Is someone you love in the hospital? Do you feel physical pain thinking about a friend watching her child suffer? I do, so I’m trying to come up with ideas to heal some of their pain. I feel like part of God’s plan for our struggle was to share all that we learned, including these thoughtful ways to serve others. I asked our son to help me with this list and was tickled by what he remembered others doing for us! These types of blessings brought us so much joy during such a difficult time. An important side note is that during the first 10+ hospital stays, many people offered help, but I had no idea what to ask for, except prayers. So, here are a few examples of things you can insist will help them through this time.
Free:
Prayers…. and lots of them (we definitely felt them surrounding us)
Send verses to them, reminding them that God is there for them
Send them funny jokes or memes
Request email addresses for mealtrain.com
Hug them tight and give them permission to cry in your arms… and don’t be scared to cry with them (it almost felt better when someone cried with me)
Find toys, stuffed animals, crafts, games, play-doh, etc in your house that can distract the child in the hospital bed
Send “get well soon” pictures for child to put on walls at hospital
Babysit siblings, transport them to activities, etc
Pick up mail, take out trash, water plants, mow yard, clean up house, etc
Under $20:
Deliver their favorite Starbucks and offer to sit with child as they take a walk and find somewhere quiet to enjoy their beverage
Find a restaurant/pizza/UberEats that delivers food and send them a meal at hospital
Freeze a meal for them once they return home or drop off for whomever is watching other children at the house
Drop off a “welcome home” goodie bag with balloons on porch
Find out what they wish they had brought with them to hospital and deliver it (one of the things our son kept requesting was kid toothpaste, as they only had mint)
Over $20:
Offer to babysit when they return home, so that dad and mom can finally reconnect- you could even send them with a gift card for dinner or a pro massage (some friends actually sent me to get a mani/pedi…. ahhhhhh-mazing)
Pay a babysitter (possibly 2) to watch kids and clean up house, so that it’s not awkward to be helping them while they are home
Hire a housekeeper to deep clean their house
Send groceries to their house
Start a GoFundMe.com account for medical bills (even though we have great insurance, we have met our out-of-pocket maximum for three years now, totaling around $30k)
Book a hotel room next to hospital, so that they can sleep well without going too far away
Send a care package from Amazon with inspiring books, journals, bible studies, coloring books- both adult and childrens, jewelry with verses, toys for kids (include siblings that are often tossed around during these tough times) , etc
