Abscess

The yellowish drainage oozed from a tiny puncture-like wound coming from the inmate’s left hip. As I pressed to make the drainage come out more, despite the pain, he felt relief. I applied more wound cleanser and stuffed the deep wound with a special kind of dressing inside. Covered it well with a very absorbent dressing, as the deputy and the LVN nurse who saw him earlier and requested me if I could do the dressing change were watching, disgusted.

“How long have you been using heroin?” I asked.

The deputy and the LVN looked at me surprised at the question I asked.

The inmate looked dumb-founded. Quiet for a few minutes and not sure what to say.

“Go on,” I added. “You can tell me. Don’t worry. The deputy will not use your answer against you because I needed to know this information before I have the doctor see you this morning,” I explained.

Unable to move his hands as they were both securely held behind his back with the silver handcuff, he said, “Yes, Ma’am. I’ve been using heroin heavily for so long now, I can’t remember.”

“That’s all I needed to know,” I uttered.

“Thank you for taking care of my wound,” he replied. He started tracing back his footsteps where he first walked in, the unit’s deputy right behind him, thanking me for treating the inmate.

“That was disgusting!” exclaimed the LVN. “But how did you know that he was using heroin? I thought he just had that abscess when he got arrested.”

“I just know. Working here for many years now. It doesn’t hurt to ask anyway,” I replied.

“Thank you nurse rcubes, for helping me treat that inmate. You were so nice to him,” she said.

“Don’t need to thank me. That’s our job here,” I retorted with a smile.

Nice to him? I was only paying back God’s goodness to me. Me? A wretched sinner who deserved punishment and God’s wrath, obtained His mercy instead. Forgiven. My spiritual wounds treated and healed by the merciful Savior. I am a sinner like that inmate. Like him, I also need God’s love and mercy. His compassion never fails. When our awareness of sins overcome us, His compassion never fails.

We should never be afraid to come to God for a clean slate and a renewed life.

Thank You Lord for forgiving me. Thank You for treating my ill ways and addictive behavior toward the worldly things. Thank You that when I confess my sins, You don’t hold them against me. And through Jesus, I obtain Your forgiveness, Your love and mercy.

“O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year. Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way.” ~ Hosea 14:8-9

12 comments:

  1. Amen, amen. Bless you sis, I love you.

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  2. In actuality, that was probably the first act of kindness he had received in a long time. Perhaps that may be the turning point that inmate needs to change his ways

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  3. Don't you love it that His mercies are new every day? His kindness is awesome. Thank you so much for your wonderful prayers, dear friend. Please know that you have mine, too.

    Rosel, just wanted to let you know that Carrie is blogging about her journey now. God is taking that pain and using it to help others!

    Love you,
    Mary

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  4. You are such a precious soul Rosel. Such a light for our Lord!

    Thank you for the sweet comment on my blog. (((hugs)))

    I pray the rest of your weekend is blessed!

    Love in Him,
    Beth

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  5. Dear one you just never know what God is up to. This was a precious read Rosel. Thank you.

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  6. All of us are addicts of sin. We just choose different needles, filled with lust, hate, gluttony, deception, intolerance, false accusation, infidelity.

    Pus and ooze from rotted relationship with out our God, ensues and flows. We will die without a cleansing.

    But God has spoken:
    "Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
    ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls."
    ~~~ Jeremiah 6:16 NIV

    Posts like this one on Off The Beaten Trek give rest for my soul.

    --- "ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers."
    ~~~Me,... paraphrasing St. Paul in
    Ephesians 1:15-23 as a gift to Rosel

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  7. @ Keystone: Sooo good to hear from you! Praying all is well. The moment you haven't commented in a while, I saw a truck with the word "keystone" on it like a logo and thought of you and prayed for you. God bless you and thank you for visiting.

    Thank you all for your encouragement!!! God bless.

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  8. we really are all the same Rosel...our sin just looks different. And kindness...the greatest we can give someone. You shine....you really do. ☺

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  9. Truly His sun rises on the just & unjust alike! I'm so glad your eye spots those occasions (even the troublesome ones) to cast His light; and your hands make quick work of applying His grace.

    Blessings,
    Kathleen

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  10. @Rosel,
    Your words are kind; thank you.
    Your prayers are fragrant; thank you.

    Sometimes, online, comments draw unfair response and I tend to withdraw from all areas due to a sole bad apple. I am learning to undo that. It is especially difficult at sites that pretend to be Christian oriented.
    I am learning.

    But your comment on the sign that made you pray for me, brought a memory to life from long ago.
    I had gone to an evening service at church to pray. Some major life problems were then underway. I did not know what to do.
    I prayed.

    Summer in northwest PA is construction time, since winter is serious snow time here....measure in feet, not inches.

    After prayer in church, it was an awesome sunset when I came out. It was a time when you could FEEL God, even when life problems made Him hard to see.

    Leaving church required coming to a road with a "T" intersection. I stopped at the stop sign to enter the top of the "T" and there was construction equipment for road repair all over the top of the "T" area.

    The sunset was behind me and radiantly beamed across one piece of construction equipment. I stared at the back of that crane for the longest time. It was a confirmation from God to my prayer at church.

    Indeed, a stop sign made me stop, and radiant beams of colored sunset made it impossible to ignore the message on the machine.

    You have all seen it before.
    "OVERSIZE LOAD"
    These machines are required for massive jobs and when little machinery just can't get the job done.

    But, in their haste to put this spray paint sign on this piece of machinery,... that God used to reply to my prayers and problems, a word was mis-spelled by one letter.

    Someone mistakenly looked at the "R" in OVERSIZE and thought it was the "A". When they spray painted the word, it came out:
    "OVERSIZE LORD"!

    At that moment, His voice boomed in my car as I sat alone at a stop sign. He shouted in glorious sunset beams:
    "I have heard you Keystone! You have presented oversize burdens to me that you can not move.
    But I, Your Lord and God, am an OVERSIZED LORD, to handle such oversize burdens. Thank you for stopping by tonight and trusting ME to care for them".

    He did.

    The next time you are driving and see a sign saying "OVERSIZED LOAD", check the spelling of the second word closely.
    Our God may have a word there for YOU.

    I have missed you Rosel and shall return.

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  11. Precious Sister,

    You continue to amaze me with your writing. God continues to use you so mightily here all for his glory and you believe, trust and obey him as you write your experiences in this dark place where you work. You are a shining beacon of light there as he shines through you and I am truly in awe when I read. There is always a message in each post here for all of us.

    Thank you sweet sister for always taking the time to shine your beacon my way. You have lighted up my life more than you will ever know.

    Love you so much,
    Alleluiabelle

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  12. You are uniquely gifted for your job. You have been blessed to be a blessing to your patients and this blog audience. Thank you for your faith and faithfulness. Praise, honor and glory be to God and our precious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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"Faith is taking the first step even if you don't see the whole staircase..."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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