This picture of a hospital hallway is one that I found on the internet.  I am using it to illustrate what I encountered on my first day back at work following vacation.  I had many employees tell me they noticed I had been gone and were glad to have me back.  Then I went into a patient’s room and the patient told me he had been there three days and he wondered why I had not been to visit him.  Once I explained I had been on vacation, my lack of visiting was immediately forgiven.  This opened my eyes in a new way to the fact that staff and patients both count on my presence and ministry.  More than the satisfaction of being missed these encounters again reminded me that chaplains are valued even though we don’t measure that value in the other statistical ways we measure other services the hospital provides.  To all the chaplains who read this and wonder if you are valued, this is a resounding YES!!