Nick and the Cryocuff .  By Arlene Hendriks. 

When I was recovering from knee surgery, part of my therapy was a cold treatment several times a day. Ice water circulated through a device called a Cryocuff, which connected a tube to an ice water pack surrounding my knee.

When I was still in the hospital, it was clear to me that helpers needed training to set up the device without leaks. I remembered when water leaked all over the floor because someone had not set it up properly. No one had instructed me to put the contraption on myself, so I didn’t really know anything except that it was tricky to set up correctly.

A few days later, I was transferred to a rehab facility. The next morning a young man came in to put on the Cryocuff. He introduced himself as a student, doing his practice work. As he was preparing to put the cuff on, I remembered the leaks on the hospital tile. Seeing I was now on a carpet rather than tile, I asked the young man if he had been trained to use the Cryocuff. He didn’t know anything about training, but he thought he could put it on. Because of my previous experience at the hospital, I pressed him mildly to check before he put it on.

By this time, I was already feeling a bit grumpy because of some other issues at the rehab place, so, even though I wasn’t overtly rude, I didn’t respond when he said, “Why don’t you show me how to do it?” He was across the room doing something else when he said that, and I was more engaged in rehearsing, nursing and cursing the incompetence of those responsible for my care. I didn’t know what the tricky part of setting it up was, anyway, and I didn’t really attend to his comment.

He finished his task and then said, “Well, OK, if you don’t want to tell me how to do it…” and walked out of the room.

But God… All the rest of the day, the Lord kept replaying the tape in my head of the comment the student had made as he left the room. At first, I thought, “Well, that’s just his stuff. I wasn’t withholding information from him. I was trying to keep him from making the same mess the aides in the hospital had made, but this time on carpet.

Then the Lord showed me my grumpy attitude. The energy source for my non-response did not come from the loving heart of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was sent to teach me to represent the Lord accurately and authentically. But my response originated from the grumpy, critical spirit of the enemy of my soul.

With great tenderness and mercy, the Lord showed me the woundedness of the young man, who received my detached indifference as evidence of his lack of worth in my eyes. And the Lord also showed me that the young man’s assessment of my attitude was accurate! I didn’t value him, even though I would never have admitted that if the Lord had not shown it to me.

As I confessed my sin to the Lord, He put His compassion into my heart to feel Nick’s pain. I began to pray for an opportunity to reverse the damage I had done by my critical attitude. It was a couple of days before the student returned. I was beginning to be concerned that Nick would not be on duty again before I was discharged.

When Nick came into the room, I greeted him by name and asked him to forgive me for giving him the impression I didn’t want to share information with him. I explained that I didn’t know either at that time what was the critical factor. However, I had found directions on the side of the tank and read them. Then I set up the machine a couple of times in the days he had been gone, so I was able to show him how to do it without spilling water.

When we finished, I looked him in the eye and said, “Nick, I’m really sorry for not being more attentive the other day. You deserve more than a grumpy complainer, and we could have figured out then how to set this machine up if I had been more alert.

It was amazing to see Nick’s eyes light up as a smile spread across his face. He replied, “Oh! I’m so glad I was here to hear you say that! Thank you!” He had a lighter step, a brighter countenance and a new confidence as he left my room to go about his duties for the day.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. ~ Ephesians 4:32

When we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are chosen to be His ambassadors to the fallen world around us. One of the most powerful ways to demonstrate God’s amazing grace is to model kindness, love and forgiveness to those around us.