Friday, December 28, 2007

The Footprints...

One night Melody had a dream,
She dreamed she was walking along through life with God.
As scenes of her past flashed before her eyes,
She looked at the path of their footprints.

Up through the mountains they wound,
And down through the valleys,
Beside peaceful ocean vistas,
And sometimes across jagged hills.
Sometimes the footprints stopped beside still waters,
And other times they disappeared into the valley of shadows.
Sometimes they even led into icy storms and snow.
At this point she was troubled,

For she noticed that when going through
The most difficult storms of her life,

There was only one set of footprints.
"Why Lord," she asked, "when I was going through the most
Cold and difficult experiences of life,

Did you leave me to walk alone?"
Then was the Lord’s beautiful reply, "My dear Melody!
I would never leave you or forsake you. Those times when you
See only one set of footprints...

When the path was steep and treacherous,
Or the way cold and icy...It was then that I carried you!"*


As I look back over the years, the times of good and bad, the times of laughter and also of pain, I'm grateful for the Heavenly Father that I serve and am coming to know more and more intimately. We've had a lot of good times together...yet there have been some real tough times too! But even those times I am thankful for, for it seems in the toughest times is when I grew the most. And God has been there all the time...sometimes I didn't even realize it, but He was actually carrying me! ;-)

As we approach another NEW YEAR...I thank Him for the former years... but I also look ahead with JOY to the future and to what new lessons and new experiences He has in store!

Ok, well...enough being melodramatic...I guess I just got inspired by the footprints I saw in the snow...and it reminded me of the poem and of my own life experiences that God has led me through! Don't we serve an incredible God??

I'm still home in Oklahoma....and still nursing a cough that does not seem to want to go away. We've had the whole Hiner family (about 20 of Mrs. Holland's relatives) here for a reunion this Christmas which has been lots of fun. (I probably would have enjoyed it a lot more if I hadn't been sick the whole time...but oh well!) It's been the first time we've all been together since Grandpa and Grandma's 50th Anniversary a few years ago. And even so, we aren't all together, as Sunny didn't make it home this year! (But she went to be with Tim and his family, so we aren't begrudging her the joy!)

We've had a lot of fun visiting or singing together as we sat around the warm fire. We've played lots of Dominoes, gone to the Zoo...and cooked huge meals. We all took turns, and on our turn, we cooked a huge "Asian meal" in honor of Aunt Denel. One highlight of the whole week was hosting a small family baby shower for Joy. She and Justin are expecting their first child in February. It was good to be with all the cousins again! And I've taken lots of pictures. (I'll post a slide show next week after the last of our family heads home. As it is, part have already left, but we still have Aunt Jan and Jim and Sarah here for a few more days.)

So that's the update from Mel's pad. In the pictures below you can see some of the ice damage that they had here in our back yard with the huge Ice storm that hit in early December. Again I am reminded and thankful by the sad circumstance that, even through the Ice-storms, God still walks with us...and sometimes...He even carries us! What a awesome and loving God we serve!

Be-lated Merry Christmas, everyone!!! And Happy New Year!!

*Thanks to Mary Stevenson for the beautiful poem "Footprints," first written in 1936.

What happens when the ice and fierce winds blow!

A warm resting place...at least for Kosha and Sasha!



Footprints through difficult times



Aren't we thankful we serve a God who wears "work boots."

I love you...even when it's cold!




Wednesday, December 26, 2007

GYC memories and Blizzards!

Well...where do I begin? It would be a understatement to say that GYC was great! (It was far beyond that!) It would also be an inaccurate statement to say that I came home thoroughly refreshed and rejuvenated. (I came home totally exhausted and wiped out....and have spent the last 3 days recovering! In fact, Christmas eve I celebrated in the bath tub having a fever treatment!) All in all though, it was a worthwhile experience and one that I would repeat again, if given the opportunity. ;-) I'll let the slide show above tell the story via pictures...although I will share a few brief highlights.

