I've been on a trip, dealing with the chronic head and neck pain that has plagued me for nearly 5 years. Actually I've been on a couple of trips since my last post. I apologize for being MIA and I aim to be more consistent in blogging.
Thanksgiving was wonderful. The food was amazing. In my excitement I took a picture of my plate Thursday! The colors were so pretty not to mention the taste. We had the five of us, my sister, and my brother-in-law. I miss the days of lots of people milling around the kitchen and table. Not enough room to sit, but desperately trying to fit everyone around the table so we could be together.
I swear I felt the spirit of Mama, Granny, and Aunt Helen in the kitchen with me Thursday morning as I was cooking. I never understood why they started cooking Wednesday and got up
at the crack of dawn Thanksgiving day to cook. Surely it didn't take that long. I guess if you had six ovens it wouldn't! They threw down honey with the food. I think they'd be proud of us girls. The next generation is coming along pretty good too; Morgan has taken a liking to cooking. She made some pecan sandies this weekend that were perfect.
I told you when we started that I would probably tell the story of my journey with pain at some point. And I will. For now I want to point you to a song I wrote about it, "Sustaining Grace". Karen Peck and New River have jut recorded it. If I can muster up my best techie skills I will attach a copy of the vocal demo (not Karen) and lyric. Basically it pays honor God for the way He has sustained my through constant, unrelenting pain these past years.
Working today. Haven't been sleeping very well the past week or so. My job is very physically, emotionally, and mentally demanding..........at the speed of a high-speed chase. Working in the ICU isn't the place where you'll see co-workers sharing coffee and Black Friday super gift discoveries. No staring at the clock longing for it to turn quitting time. We barrel through our 12 - turns into 13 + hour shifts taking total care of 2-3 patients, fielding phone calls and visits from family, coordinating lab tests, xray, CT scanns, and other procedures which may be led/performed by another healthcare professional, but the nurse has gotta be on board......Are you out of breath.?Yeah. Lunchtime comes when ever there's a window in the flurry of activity. It may be 12, 2, 3:30. You can't count on a time EVER. We barely get to go to the bathroom. Like the rest of the workforce in other fields, we're doing more with less. And it's getting worse. Administration expects high percentage patient satisfaction surveys, short lengths of stay, flawless documentation, no overtime, and a happy smiling employee. In the last six months we have changed from paper charting to almost total computer charting. We are in the process of going to total computer documentation of medication administration. And no raise this year cause the hospital is struggling. Ok I'm done.
Done complaining. I said all that to tell you how the Lord guided me re my job recently. Seeking to tone down the pace and save myself some stress I applied for a job in another area in the hospital. Between the time I applied to the interview I changed my mind several times. I lay it before the Lord and told Him I would be happy with however it turned out. When I got the call from the nurse manager I was scared to answer so I didn't. I was afraid she was gonna offer me the position and I wasn't sure I wanted it now! I drove on home, checked my e-mail and found out that I hadn't gotten the job. I felt so taken care of by the Lord! He guided me through the whole process and gave me peace that the right scenario would work out. I am sure that He has me where I need to be right now.
