An honor

Hey Everyone! Hope everyone got a little glimpse of spring last week with our 74 degree stint. (Dad, you don't count). It was so inspiring though and my mood zipped right back up out of the dirt and I reentered the land of the living (not to be confused with existing).....It was a beautiful reminder, really.

I've noticed that in my life, there have been cycles of me feeling great, feeling like I'm doing what God wants me to do, feeling like I've got this stuff down. Then shortly thereafter, God reminds me gently...not so much. These past few weeks have been just that for me, a reminder. Suddenly, I feel convicted when I'm gossiping mindlessly, or I am more aware that my joke may have meant more than intended, or I'm hurt and guilty that I didn't do this or that. In previous sessions such as these, I've resisted change, blamed others for my shortcomings, or just plain got depressed. This time, I'm trying (key word) to listen and watch, open heart, ears, and eyes and just see what I see.

What I've seen: My complaints about my job are mainly unfounded. Although an undeniably difficult career, I think, I've been convicted lately that what I'm doing is a real, true privilege. I have the opportunity to make sad people smile, hurt people feel better, angry people calm. I get to reassure those who are afraid, feed those who are hungry for companionship, work on my own personal goals, and hone skills that I've always wanted to be a "pro" at carrying out.

I'm taking a class at Grandview University that I believe is the best class ever. Nurturing and Well-Being (of the nurse). I thought it was going to be a lame class about how to talk nicely to your patients, but it's actually the opposite. It's how to be nice to the nurse (me). We have discussed in a big group why we became nurses, where we are now, where we see ourselves, and why we are continuing on. It was nice to center on that again. It was nice to be reminded of my roots. It's mainly nice because our instructor is the most encouraging person ever. She takes whatever you say and encourages you to achieve that. She praises your insight into something. She marvels over the experience of the nurses in the room. She reminds us that nursing is one of the greatest opportunities in the world to help others, and that's how we should see it. She reminds me that it only takes one bright shining light to extinguish the darkness. Lesson learned: we need more positive lights shining.

This comes on the heels of a perfectly placed sermon (as always). Who's running this show anyway? :) It was about work. Doing God's work wherever you are, whatever you may be doing. There's a way to glorify God through that. Find that part of it, shine the light on it, share it with others. So here I am now, knowing that my complaining and gossiping MUST stop. I know my job is hard on me. I know it requires hard work and emotional pain at times. But it doesn't end there.

A real testimony was a video our professor showed in class about a hospital staff at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. Dedicated to their mission in the first place, they found themselves united even deeper once the storm hit. This story told of when the power went out and how they manually bagged (ambu-bag/breather bag) for about 50 critical care patients in their units...in the dark....no medicine...no water.....no machines....very little hope of survival. They did this tirelessly for over two days. Squeezing the bag in, and letting it out...every vital breath. One doctor said, manually breathing for someone that could not do it on their own, instead of relying on a machine (ventilator), made the whole thing more human. After two days, they were told FEMA was coming to evacuate them, but two days came and passed and then the third. They realized then, they were forgotten. This is a story of how the staff banded together to organize their own evacuation efforts, how they kept all but two patients alive, how their lives were forever changed through their mission.

While I couldn't get my hands on the video, there is a link to the written story. Although not as powerful, definitely worth reading. I realized that the knowledge I have can help save someone, and that is something not to be taken lightly, and I have. The story makes me proud to be a nurse.

We all use our talents for the Lord in some way or another. We are stay at home moms, care givers, teachers, counselors, financial advisors, gardeners, church members, school board members. The sermon I listened to and the movie I watched, reminded me that we are to do what we do...whatever it is to glorify God.

To do what's right for humanity in a situation that'd be easy not to. Are you proud of yourselves yet?! There's no greater honor than this (whatever it might be).

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/TenWays/story?id=2119722&page=1