A Prayer for Today

April 7, 2020 0 Comments

Donna Peele, MDiv, BCC, is the director of Pastoral Care at Lexington Medical Center. Today, she shared this prayer with hospital employees. We’re thankful for her spiritual guidance and leadership during this time, and always.

I have lived in South Carolina since 1984. It is home now. I was married here, had my children here, and have history here. I remember major events that caused us pause in life as we know it: Hurricane Hugo, tornadoes, the flood, heat waves, and I think it may have snowed once.

Donna Peele prays with clinicians inside Lexington Medical Center.

I remember times when human behaviors stopped us cold as we learned of evil in the hearts and actions of people taking the lives of children and worshippers, and how we watched people shout hate-filled statements to one another over issues.

I also remember when South Carolina beat Clemson in football FIVE years in a row.

I guess that means several things:
1. I‘m old.
2. We have been though some stuff in this state, good and bad.
3. The story is still being written.

How we come out of the virus is our story to write. It is our response to what life has given us to deal with. It doesn’t belong to any group, any party, any team, or any area. What we have is a situation and lots of choices. No one I know would elect this situation as a good idea, but here we are. Personally, I didn’t think the flood was a good idea either.

We survived the flood. We survived Hurricane Hugo. And we will get through this. How we do that is up to us, individually and together. We can elect to live fearful and spread dread or we can live in awareness and carefulness. We can make deliberate choices and have intentional conversations with family members. We can use our words to speak good and truth or to enhance worry and conflict.

So, let me take this moment to meddle: Do you need to call someone and encourage them, make peace or express gratitude? Do you need to tell a family member you love them? Write your story, but it doesn’t have to be a tragedy or a horror story. Make it a story of strength, of courage, of compassion, of faith and hope and most of all love.

Lord, hear our prayer for the days ahead. We are told they will be hard. Let them find us prepared, strong and able. And when this story is done, let it show us to be faithful to our task, our values and each other. We know You are a faithful God and we thank you for being with us. Always. ~Lord hear our prayer. Amen.

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A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words

April 3, 2020 0 Comments

Kacie and Kobe Wall welcomed their first baby into the world at 5:49 p.m. on Thursday, April 2 inside Lexington Medical Center. Blakely Layne Wall made her debut at 7 lbs 14 oz and 19 ½ inches long.

Typically, excited family members would have been waiting anxiously in a room down the hall. But in the time of COVID-19, this compelling and powerful photo emerged.

With hospital visitors prohibited during the coronavirus pandemic, Kobe Wall introduced his minutes-old daughter to her maternal grandparents through a delivery room window three floors up. Their nurse snapped this picture.

“It was such a proud moment,” Kobe said. “I was thinking, ‘I know you can’t come in and see her, but here she is. Hey look, she’s here.’ It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment that we stumbled on in the uniqueness of this time.”

But having a baby during such an unprecedented situation was also difficult for the Lexington County couple.

“It seemed surreal. I felt like I was in a Hollywood movie,” Kacie said. “My family and I are so close and to not have them nearby in the waiting room was tough.”

Kacie’s parents, Butch and Sherri Davenport of Cayce, had been waiting in the parking lot for more than eight hours since Kacie’s labor started.

Kacie and Kobe placed a big letter “B” for Blakely in the window so that the family knew which room was theirs. They took the “B” down when Kacie began pushing and put it back up when baby Blakely arrived.

“It was kind of like a code,” Kobe said.

Dr. Elizabeth Lambert, OB/GYN at Carolina Women’s Physicians, a Lexington Medical Center physician practice, delivered Blakely. She was overjoyed to watch the family’s expressions through the window.

And so were two Lexington Medical Center employees who had been chatting with the grandparents-to-be in the parking lot and overjoyed at the news of the new baby.

“It brought tears to everyone’s eyes,” Kacie said. “We’ll cherish that moment forever.”

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Lexington Medical Center Collecting Cards for Patients

April 2, 2020 0 Comments

Calling all artists and writers! Lexington Medical Center is collecting homemade greeting cards for patients in the hospital. With a strict policy prohibiting visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic, a greeting card can bring smiles to faces and cheer up members of our community in the hospital during this difficult time.

Lexington Medical Center is requesting cards with hope-filled, happy messages. The cards should be designed for all inpatients, not just individuals with COVID-19. Lexington Medical Center staff members will distribute the cards throughout the hospital and nurses will deliver them to patients’ rooms.

Designing cards can be a good project for children during this time.

“Children need a way to express their concerns in a positive way. By thinking beyond themselves, they learn about empathy and discover their power to help their world instead of being stuck in what feels like an out of control situation to them,” said Donna Peele, MDiv, BCC, director of Pastoral Care at Lexington Medical Center.

Individuals who would like to bring cards to the hospital should place them in a sealed zipper storage bag. Tightly sealing the cards in a bag for five days will kill any germs on the cards that could have been transferred to patients or staff. Drop off the bags of cards at the South Entrance of the hospital at 2720 Sunset Boulevard in West Columbia from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. That’s the entrance at the front of the hospital complex along Highway 378. Upon arrival, call (803) 791 – 2901. A representative from Pastoral Care will pick up the cards from the car window.

Lexington Medical Center is thankful for all of the support and kindness it’s received as the hospital works to keep patients, staff and community members healthy and safe during this time.

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