Today the logistics for today’s mission are a little different. 66 year old Sister Patricia lives at the convent in the small town of Batesville, Indiana. She will be coming to us via ambulance and we will then fly her to St. Louis where she will be having surgery tomorrow.
The ambulance has arrived and we escort Sister Margie from the front passenger seat, she will be traveling with us today. We open the back doors to meet Sister Patricia. What a wonderful lady. I proceeded to introduce myself, calling her Sister Patricia and she asked if we could just use “Pat.” Certainly, I told her as I asked her in return if we could just use “Sis.” She laughed and said absolutely.
We carefully placed both Sisters on board Nellie after we prayed. She has had many neck surgeries with a lot of hardware implanted (various screws and plates). She said the sisters often put her outside during storms and use her as a lightening rod.
We made sure both she and Sister Margie were comfortable as we took off. Sister Margie was so comfortable she fell fast asleep, sleeping the entire flight.
We had lovely conversation with Sister Pat. She was born and raised in Shelbyville, Indiana along with her 2 sisters and 3 brothers. 2 of her brothers have since passed away both at young ages of only 41 and 45.
Her 2 sisters live in Indianapolis now and her brother in Michigan. She has been a Sister with her convent for 48 years. She spent about 30 of those years around the St. Louis area. It was during her time there that her neck and back troubles worsened requiring her to have several surgeries. She currently is wheelchair confined and works doing payroll at the convent.
Of course our curiosity got the best of us and we asked her if she still ever wore her habit. She said that she does not but there are still a few who do. It is now more of a choice. She said it is more about sharing the gospel than what she is wearing.
Gina then asked her, “is it safe to say then, that you have kicked the habit?” She laughed and nodded her head. We could tell that she really loves what she does. She said their motto is, “share the gospel and if necessary, use words.” She thanked us multiple times for our part in helping her and others in need.
After we landed she thanked both Hal and Jay for getting us here safely as they both passed by her on the plane. She had also taken quite a liking to Jason holding his knee during flight. We slid her out of the aircraft and then assisted Sister Margie apologizing for waking her up.
Once we were all on the tarmac we joined together to pray once again for Sister Patricia’s surgery and recovery. She was a true joy as was Sister Margie. We arrived back in Indy to some very dark skies as we quickly made it into the hangar before the rain began.
1 JOHN 3:18
DEAR CHILDREN, LET US NOT LOVE WITH WORDS OR SPEECH
BUT WITH ACTIONS AND IN TRUTH.
Thank you to Hal, Jay, Jason and Gina for sharing this mission with me.
Many Blessings,
Shelli Engle RN
