Well...where do I begin...?? Seems I'm living within a whirlwind...

Decided I wanted to take on another short-term Travel nurse contract. I've been off work since early December, and although things have been really tight, God has blessed and provided. Yet, while I desire to work full-time youth evangelism and ministry, I believe that bed-side nursing is a ministry too! Also, after all the work it took to become a nurse, I don't want to loose my skills, and I still have a couple small loans I am trying to pay off. So after much thought and prayer, I finally decided to take on another contract. (I've been working on getting debt free far too long, but believe it or not...I am really almost there!!! What a great feeling that will be!) So I started work again this last week at my same favorite hospital in Riverside. They have been very gracious to me and allowed me to have off every Sabbath and every Wednesday. So I am very thankful!!

My first couple days back were just as hectic as ever...and believe it or not, two of my first patients were teenage girls that had over-dosed on drugs. (For those of you that have read my blog experiences over the last couple years, you know these are my favorite type of patients. I'm not being sarcastic, by the way!) So I thought it was kinda funny or maybe providential that these were the patients I got on my first couple days back.

Regardint these girls: Day one they were still hallucinating and partly incoherent, so had to be restrained or have one to one attention as they were fighting anything and everything we did. It was pretty wild!! By day two they were thanking God they were alive and scared about the close call they'd had. They hadn't been trying to kill themselves, just get "high." When I discharged one of the girls (the other one had to leave too quickly), I took time to really talk straight to her about her life and how God loves her too much to let her go and He has a plan for her life. She just nodded and cried and we prayed together. Then she hugged me when she left. She has a sister that is a Christian and trying to reach her. Her sister and I had a really good talk, so I just pray that this near-death experience will be a turning point for her.

So as you can see, my first days back were hectic, but with God's strength I was able to jump right back into the swing of things, deal with some pretty tough patients, as well as help some of the other nurses with their questions and problems, and at the end of the day I actually felt like I'd accomplished something worthwile. This may sound surprising....but I am actually thankful to be back working as a nurse for several more months.

Sabbath, our dear friend Alistair (the guy that was suddenly incapacitated during GYC) started a new class on Revelation which I really enjoyed. (He and Norman will be sharing this class I understand!) He also preached an incredible sermon. The topic was "WHY BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE." It was such a powerful sermon and probably ranks up there as one of my favorites that I've heard since I've been here at Advent Hope. He went through seven reasons why God allows bad and painful things to happen in our lives...and included part of his testimony and the miracles God has been working in his own life the last several months. I will share one verse from his sermon that we all should be reminded of.

"All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." II Tim 3:12

And then one of my favorite verses...

"But I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Rom 8:18

I don't want to spoil the impact though, so I encourage you to go listen to the sermon yourself on Audioverse. (Just click here...if you didn't already click above!)

Here's to another grand glorious, crazy, and adventuresome week, which I expect will also be just as busy and whirl-winding! But thankfully I don't need to fear the "whirl-wind" for my Savior walks with me through it...