How to – and How Not to – Send a Get Well Message
Most Get Well cards are nice when you need to receive them, especially when they include a personal note. However, in the midst of our recent health issues, one card arrived from a friend. The sender assured both of us that prayers were being offered on our behalf, further assuring Joanne that her bones would heal and her new pacemaker would work fine. Then the sender informed me that I would not be as fortunate and in fact added that my eye difficulties would be permanent, adding the fact that an acquaintance had died with the same diagnosis. While I am sure the sender meant well, I assure you that my reaction was different from that of Joanne. My mind raced back a few years to when my Dad was in his final days on earth. He had received a call from a fellow “lover of all things baseball” and when asked how he was doing, replied, “I think I’m in the 9th inning.” A few days later a card arrived from the same friend with a personal note that read, “Praying for extra innings.” My Dad showed me that card with a response, “Now, that’s the way you send a get-well card.” I wish I was still teaching Seminary classes. We would spend at least a portion of a class period discussing how to and how not to send a get-well message. “Carry each other’s burdens and so live out the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2, Phillips New Testament)