A new year can be a cheerful opportunity to start fresh. This year, we feel the desire for a fresh beginning, but also need to release what the past year has been for us.
Christy Secor has been reflecting on and praying about the transition from 2020 to this new year. Her contemplation and communication with God will resonate with many of us nurses.
As I was thinking about the joys and heartbreaks of the past year, these verses from Psalm 139 came to mind:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139: 7-10 (NIV)
If I were to write out these verses for myself and for the nurses I’ve been privileged to speak with during this past year, it would read something like this:
God, this year has stretched us and broken us.
But through it all we’ve been reminded of one truth.
You are there.
You are there.
You are there through the care provided to patients in ICU beds
and the long shifts when we did not have the strength to go on.
You are there as we donned gown, mask, and gloves again
and as we searched for the PPE we needed
and as our skin broke down from wearing our masks for hours at a time.
You are there in the separations families experienced
in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and sometimes our own homes.
You are there in each of our Zoom meetings
and as we taught and provided clinicals online
and as we worked through another change, update, or new directive.
You are there as we sheltered in place
and as worship services were cancelled and moved online.
You are there through the long vigils of waiting
and the death of ones we love so much
and the death of ones we hardly knew at all.
God, this year has taught us life lessons and given us new priorities.
We continue to hope. We continue to believe. We continue to trust.
Because you are there.
You are there.
Christy Secor RN, DNP, CDWF is NCF’s Professional Ministries Director. Christy supports practicing nurses by working with volunteer leaders of NCF nurse groups around the country. She also assembles the monthly NCF Prayer Calendar and prays often with nurses.
Download the January Prayer Calendar here.
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