Well of Patience

  So, God has given me a gift. It's the ability to listen. Time and again people share parts of their story they haven't ever told anyone before. Most of the time, it's about pain or loss or shame. I am honoured by these trusts but I need to work on forgetting because I find myself burdened by these stories.
  This has happened a lot in the last little while. Even my psychiatrist felt comfortable in sharing his frustration about the hospital's management yesterday. He was mostly angry because executive decisions had a direct, negative impact on his patients. He's one of the better psychiatrists. One who cares. I am sure he will channel his anger and passionately advocate for us. He laughingly told me he was well able to play the imperious doctor. I think the hospital management doesn't stand a chance.
  Perhaps he crossed a boundary but I've been seeing him long enough that it's okay for him to let his humanness show. It's good to know he is human. Again, it's an honour thing, his gift of vulnerability and honesty.

  A long time ago, I did a Bible study on the word "woman". One of the revelations was that women are receivers, that we take in everything. It's so fundamental that it's part of our physical design, this female body's purpose to take in that which has the ability to create new life. Yet, the receiving is also paired with giving on so many different levels.
  To form a child in our womb is sacrificial because our bodies are consumed by the growth of new life. That doesn't happen to the degree it once did thanks to vitamins and nutrition. At least, in a first world country with the money and resources to stay healthy.
  I'd never thought of the physical cost to those without these...

  So here's the tricky part. How do I receive these confidences without being consumed by them? Especially since it is a huge part of what I do at work. Ha! It's a huge part of who I am.
 
  Thank you, Lord. Here's the revelation: I've been using worldly tools to try and exorcise spiritual burdens. Burdens I need not bear because they are not mine to carry. (I just felt the tension in my shoulders vanish as peace has flooded in.)
  Old habits die hard. I need to remember that I am not the only one listening and that God's shoulders are way bigger than mine.
 
  "When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit." Ephesians 3:14-16