Things I will remember about GYC 2007!
  • Traveling on the train with my sister Sunny
  • Helping with Registration and meeting hundreds of new faces
  • Videoing "Uncle David's" faith inspiring stories at his seminar "Extreme Missions"
  • Praying for our friend and GYC team leader, Alistair
  • Sitting at evening sessions with my family and the Arakawa gang
  • Having my family in Arkansas call to say they saw me on 3ABN during an evening session
  • Catching up with old friends - Mary, Kristy, Allison, Becky, Shayna, The David Dence family, Martin and Leona, Naomi, The Mizner's, The Rusch's from Norway...and many more!
  • CCBN team meeting with David Gate's and In His Image Ministries
  • Attending one of Tim Resienberger's last seminars with my mom and then hearing about his testimony (which was really encouraging as it's similar to mine!)
  • Watching soooo many young lives blessed, inspired and changed!
  • Then the looooong drive home....through blizzard and ice and snow and praying to stay on the road! (Evidently some 300 cars went off the road or wrecked during this same afternoon/evening in Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa. It was pretty wild driving for about 6 or 7 hours.)
  • But we got home safely at 3am.....about 5 hours behind schedule! But at least we made it home!!

So, that's it in a nutshell! :-)

Due to all my extra curricular activities, I didn't get to listen to as many meetings or seminars as I would have hoped, but thanks to Audio Verse, we have them all recorded, and soon they'll all be available to listen to or download. So, check them out...and then you too can enjoy some of the GYC experience!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

GYC Here we come...

Wooooowww!!! We have made it to GYC. After a harried day of packing, last minute Christmas shopping, Christmas parties with friends, making final GYC registration changes, and then rushing to the airport at 3am.....only to be followed by many more adventures, we are safely in Minneapolis MN. (We still barely made our flight and in the process of going through security, Sunny and I almost lost 2 of the computers we were carrying! We each had 2 laptops we were taking....our own, plus two others to help out with GYC registration. But in going through the x-ray line, I left one of mine behind....and Sunny accidentally grabbed someone else's. Both her and I, and one other poor guy were freaking out that we'd lost our computers!!! I'm like, "Oh no....someone mistakenly took mine and left theirs!" And she was like, "Oh no! I have no idea what my extra laptop looked like. Is this it?" And the other guy was like, "Someone stole my lap top!" Finally we got the confusion all figured out! Praise the Lord! ;-)

Sunny and I had some extra time to spare when we got checked in to our hotel as our first Registration meeting wasn't till later in the afternoon....so we went on an adventure, weaving our way through the sky-walk of a maze of different buildings until we found the train (called the "Transit system" here) that would take us to the "Mall of America." Sunny had never been there before so wanted to check it out. As it turned out though, we barely had 45 minutes there (imagine that at a 4 story mall with theme park besides), before we had to turn around and head back to the train station to get back in time for our meetings. Whew!!! It was crazy! We only made one fast paced loop and went in one store and we had to run. "At least..." we both reasoned, "We got to enjoy a fun train ride!" Tim's plane had been delayed, so unfortunately, he did not get to spend the day with us. We were sad about that!

Then this morning GYC registration started with a vengeance! I got to be part of the Registration team and had a blast meeting people and helping solve registration problems, but it was also a very looooong tiring day. Was checking people in, and running Credit Card's for on site registration basically from 10am until 9pm straight. Finally we decided to close registration and it will be open again tomorrow. I need to help with the CCBN booth though, so will probably spend the rest of my time doing that. Hopefully somewhere in there, I'll also get to visit some other booths, attend some meetings, and....you know maybe, enjoy GYC!! ;-)

Ahhh well....no complaints! It's all good! Just part of the fun adventure of life! Mom and Dad are here, so it's been cool to see them, as well as lots of other old friends. I'm sure I'll have much more to blog about later, but for now....I think it's been a long enough day on the computer, so I shall say "goodnight!"

PS: Important prayer request!! One of our key team leaders for GYC has been attacked by some virus or infection that paralyzed him. He just work up this morning and couldn't move his arms. He's currently in ICU as they seek to discover what happened or went wrong. Pretty scary!!! Tim spent most of today with him. Please pray that he will be healed, and the symptoms he's currently having will be resolved. He's sedated and intubated now, so doesn't even know what's going on anymore.

Friday, December 14, 2007

His Strength is Perfect...



His strength is perfect....so perfect...

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,
But sometimes I wonder what He can do through me.
No great success to show, no glory on my own,
Yet in my weakness He is there to let me know....

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.
He'll carry us when we can't carry on.
Raised in His power the weak become strong,
His strength is perfect....His strength is perfect!

