By Lamar Harrison
Having been a registered nurse for 40-plus years, I cared for the physical body. I grew up nursing critically ill patients who often required life-support measures. I knew I was called to be a nurse and thought that was my ministry in life.
Most of my nursing career was in Hattiesburg at Forrest General Hospital. I worked in intensive care and became a cardiology nurse for Dr. Thad Waites. I later became director of Heart Services.
God blessed me with a beautiful wife who also blessed us with two wonderful children and three grandchildren. We attended church, where we were always active with Sunday school and children’s ministry. We grew spiritually and became praise and worship leaders at Pleasant Ridge Church of God in Moselle, Mississippi. It was a small country church, full of love and praying saints.
My wife is from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. In 2006, we moved there to care for my father-in-law.
During my career in the Valley, I worked in special procedures. I thought, this is great. One day I had a patient who needed intravenous sedation. As I got my patient ready, I experienced a fall that took me from the career I so loved.
I went into an extremely dark place in life. The devil thought he had destroyed me. I contemplated suicide. I felt as if God had turned His back on me. I was often told to pray and hang on to my rope. I made the statement that my knot had slipped and I was free-falling. Through God’s great mercy, I survived.
I turned to scripture. My favorite to this day is Isaiah 43:18-19. I knew God was placing water in my desert and paths in my wilderness.
I began to seek God as never before and search out His will in my life. We continued to minister with song when we had the opportunity. God began to open doors for us to minister. I had made the statement that I would never move back to Mississippi. We remained in contact with our friends at Pleasant Ridge Church. They asked if we would be interested in being their pastor. We prayed for God’s will.
We thought we had our retirement home at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. But we knew God was moving. We placed our house on the market, it sold in four days at the asking price, and we closed in 30 days. This was April of 2019. We moved back to Mississippi and began pastoring in June of 2019. God has been faithful.
One of my messages was GPR, God Performs Restoration. The biggest trial was COVID within the first year. God proved again He is faithful.
We are still working for God. I now care for souls instead of the body. I’m reminded of the scripture Esther 4:14 … for such a time as this.
Lamar Harrison was a registered nurse for 42 years before becoming a minister. He is called to help others. He has an associate’s degree in nursing and a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Currently, he is the pastor of Pleasant Ridge Church of God in Moselle, Mississippi. He and his wife have been married for 38 years and have two children and three grandchildren.