact information was not a thing in 1995. Instead, here’s what happened:
My sister called Information and received a number for the hospital. One phone number. She got my mom on the phone, dialed a three-way call to the international number, and it rang to … the random phone on the floor where I stayed.
Then. Then, the person who answered at the other end spoke French. Not Hungarian. French—the one foreign language my sister knew.
They worked through my first name issues. The woman who answered the phone, whom I had never met before, knew who I was. Knew how to find me. Placed the phone down. No one hung it up while she searched for me. And I was able to speak with my family during one of the scariest experiences of my life.
Because God knew.
Because God is that big. Because I am His, and it’s how He took care of me in that moment.
When life becomes overwhelming and we’re scared, we can forget that God loves us specifically. Individually.
This is the One who created us, the God who knows the number of hairs on our heads.
These days, the world doesn’t give us much peace. It’s 2020. It’s August.
Each of us faces very specific situations walking through a pandemic into the school year, and the steps we take are not on solid ground.
We’ve been stretched financially, relationally, economically, some of us spiritually. And now it’s August.
Deep breath.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. – John 14:27
When I am afraid, I pray, “Even when I have no indicator of the miracle You have planned, I claim in Jesus’ name, to cling to You and refute the fear.”
The Bible says when we seek Him, we will find Him. Let’s claim that, and then let’s ask Him, “Lord, how are we supposed to know how to navigate this uncharted territory?”
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. – Psalm 32:8
And then there is this:
He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth. – Hosea 6:3b
Lord, will you please come to me like rain? Specifically? Individually? Breathe life into me and love me in a way that I know it can only be You. In a way that infuses Your peace into my soul so I can take the next step forward. And then the next one. And the next.
God has something just for you. Designated for you so you will know you are loved. Specifically. Individually.
So you will know you do not have to fear.
Because He makes phones ring in Hungarian hospitals.
Have you ever seen evidence of God at work in your frightening circumstances? How has His comfort helped you overcome your fears? Please share!
Photos by Michael Podger, Alessio Lin, Thibaut Tiberghien, and Javardh on Unsplash. Original graphics designed by Jerusha Agen.
Deborah Clack is a former high school AP history teacher. Now she creates stories of her own filled with struggle, laughter, and a hard-fought romance.
A fan of the Dallas Cowboys, she lives in The Lone Star State with her family.
She would love to connect with you at her website deborahclack.com where you can find Part 2 of her Hungarian Hospital Tales: I was Going to be Electrocuted.
You can also find Deborah on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
I’m giving away a print copy of the suspense novel, Pursued, by Lisa Harris! Simply leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway! (Giveaway ends August 17, 2020. Winner must have continental U. S. mailing address.)
PURSUED
Even on her vacation, Nikki Boyd is in search of missing persons. Turns out the woman passenger sitting next to her on the plane is a key witness in an upcoming grand jury trial, whose travel companion is a United States air marshal.
At the airport, the woman goes missing and Nikki is off and running. Is the woman kidnapped? Did she take off on her own accord?
Nikki won’t rest until she finds the answers.
Comments 18
Thank you for sharing. Today I am facing the fear of moving my mom in with us this weekend as she is now under hospice care. My sister has been with her a month but is returning home. My other siblings won’t help out so I am bringing her here. She doesn’t want to leave her home and multiple friends and family but my husband works ten hour days and I live 3 hours away. I fear how will I do this with no family to help out. How will I go to appointments etc plus I am facing cataract surgery in October and November. I know God has this but it is still daunting. Blessings
Oh, Lucy, my heart goes out to you. I am so very sorry. I am praying for you now words from a prayer by Rainer Maria Rilke . Lord, flare up like flames and make big shadows Lucy can move in. Take care of her in ways only You can do. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
We serve an amazing God don’t we?! Thank you for the awesome reminder of His loving kindness towards us in our times of need. Read this before even getting up this morning, my tears absorbed by my pillow. Leave it to our Father to remind us of His presence through the voice of our mother! We are going to be so overwhelmed when we get to Heaven and fully comprehend the magnitude of all He did for us here; somuch more than we even know!! Thank you for sharing, Deborah! God bless!
Heidi, yes! We serve an amazing God. I love your thought that we will be overwhelmed when we get to Heaven and fully understand all He did for us here. That is a great thing to hang on to today. Thank you so much for your encouragement and kind words!
What an incredible story, Deborah! Thank you for sharing it with us. Thank the Lord you are doing well today. Hugs!!
Thank you so much, Stacy! I am so grateful to God for each piece of this story. Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
You’re welcome, Deborah. Take care.
Thankyou for sharing your story of God’s provision. He cares about us!
We are awaiting word on closing on a house. There are a few hitches, including putting a new roof on.
We know if this is not the one for us that God has a better one in store for us. We have been married 51 years and never owned a house.
I would love to win a book by Lisa Harris. I have some of the Nikki Boyd books but this will help fill in. Thanks for the chance.
Paula, thank you so much for sharing. I am praying right now that God paves the way for the perfect home for you.
Thanks for sharing, Deborah. Many years ago I was in Germany doing mission work and injured my knee while skiing. Finally after a great deal of test, PT etc. surgery was planned. Fortunately I was reasonably fluent in German, but was a basket case, since I was on my own over there. The missionaries I was working under were not particularly supportive. It was 1979 I believe, so the only support I had was letters that certainly didn’t come fast enough. I had been staying with the anesthesiologist and family, members of the church I was working in. When surgery was finished, and in recovery, I woke crying and crying. I remember my friend, the anesthesiologist, put his arms around me and gave me a big hug. That was all I needed to know – someone was there. I know God had it all figured out and knew what I would need.
Thanks for the chance to win Pursued. I haven’t had the chance to read it.
Betti! What a story you have! That sounds really tough. How wonderful that God took care of you in the middle of it all. Thank you for sharing!
Author
Congratulations, Betti! You’re the randomly selected winner of Pursued by Lisa Harris! I’ll contact you via email with more details. Thanks for joining the conversation with your own story of God providing in your time of need.
What an amazing testimony, and I just love how you wrote it. Powerful and beautiful.
Thank you so much, Amy. And thank you for reading and commenting – I hope you are well!
Beautiful story! And I needed to read this message at this time. Thank you for the reminder that in our most frightening moment, God sees and knows and is walking with us.
Karen, I’m so glad this story met you where you needed it. God is with you.
I love this so much. Beautifully written and heartfelt. My needs and fears are so individual and personal, and so is God’s way of meeting and calming them. Come like the rain, sweet Jesus. 🧡
Robin, thank you for your kind words. But I also have to thank you because I hadn’t thought about how our needs and fears are also individual and personal. Wow – that makes God’s responses much more specific to each of us. So grateful to have a deeper glimpse into God’s love. ❤️