I grew up with puppies, ponies, ducklings, chicks, kitties, and bunnies in our large backyard. I saw new babies of every kind. Five years ago I got to see my second grandson just after he was born, and I couldn’t keep the tears from flowing. Birth of any kind is an amazing gift from God. But it’s ironic that God wasn’t born or created -- he is self-existent!
Change. Some people embrace it, some people detest it, but it is a fact of life! The reality is that change can be challenging, but it is necessary for living creatures to grow and adapt to changes within themselves and in their environments. Babies do not stay babies!
Our discussion of a heavenly hope and a place without sickness brings us closer to the end of this time—and the return of Jesus Christ. This hope is based on the promises made by Jesus Christ to the disciples when he said, “Do not be troubled; I go to prepare a place for you and I will return to take you there to live with me.” (This is recorded in the gospels in John 14:1-3 and Matthew 24:29-31).
Breathing is necessary for physical life. Nurses and other health care providers may insert a tube into the lungs to facilitate breathing, or attach a ventilator or breathing machine that will “breathe” for a patient. Another intervention for someone not breathing is for a nurse to blow air into the patient through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
As I was thinking of our living hope (1 Peter 1:3), I was reminded of a modern Christian song and movie entitled God’s Not Dead. I wanted to replace the words of the song “Hope’s not dead, it is surely alive.” For, sometimes we live as if our hope is dead. Is your hope breathing independently with a strong pulse? Some of us are in desperate need of hope CPR (cardiac pulmonary resuscitation).
As health care workers we have dedicated our gifts and talents to caring for the sick, the disabled and the mentally ill. Our nursing service is a calling or ministry, with God equipping us to care for his children. As Christians, we have joy and confidence in knowing we are doing the Lord’s work.
Nurses know the five rights of medication administration: the right patient, right med, right dose, right route, and right time/frequency. Nurses also check that medications don’t expire and lose effectiveness and potency over time.
I was in the health & beauty section of a store recently, staring at all the shelves filled with anti-aging creams and high-energy products. We are obsessed with slowing down the aging effects of time on our bodies or speeding up our productivity. Everything we do is connected to time: past, present, or future.
We acknowledge the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross on Good Friday. Then we celebrate with joy his resurrected life on Easter Sunday. But what do we do on Saturday?
On most postcards of Seattle you’ll see the Space Needle, built for the 1962 World’s Fair. I’ve been up high in the Space Needle several times, and people on the ground below look quite small and far away! On days when the fog and mist are dense around the observation deck, you can feel like you’re in the clouds -- far, far above life below.