I Think I'm in Love!

Today I reported for work at 6:45am as usual. The scheduler told me I'd been assigned to post partum, and after a momentary blank stare he gave me directions. I took off in the direction he had indicated, and thankfully found it fairly easily. I found out that I was supposed to go to the team huddle to get report on my patients, and as soon as they started talking I decided I must have walked too far and ended up in another country! I wasn't keeping up with the lingo at all, and once we finished meeting my head was still spinning. Thankfully the Lord graciously provided several really great nurses who sweetly explained pretty much everything to me. I was hoping that at some point I'd get to hold a baby or two, and was pleasantly surprised (and a little overwhelmed) when the charge nurse asked me to get 11 of the babies and take them to the nursery for the doctor's rounds. So, I walked into the rooms and somehow convinced all of the parents to trust me with their newborns.:o) Once I got them to the nursery they all promptly started crying, so I was able to spend the next couple of hours rocking, changing, feeding, burping, and praying for eleven precious little ones. IT WAS AMAZING!!! I distinctly remember holding one of them in my arms and just being in awe as I thought, "I am so blessed! Thank you Lord for giving me such an incredible assignment." Towards the end of the day the nurses started telling me what a great job I was doing and thanking me for everything. Then the nurse who was in charge of the NICU, labor and delivery, and post partum asked me to leave my contact information so that they could request me. And, on top of all of that, the nurses called my supervisor to tell her how great I had been. I was certainly blown away, since I'd been feeling rather incompetent all day.:o) It made me realize that as I prayerfully strive to follow the teachings of Colossians 3:22-24, the world will notice a difference.

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on
you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know
that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are
serving."

In my sinful nature I am certainly not able to achieve this standard, but by the strength and grace of God it is something that I spend a great deal of my work day praying about and am convicted by the Holy Spirit when I begin to lose momentum. Certainly all this was made easier by a wonderful group of nurses and patients... A little before I completed my shift I was standing in one of my patient's rooms, and doing some charting while she watched a football game. At one point she turned to me and asked (in reference to the players), "Can you imagine getting paid to do something you love?" She quickly turned her attention back to the game and I knew the question was semi-rhetorical. It did, however, cause me to momentarily pause and reflect. Then I smiled to myself as I thought, "As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I can.":o)

The Kingdom of God Belongs to Such as These

Today was the first day of my Christmas vacation!!! I must admit I was almost giddy with the thought of it. As soon as thoughts of homework and studying started creeping in only to be immediately dismissed, I just grinned like an idiot.:o) And, on top of all that, I had such a fun day! I had initially thought I'd be working today, but they ended up not needing me. Of course, as soon as I found out I wasn't working, my day filled up quite nicely. My nursing instructor called and asked me to meet her at the hospital where I was doing my clinical so that she could give me papers to distribute to my classmates. So, I met her at 11:30am and then headed up to my sister's house after hearing that she had gone home with a fever. Incidentally I specialize in pretending I know how to care for sick people, so it worked out rather nicely. Then around 4:15pm I left her apartment and went to a seminary family's house to babysit. They have six of the most wonderful children I have ever met, so you know the evening was a blast! We wrestled, ate dinner, watched a movie, played hide and seek, played miscellaneous games, brushed teeth, and with rather minimal effort completed bedtime rituals (undoubtedly all wrong:o) by bedtime. It was all so much fun, but the highlight of the evening was definitely when the 4-year-old approached me and said, "Miss Emily, do you know about Adam and Eve?" What followed was a seriously in depth Old Testament survey, which honestly put my own study to shame. There were of course a couple of confused moments. (Somehow the rainbow ended up with Adam and Eve...) But overall he went through several books and amazed me with his memory and insight. I thought of a verse that corresponded nicely,

"At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have
hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."
-Matthew 11:25

What an unfathomable blessing it is to know that not only that precious little boy is able to learn about God's providence in the lives of Old Testament persons, but so can anyone else who chooses to study His word. Being "wise and learned" is not a prerequisite. It was also quite encouraging to see that the time and effort that so many wonderful individuals invest into teaching the "little children" is not by any means wasted. Just thought I'd give you something to ponder over the weekend. I'm off to bed as I'm working a 12 hour shift tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday. What are your weekend plans?