“They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”  Mark 6:13

Oh, poor Mrs. Potato Head!  Here she is in the hospital.  Yesterday, when she was taking her bath, she found a rotten spot on her body.  If you are a potato, you know how very dangerous a rotten spot can be!  She called the doctor immediately and he told her to go straight to the hospital.  Rotten spots, for a potato, can be very grave. 

Mr. Potato Head, The Son, is visiting his mother, along with the Tater Tots, Polly and Haman.  He is worried she might die!  That is how dangerous a rotten spot can be.  Because of rotten spots, potatoes often turn their smiles into frowns.  And then there is an added complication.  It is very hard for a potato to turn a frown back to a smile.  The doctors have explained to the whole potato family that smiles can help to heal you when you’ve just had a rotten spot removed, but frowns are bad for you.  But it is sooo hard to turn a frown into a smile.  Mrs. Potato Head looked at her frowning family and she frowned too.  So this has indeed turned into a very grave situation.

Jesus knows when we are sick.  When Jesus lived on earth, he often healed people from their illnesses.  Jesus instructed his followers to go out and to heal the sick as well.  Jesus gave his followers the power to heal sick people.  Even you and I, as followers of Jesus, are able to heal others.  Sometimes, that means being a doctor or a nurse or a medical technician.  But even more often, it means to use our words and our actions to be kind to sick people and help them to smile again.  That can be an agent of healing.

So it was for Elizabeth and Aunt Gertrude.  They heard about Mrs. Potato Head being in the hospital and stopped work in the backyard garden, cleaned up and went over to visit her right away.  Now, not being potatoes, they did not realize about rotten spots or the frown complication.

When they arrived at the hospital bedside, Elizabeth wasn’t sure what to say.  Everyone had a frown. 

Elizabeth is just a little girl.  She is only 7 years old.  What could a little girl do to help?

Well, she gathered together her courage and she walked up to the bedside and said “Here are some flowers from our garden.”  And she smiled.

Elizabeth looked straight into the sad eyes of old Mrs. Potato Head.  And for a moment, Elizabeth’s smile started to waver and a frown began to form.  But Elizabeth cast away the frown and cast away the tears and she kept the smile on her face.  And as she watched, Mrs. Potato Head’s frown very slowly turned into a smile. 

And soon, the frowns on Polly and Haman and Mr. Potato Head the Son turned to smiles. 

Elizabeth told Mrs. Potato Head about the garden she and her Aunt Gertrude are working on.  “We found a big spider there!  It climbed up on Aunt Gertrude’s head and she started screaming and running around the back yard.  It was kind of funny.  And then Barabas saw and he wanted to knock it off her head, cause I was too short, but he didn’t want to hit Aunt Gertrude in the head, but he did anyway and the spider fell off!  It was very exciting!”  And all the potatoes pictured Barabas chasing Aunt Gertrude around the back yard and swatting at her head and they all laughed!

Nurse Fran walked by the doorway of this hospital room and heard the laughter.  And this is what she said to herself.  Actually, she said it to God, who was listening to the laughter as well.

“Thank you God, for little children like Elizabeth.  Her smile and laughter has turned the potato frowns into smiles and the smiles will bring healing.  Thank you for sending Elizabeth here to help the doctors and nurses and medical technicians.  Amen.”                                 THE END

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