We can only know, the power that He holds,
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes,
His strength in us begins where ours comes to an end,
He hears our humble cry and proves again.

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone.
He'll carry us when we can't carry on...
Raised in His power the weak become strong,
His strength is perfect...His strength is perfect!

The theme of my life (but especially the last few weeks) is summarized in the words of the song above. It seems like I've been taxed to my limit, stretched beyond my abilities, and working on borrowed time that I have no way to repay. Yet, I cannot complain because just when I felt I couldn't do or be anymore, God has been faithful...His strength is perfect. Truly His strength is perfect!!

The last few days of my travel nurse contract at Parkview, although hectic, went smoothly. The last evening there, just before shift change, we got five admits all at once, and two of them happened to be mine. I was going in circles trying to keep my head on straight, let alone keep up on all the details. Yet, I could tell God was beside me, giving me peace, and prompting me on my way.

All the moments of my last few days were not stressful though. One day was quite hilarious, actually. I was giving a patient instructions for changing his dressings when he went home, and had a roll of tape in my hand that I was going to give him to take home. As I stood there beside the bed, the tape slipped out of my fingers and did a graceful dive into his glass of water. Water went everywhere...and he looked at me with amazement! "I couldn't do that if I tried." We then both busted up laughing. I cleaned up the water, which had gone everywhere, and threw away the now sopping wet supplies and papers that had been on his table. After everything was clean and dry, I brought him new supplies and a new glass of ice-water which I then promptly....you guess it....flipped again and spilled all over the table. I threw my hands over my face as I squealed, "You did not just see that!!!!" He looked at me with amazement, afraid to laugh, yet about to burst. I spared him the agony of taking the lead as I burst into another fit of laughter, and tears came to my eyes. Not tears of sadness or frustration, but rather tears of "this is sooo hilarious I cannot contain myself!" (Other nurses looked in the room to make sure we were ok. I only laughed harder!) Finally after I got everything cleaned up and dry for the second time, we looked at each other again. "I'm not sure if you should bring me another glass of water," he grinned. "I'm not sure either..." I replied as I wiped the few remaining tears of laughter out of my eyes. "But you need water, and I need to learn how to not be such a klutz...and since you seem like a good subject to practice on, I am going to bring you your water." Thankfully this time the glass did not flip, and I made a quick exit out of the room before I made any more mistakes. However, I was laughing about the situation the rest of the afternoon.

Yes, I've had my tough days at Parkview (as I've had everywhere I've worked as a nurse). Yet, as my last day of this contract came to an end, I was actually kinda sad to leave and I find myself dreaming of possibly going back in the future. Not sure what God has in mind for me next...but for now, I'm thankful for a little breath of fresh air and some time to devote to other pursuits. Yes, keeping my patients alive and the doctors happy is important...but I'm ready for a change of pace and scenery. ;-)

And a change of pace and scenery is all too soon to come. I'm flying out with Sunny and Tim on Tuesday (leaving Loma Linda at 3am) to go to Minneapolis MN to help with GYC. This year I got pulled in to help with Registration, so have been working with the Registration and logistics team getting ready for the conference. After spending hours and hours working on Excel spreadsheets and making modifications and updates as people have made changes to their registration, I have a lot more respect and admiration for all those that work behind the scenes with GYC and other such organizations. Wow! It's a lot of work! On top of that, I've also been trying to help our CCBN team settle on a logo, develop a booth theme for the conference, and I've been trying to get packed to be gone for a month. After the conference, I'll be going home to Oklahoma for a couple weeks, then I'll be going home to Arkansas for a couple weeks. So...lots to do and lots to think about. I might consider feeling overwhelmed and be tempted to throw in the towel sometimes...but then once again, I am reminded, "His strength is perfect."

Hmmmm....maybe that needs to be my "new years resolution." Don't wait til you get to the end of your own strength and resources to "let Him work." Just LET HIM!!! ;-) Yeah, I still have lots of "letting" to do...but day by day and year by year, I am learning...despite all my mistakes and blunderings, despite my shaky hands or fearful heart...He's still there for me, and His love and strength does not change. He is perfect!

Sunday, December 09, 2007

My weekend of Blessings...

Before too much more time gets away from me, I have to share some of the blessings from this past weekend!

