I met Patrick in the spring of 2022, during one of the hardest seasons of my life. He was sitting by the Sanctuary door, holding a wounded bird. When I touched it, he said, “It feels calmer now… I can feel its heart beating slower.”
In that moment, two strangers became friends through a bird’s heartbeat. A lot has happened since then: struggle, distance, healing. Today, years later, he sent me the most beautiful message I could receive. Here is part of it:
“I recently saw the news article you made, giving thanks to GOD for the friend you found in me… that is awesome, Laura. Be secure in the thanks I have for you, as it has ministered to me in my hour of need, just as you expressed I once helped you.”
“I had taken my dog on a walk and heard the birds singing and playing in the bushes of the neighborhood—the same family as the bird and its heartbeat. Always guard your heart.”
Thank you, friend, for being poetry.
