Episode Twenty-Three - The Byte: Terresa Newport

In this shorter episode, we learn that Terresa works with the dying. Hear how she and her fellow chaplains have become "God Stalkers" due to the miracles that happen during death. And how one three-year-old boy changed everything for her.

Transcript

I was chaplain in an ICU.

There was a young woman that needed to be,

You know,

It was time for her to be removed from life support.

So her family had to drive a couple of hours or a few hours to get there to,

You know,

To say their goodbyes.

And when they got there,

They had brought her three-year-old little boy.

I stayed out in the waiting area with this little boy while the adults went in and said their goodbyes to this young woman.

And so I'm sitting on the floor,

Cross-legged with this little boy,

And we're talking about airplanes and bubbles and farts and all the things that little boys talk about.

And all of a sudden,

He just looks up in the corner of the room and he's like,

Hi,

Mom.

And later I learned that that precise moment was the moment that they had removed life support just seconds before.

My name's Theresa,

And I am a product of being adopted.

I am a product of a household of chaos and trauma.

I am a product of many,

Many answered prayers.

I am a person who knows that I am heard by my divine and I feel carried.

I'm a mom.

I'm a chaplain.

I'm a torchbearer.

I would like to say that I really spend a lot of time thinking about,

You know,

When I get to the most overwhelmed places in my life and I think about what can I do,

What can I do,

What can I do,

What can I do,

And really the only thing that I really can do is try my best to be light.

When I don't feel that there is any,

That's what I know I can do.

So I want to say that who I am,

If I had to like narrow it down into a nutshell,

I would like to say that I'm a torchbearer.

I'm a church bearer.

I'm a church bearer.

I work at a children's hospital and underneath that umbrella,

I work in the adolescent behavioral health arena,

And it's a separate campus from the hospital.

So I am out on a campus that has seven buildings ranging from intensive inpatient,

Which is a lockdown facility,

Kids attempt suicide or homicide.

They go to the ED,

They are quarantined,

And then they come out to us.

I am the chaplain on this campus and I lead groups in inpatient and I'm involved in the other classrooms with,

You know,

In the school and yeah,

That's what I do.

Another time,

I love telling this story.

I was chaplain in an ICU here in Salt Lake City,

And there was a young woman that needed to be,

You know,

It was time for her to be removed from life support.

And she had been flown in,

So her family had to drive a couple of hours or a few hours to get there to,

You know,

To say their goodbyes.

And when they got there,

They had brought her three-year-old little boy with them.

And he,

You know,

Little babies are not,

Little kids are not allowed in the ICU.

I stayed out in the waiting area with this little boy while the adults went in and said their goodbyes to this young woman.

And so I'm sitting on the floor cross-legged with this little boy,

And we're talking about airplanes and bubbles and farts and all the things that little boys talk about.

And all of a sudden,

He just looks up in the corner of the room and he's like,

Hi,

Mom.

And later I learned that that precise moment was the moment that they had removed life support just seconds before.

I have experienced that on more than one occasion.

And that is what keeps me doing what I do.

It's what comforts me.

It's what,

In the midst of the darkest of darkness,

Moments like that shine so bright.

Well,

It's such a profound event,

And to be able to be present and to witness it,

I think is a huge gift.

It is a huge gift to be with someone at that moment.

It is.

Yes,

It is a huge gift.

I joke about not everybody choosing as their career path,

Running toward the fire,

Because that's exactly what I'm doing,

And I love it.

I wouldn't do anything different.

And you were called from the start.

You really did have a choice.

As a child,

You knew that that is where your place is,

To be with people in that moment or as they're approaching it.

And you had no fear.

You had no qualms,

No issues with it.

And there you are.

I mean,

You are a profound example of someone living into their sacred calling.

Thank you for saying that.

Again,

My plan was to go be corporate America girl and make a ton of money and live in the big city.

And I got a taste of that.

I was a technical writer for years and years when I was saying no to God.

I was an independent contractor and could choose my jobs that I would go into,

Or I could fill a poll into.

And they were all crisis and trauma.

And finally the last one was really sitting with people that were about to lose their homes.

This was during the financial crisis and the foreclosure crisis.

And I got to the place where I was hired by a company that I had gone in and helped them build their business plan and their seek funding and protocol,

Things like that.

But then they hired me and I was really behind this,

Their mission,

And got to visit with homeowners that literally had guns to their heads or their spouse had already completed suicide.

And in that moment of sitting with those homeowners,

I was like,

What is this?

What is this space?

I wanna sit in this space all the time.

I wanna be in this darkness with this person all the time.

And so really that's when the door just swung wide open.

And from that moment on,

I kept crossing paths with chaplains.

Never even met a chaplain,

Didn't even know what a chaplain was.

But all of a sudden I started crossing paths.

Even had one lady that I work with on occasion.

I mean,

She was just an associate,

Say you had to become a chaplain.

I'm like,

What,

What,

How,

Where,

Where do I go?

What do I do?

And that was it.

So I just got goosebumps and here's why.

Because you just said you were sitting with these people in darkness and I thought,

Oh my God,

She's the torchbearer.

You were the one bringing the light for them.

Yeah,

Yeah.

And that is a sacred duty.

It is a sacred duty and keeps me going,

Even in the craziest,

The nuttiest,

The darkest of darkness.

Some of the stories that I hear these kids tell,

It's just gut wrenching and dark.

And if I can hold the light for them until they can do it themselves,

That's where I wanna be.

That's what I wanna do.

This has been episode 23 of Bite Sized Blessings,

The podcast all about the magic and spirit that surrounds us.

If only we open our eyes to it and whether you choose to listen to our bite-sized offerings for that five to 10 minutes of freedom in your day or the longer interviews,

We're grateful you're here.

I need to thank Teresa Newport for sharing all of her stories today,

As well as the creators of the music used,

Brian Holt's music,

Joel Lubez,

Music L.

Files,

Luis Mayorga and Oscar H.

Caballero.

For complete attribution,

Please see the Bite Sized Blessings website at bite-sizedblessings.

Com.

On the website,

You can find links to the book and links to other episodes,

Music,

Books and change makers who are making this world a better place.

Thank you for listening and here's my one request.

Be like Teresa,

Become a torchbearer and then spread your light in the world.

So,

See you next time.