Three special things happened this weekend!
  • Beaver and Rebecca came to visit (longtime friends and nursing buddies!)
  • We got to spend time with some special kids at a Family Group Home
  • We had our Annual Advent Hope Christmas party
First off in the way of Blessings....it was soo great to have Beaver and Becca in town visiting this weekend. We got to catch up on life, share nursing stories, and talk about the exciting things that God has been doing for them as they prepare for the mission field. (They had our vespers program Friday night which was a real blessing!) One big miracle for them as they prepare to go to Mongolia is that of acquiring an airplane...a huge unexpected answer to prayer just in itself! They had stepped out in faith using all the resources they had and taking out loans to buy the plane that they felt God was leading them to buy...and within the first week of having the plane, they found out that someone had sent in a LARGE annonymous donation. (Large enough to take care of all the down payments and initial expenses!!!) Wow! Brings shivers to my spine just thinking about it! God is leading them forward...and step by step He has been opening the doors and paving the way.

Mongolia is lucky (or should I say "exceptionally blessed") to be getting them! As you will see in the slide show above....several of us even were even blessed to get to take a ride in the new airplane. I especially enjoyed getting aireal photos of the area in which we live...including our home...from the sky!! It was a beautiful day for flying...and as you can see, we even have snow on the mountains!

Thanks Beav & Becca for stopping by! We were sooo spoiled to have you all here with us for a whole weekend!!!

The second blessing, I mentioned from this weekend, was getting to go to a group home where we helped a bunch of special kids make crafts...and just enjoyed spending time with them. We finished with a special Christmas pageant...complete with live animals, angels and baby Jesus. Everyone was sooo cute in their costumes. And it was fun to see the joy on the kids faces as they acted out their parts. The only sad thing from the afternoon was that it ended sooo quickly! Above is a few fun pictures of our afternoon together. I plan to send all the pictures I took to to the children's parents, so they can enjoy them too!

The third blessing from this weekend was our annual Advent Hope Christmast party. The social team had put together a beautiful supper...and everyone brought fruit or desserts to contribute. We had worship, sang songs, and then ended with a variety of games....addressing the "physical, mental, and spiritual" areas of our livs. The whole event was socially invigorating and made me thankful for all the wonderful friends God has led me to meet here in Loma Linda CA! (I was also excited that Beaver and Rebecca could meet a few of my gang!)

Now ahead lies another busy week....not sure how I will make it through as there are many tasks to accomplish and much is weighing on my mind and shoulders. But one day at a time, His strength is perfect, and I know He will see me through! ;-)

Thursday, December 06, 2007

A love song from God...

Do you ever feel all alone? Like no one really understands, and you're just tired of the daily battle of life...tired of trying. The sunshine seems to have slipped away and your walking through the night...alone. You wish you had a shoulder to cry on...or someone to hold your hand.

It had been another long hard day at the hospital for me...an endless stream of tasks that I could never seem to get ahead of...patients that could not be made happy...managers that didn't understand. If I'd actually accomplished anything worthwhile, I wasn't sure. "Where has the joy of service gone, Lord? Why do I feel like I'm all alone on a treadmill that will not stop? Can anyone understand, does anyone care?"

In a rather melancholy mood, I must admit, I headed to the gym, hoping some exercise would brighten my spirits and help me feel more refreshed. Since no one was around to go with me, I grabbed my iPod. There, while I jogged, I began to listen to some prophecy seminars by David Asscherick. "This should get me feeling more peppy!" I thought. But I soon realized that it wasn't the best choice for helping my stress level. (I might add that Mr. Asscherick is one of my favorite speakers and Bible teachers...but for those that know him...He pretty much only has two speeds...OFF (when he's sleeping) and GO (100 mph...the rest of the time!) I'd already had a long day, and although I was jogging, my mind wasn't feeling like GO...at least not at 100 miles per hour! :-/ So finally I changed my iPod to some more restful selections.

Three miles later, with sweat and maybe tears combined (not sure which), I slowed to a mellow pace to cool down. Multiple ball games were being played in the field around me, but I was oblivious, lost in my own thoughts, as I walked around the track.

Just then one of the most beautiful love songs I have ever heard began to play. Yes, I am a romantic at heart...and always have been. But this time, the song didn't make me dream of "what might someday be" but of what already is today...between God and I. There was no doubt...while I may be feeling alone...I was not alone. SOMEONE WAS THERE!!! Tears coursed down my cheeks with renewed vigor as I looked with joy to the dark starry heavens above me. The music bathed my soul and cheered my heart as I listened and thanked the Lord for His love...and I thanked Him that He was there!

