The man on the radio.

My alarm clock went off at 5AM. I hit snooze knowing I had a mere 5 more minutes to rest before I had to crawl out of bed and go to a job I was less than thrilled about. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot as a patient sitter, but sitting in a chair for 12 hours straight is draining. torture even. 5 minutes felt like thirty seconds when my alarm went off again.

I laid there wondering why i subjected myself to 12 hour shifts of sitting in one spot, looking hopelessly out the window at the sunshine, almost forgetting what fresh air smelled like. then i remembered. to save money. for student loans. for my dream wedding. for a honeymoon. for life. ah, yes. i would forgo hitting the snooze button for a third time and roll out of bed all for the sake of the American dream. 

I walked out my front door at 5:45AM and was greeted by the moon. I got in my car and turned on the radio. I don't know what it is about the early mornings, but no one likes to play music on the radio. All anyone wants to do is talk. I flipped through the stations at least 5 times before settling on one.

News. "Late last night a man jumped off the South bridge of interstate 83 in Harrisburg". Depressing. I changed the station. "A man jumped off a bridge in Harrisburg into the Susquehanna river and survived". Again, really? I changed it again, aggravated. "A state trooper noticed a car pulled over on interstate 83 bridge and thought the vehicle was disabled. When he began to approach the vehicle the man got out of the drivers seat and flung himself over the bridge. He survived the 80 foot drop and is at Hershey Medical Center in stable condition".

Idiot, I thought. What an idiot. 

Did I really have to hear that story three times?, I thought annoyed. Wouldn't it be great if I had to sit with him all day! I chuckled to myself. There was no way. He would be in critical care and probably be so knocked out on pain medicine that no one had to worry about him lifting so much as a finger. After all, he jumped off a bridge. An 80 foot drop.

I went to the assignment sheet and wrote down the room number that was listed next to my name. JOHNSON 7AM-7PM, it said in large bold letters. I cringed. I headed to the elevator, hit my floor, and headed to my room. The lady who was coming off of night shift came out into the hallway to give me the low down on the patient i was to sit with for the next 12 hours. 

"he jumped off a bridge" she said.
"he what!?" i stuttered back. 

"He jumped...off a bridge" she repeated.

"he's the man on the radio" i said under my breath. 

she looked at me like i was crazy. i couldn't believe it.  

i have three things i wanted to get out of this post. 

the first: God is funny. He knew exactly what He was doing when i flipped through 5 different radio stations and all of them had that news story on. 

the second: the man on the radio isn't an idiot. he has a story. we all have a story. yours may not have ended up on the news, but you have one. and it's worth telling. don't ever be afraid to reach out and tell someone your story. life can be overwhelming, but you're not alone. call a friend. talk to a family member. pray with a pastor. 

the third:  God has a plan. for the man on the radio. for  you. for me. He's got a plan. this life on earth isn't the ending. it's only the beginning. on days you feel like this is it, like nothing else could go wrong, like life isn't worth living--remember, He has a plan. cling to it.

next time i turn on the radio i intend to listen a little closer.
turn down the tunes & turn up the news.
because somewhere out there there's a man on the radio who needs a thought, a moment, a prayer.