“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” -3 John 1:2
If you have been to Front Porch, you know full well that we are not your “typical” doctor’s office.
The beauty of direct primary care, coupled with the vision of what we have for our office, is that a different and unique experience is offered. So many times, in primary care, it feels like hit and miss. You know what I mean?
I mean, can you truly get to the bottom of every health issue or “concern” in a seven minute visit every few months? So many have told us that they feel “discouraged” after leaving a doctor’s office because they had so much more they needed to talk about, but there was just no time. And the next visit, it could be a different doctor or a different urgent care.
Deep down, though, we want to be whole. Completely. We long for it.
Recently, I was in a meeting with doctors and health advocates. Part of the discussion centered around “referrals” to specialists. This statement was made- so much of what is being referred to ‘specialists’ could actually be dealt with, at the core, in the primary setting, if time permitted. Whether this is catching something early or something as simple as joint injections, for example. While this may be referred to an orthopedist, in most DPC clinics, it is done as a member benefit inhouse.
Obviously, that doesn’t apply to all, but it does apply to a large number. In other words, if you had a steady, trusting relationship with your primary care physician where they had the time to get to know you, and you partnered together toward better health, you could avoid many of the “pile ups” down the road. Again, wholeness.
I started this with quoting 3 John 1:2. I have the unique opportunity of being a pastor and a practice manager. Before Front Porch, the doc and I mostly worked together, in a clinic setting, on the “mission field” of Peru and Haiti. She also served in other Latin American countries and Africa. Much of the way that we operate today was based on the experiences from those days.
I remember one of Dr. Stephanie’s med school instructors at the time, a dear friend to both of us, teaching the concept of “knee to knee medicine.” This is where you are never across a desk or across a room from someone or a patient, but you are “knee to knee,” with eye contact and not eyes on a computer screen. It’s where you truly hear and listen. People need our undivided attention. This is pivotal in partnering together towards complete wholeness.
With all that in mind, John tells us that his prayer was that his audience would prosper in all things and BE IN HEALTH, just as their souls prospered. That’s wholeness. We desire it, God desires it for us. Wholeness is not just a concept of the soul or spirit, but it also is to affect the body. I love how one commentator put it- “Functional and organic disorder or enervation proportionately lessen the capacity for thought, resolution, and activity.” Now, enervation is just a fancy word for a feeling of being drained of energy or vitality; in other words- fatigue. What he is saying, in layman’s terms, is that when there is disorder in our bodies it dramatically affects our lives and drains us affecting our emotions, relationships, and more. That’s not news, you already know that.
Our goal in partnering with you at Front Porch is wholeness for you– body, spirit, soul. There is no area that should not be affected. We will work with you to address EVERY concern. We will take the time to listen. We will laugh and cry with you. We c
all our phlebotomy chair, the prayer chair, we love to pray with you and over you. Wholeness.
So, as it was John’s prayer for his original audience, it is our prayer over you as part of Front Porch- “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
Here’s to your wholeness, Eric
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