I invite you to listen to the song too (Just click on link here - I Will be Here) as you read the words. Once you get the little rhapsody box up and playing the song, you can click back arrow on your browser and read my blog again, while the music plays!

Now...got it figured out?

As you listen, let the words and message sink into your heart in a new way like never before...let them speak to you as they spoke to me...not just of human love, but of a divine love...with which nothing can compare...

I WILL BE HERE

"Tomorrow morning if you wake up
And the sun does not appear, I will be here...

"I will never leave thee or forsake thee..." Heb 13:5

If in the dark we loose sight of love,
Hold my hand and have no fear,
Cause I, I will be here...

"For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee." Isa 41:13

I will be here....when you feel like being quiet,
When you need to speak your mind, I will listen,

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." I Pet 5:7

And I will be here, when the laughter turns to crying,
Through the winning, loosing and trying,

"And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces..." Isa 25:8

"And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." Duet 31:8

We'll be together, cause I will be here....

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isa 40:31

Tomorrow morning if you wake up,
And the future is unclear, I will be here...

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Prov 3:5,6


Sure as seasons are made for change,
Our lifetimes are made for years,
So I will be here.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jer 29:11

I will be here...and you can cry on my shoulder,
When the mirror tells us we're older, I will hold you...

"And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." II Cor 12:9

"Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Ps 139:10

And I will be here to watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are too me.

"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you." Jer 31:3

I will be true to the promise I have made,
To you and to the one....who gave you to me!

"Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments." Duet 7:9

I....I will be here....

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Heb 13:8

And just as sure as seasons are made for change,
Our lifetimes are made for years,

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him." Ecl 3:14

So I...I will be here...
We'll be together. And I will be here..."

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame...before him IN LOVE." Eph 1:4

"For I am the LORD, I do not change..." Mal 3:6

Wow!! Gives new meaning to the words, "I will be here," doesn't it? Praise the Lord for a God who will always...always...without fail...always BE THERE! That's the kind of love even the world's greatest romantic could never compete with... ;-)

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The beauty of Character...

"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23

I said: "Let me walk in the field."
God said: "Nay, walk in the town."
I said: "There are no flowers there."
He said; "No flowers, but a crown."

I said: "But the sky is black,
There is nothing but noise and din."
But He wept as He sent me back,
"There is more," He said, "there is sin."

I said: "But the air is thick,
And the smog is veiling the sun."
He answered: "Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone."

I said: "I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say."
He answered me, "Choose tonight,
If I am to miss you, or they?"

I pleaded for time to be given.
He said: "Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your guide."

I cast one look at the field,
Then set my face to the busy town,
He said: "My child, do you yield?
"Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"

Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He.
And I walk in a light Divine,
In the path I said I'd never be!

Author: George MacDonald with personal modifications by "yours truly."

I read this poem yesterday, and as I thought about my life and some of the paths that God has lead me in...and specifically that of coming here to smoggy busy over-populated Southern California (the place I said I never wanted to be!) I am thankful and awed at what God is seeking to do in my life, and the lives of those around me. Yes, sometimes I get discouraged and am tempted to just leave it all and walk away. "I'm really not doing that much for God here anyway, am I?" I want to cry. Yet even amid the din of noise around me, I hear His soft voice, encouraging me to keep trying...encouraging me to stay.

As my blog readers have probably noticed, I've had a lot to share on the topics of "trials" and the purpose of "pain" over the last months. And if it's not obvious, it's because God has been taking me through some very special personalized growing experiences that haven't been pleasant. Yet, as I look back over the path He's brought me, I can only thank Him...for I know He is seeking to build my character and develop my life for His glory.

While the fires have died down, the floods have subsided (literally and personally), and the bitter pain of carrying a new cross has lessened, I'm still grateful for the lesson's God has taught me through these experiences here in Southern California. And I more keenly see the benefits of the trials along the way. In fact, just yesterday, I read some more thoughts on character development that were sooooo inspirational, I just have to share them. So here you go:

"Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great characters. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made of suffering.

Someday, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and molding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building project yonder.

Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us to eternity. To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation."

Did you catch that thought? "The great object of this life is character!" It matter's not what else we have done, or what else we have acquired...unless we have also acquired great character.

"Dear Lord, please help Melody to always be thankful for whatever happens to develop her character..." ;-)

Authors Cortland Myers and Austin Phelps from "Streams in the Desert" Dec 2nd & Dec 5th.

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Just another day at the hospital...

"Ho hum....just another day at the hospital..." I sang to myself as I walked down the hall to the nursing unit where I would be working. "I wonder what today will be like?"

I stowed my survival gear (lunch and medical reference books) and went to get my assignment for the day. Our unit was packed, and it looked like I would be "team-leading" with a LVN. We had eight patients for starters. Wow! That’s a heavy load, even if you do have a good working partner. However, I was to be working with an LVN that had never worked on our floor before, and had only been at Parkview once before...in the ER. She’d never done team nursing...and had no clue where anything was. She didn’t even have a code to pull meds from the PIXIS. To make matters worse, I had three of the most difficult problem patient’s on the floor. (I suppose every nurse could complain and say that...but...they’ve actually told me that they give me the more difficult patients and families sometimes because they think I can handle it...or at least I’ll be nice about it!) Well, today I wasn’t sure I was in the mood for handling it...and I felt myself close to tears as the night shift began to give the wonderful glorious report of all the trauma that had taken place during the night. "Lord help!" I breathed silently. "I don’t know if I’m up to handling this today! This is just tooooo much!"

About halfway through report, our charge nurse walked in the report room and handed me a slip of paper. "I hate to do this to you Melody, but you’re gonna get the first admit. It’s a 62year old male patient coming in from the ER with Syncope and Cardiac Dysrythmias. He’s had some type of fall and head trauma as well."

That’s just what I needed at that moment, but I tried to smile and took the paper. "Lovely!" I thought. "Will the pile-up never end?" We went on with report as I coached the new LVN what to take note of or be aware of. I felt the weight of the world, or at least of my almost nine patients, heavily upon my shoulders.

After we got our notes and the night nurses had gone home to sleep (where I wished I still was), I began checking charts for new orders and to make sure our medication were correct. I explained to the LVN how team-nursing worked and what she would be responsible for.

About this time our new admission arrived on the floor. So I immediately grabbed a stack of admitting paperwork and went to his room to make my initial assessment. (An action I would soon be very thankful for!) He talked with a lisps and I wondered if he’d been drinking. He was alert, but only partially oriented. He had a laceration on his forehead and swelling under his eye. It looked like he might have been in a fight. Vital signs however, were stable, and all appeared well. I looked him over, listened to his heart and lungs, checked his pulses, checked his pupil response, and scanned for other signs of battle scars. Nothing noticeable. So I finished my paperwork and headed back to the station. Still had to call the doctor for orders for my new guy as well as check the rest of the charts of my initial eight patients. Thankfully, I was able to get a hold of the doctor quickly and jotted down his orders on a piece of scratch paper.

Lights began buzzing as one patient or another (or their impatient family members) called out for this or that. A bedpan, a clean robe, ice water, pain medicine, a newspaper, or a house cleaner to mop the floor. I scurried about trying to organize my team and the tasks at hand and had barely gotten in to see two patients who needed pain meds when my charge nurse called for me. "Melody! Something’s wrong with your new ER patient! You gotta come right now!!" I rushed to the room. He was gasping for breath and his head was back as his eyes stared off into space. His body was rigid and stiff and shaking slightly. But he didn’t seem aware of those of us crowding around. I pulled his dentures out that were threatening to block his air pipe, and we turned up the oxygen. BP was 201/93 and climbing. "Was he like this before?" the charge nurse asked. "No! I was just here. He wasn’t completely oriented, but he was alert and talking to me!" So we yelled at our secretary to call for a "Doctor’s response." Soon the ER response team and doctors were crowding around. They’d taken a CT earlier that had been negative, but obviously something was up. Had he had a seizure, was there more trauma to his head than we’d realized? What was going on? I didn’t know...but I just did my best to answer questions and to follow Doctor’s orders...and before I knew it, we were wheeling his bed down the hall to ICU. I hadn’t even had time to write out all his initial orders! The next 45 minutes I spent finishing my charting, writing transfer orders, and doing the paper work for the "Doctor’s Response." By the time I got back to my floor and to the other poor forsaken eight patients (good thing I had other nurses willing to jump in and help out!), I was really behind. I didn’t finish assessing my final patient until almost 11am.

Ho hum....just another day at the hospital...but certainly not the kind of day I’d been hoping for.

Thankfully, while I still felt like I was behind all day...things did settle down. But the exciting events weren’t over. This time however, it came from one of the Nursing administrators, a lady who has been solidly against my re-hire because of my requests to work every Sunday instead of Saturday. About an hour before end of shift, she came up to the station.

"Hey Melody! What are you doing when your contract finishes?" she asked. "Youth Conference, family holidays...the usual..." I replied. Then she pulled me aside. "We’d like you to consider coming back and doing another contract with us...or maybe even being full time regular staff." she told me. "One of our top GI surgeon’s has requested we recruit you to work with his surgery patients upstairs. What do you think, would you consider it?" I have to admit, I was totally blown off my feet. I mean, I’ve had my challenging times at Parkview, and this day was certainly one of those days...but I’ve also loved it! I’ve had some of the best patient interaction of my entire nursing career...and I love the medical staff...doctor’s and nurses...that I get to work with. I’d love to work there more, but I’d just assumed my time was over. "Well....I’d have to think about it...." I began. "I mean, I love working here, and I like working up on the 3rd floor. (Who wouldn’t? It’s all newly refurbished, patients have private rooms, and the doctors are great...well...for the most part!) "But..." I continued. "I can’t work every other weekend! I don’t mind doing some Saturday’s when it’s an emergency...but not every other one!" (And I explained.) She smiled. "You know, I didn’t realize it was such an important spiritual conviction to you. I think we might be able to work with you after all...come to my office when you have time and we’ll talk more." She smiled again and walked away. Wow! I was even more blown off my feet. Not only was she offering me a great position....but she was now possibly willing to work with me on my Sabbath issues! I had some serious praying and thinking to do...

And so ended day one of my work week...yes, just another day at the hospital, but a learning and exciting one at that. However, I guess God didn't think one day of excitement was enough for my week. ;-)

Day two dawned cold and rainy. I took the time to actually curl my hair....which I only do every few days...and then I realized it was raining! (Something that occurs so rarely here in Southern California that it almost shocks the socks off you when it happens!) "So much for curled hair!" I whined to Valerie as I prepared to leave. Back to the hospital I drove, pleading with God to let me be a "primary nurse" this day, rather than part of a team. (It’s much easier to work with five patients on your own then up to 10 with a teammate...!) Thankfully that prayer was answered...I was on my own. Still had two of the difficult group...but I felt a little more chipper and a little more up to the challenge. However, exciting events of the day were only beginning.

As it continued to rain outside, water slowly began to come through the ceiling and walls in some of the rooms. And thus ensued the mayhem of trying to find dry rooms for patients. It rains so seldom I guess, that they never take time to really fix the leaks...so leaks we had! I saw glimpses of news clips on TV where a homes were getting flooded, and mud slides were occurring. (And here I was in a hospital that was flooding...) I had to laugh as I thought about it, although it wasn’t really funny. (Whatever California gets, it seems to get in excess. First it was wind and fire, now it was wind and rain! "Is God trying to baptize us all with Water and Fire?") If only it were that simple, huh...

The day wore on. We’d get one patient to dryness and safety, only to discover that the new room had a leak too. We moved one patient down the hall to a new room and then the bathroom ceiling almost fell through...so we had to move her back to her old room. (Wont she have a fun story to tell the grand kids?!) We began to joke about playing "musical beds" versus "musical chairs." And so the day went. Our poor charge nurse was about to go nuts. I didn’t blame her. Then they tried to give me a new admission. At the last minute it turned out he wasn’t faring so well, and they sent him directly to ICU. (Guess they’d learned their lesson from the day before with me.) By the time the shift was over, we’d moved 18 patients and closed nine rooms. And I was exhausted...and almost wished I'd been part of a team! At least I was able to relieve a little pain, calm a few fears, and wipe a few damp foreheads. After all, that’s what being a nurse is all about, right?

So...maybe it was just another day at the hospital...but it was also another day of adventure...showing strangers that there’s still people that care in the world, and there’s still people to help you...even when the water begins to rise!

"Thank you Lord for another day at the hospital..."