I Want To Thank You

"Shout with joy to the Lord, O earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture." ~ Psalm 100:1-3

She demanded to be seen for severe nausea and vomiting at the wee hours of Sunday morning.

“I did put a sick call request!” she complained as I started applying the blood pressure cuff on her left arm.

“How long ago?”

“Just yesterday. But I put in 2 requests already!” she whined.

“Ma’am, you have to understand. There are 3,000 something inmates here. Out of that number, many are requesting to be seen for different issues, like you.”

“I know,” she mumbled under her breath.

“You just need to be patient. Sometimes, the people screening the inmates’ requests, have to put those urgent conditions,” I explained.

Everything was normal despite the complaint of severe nausea and vomiting all day, prior to her arrival in the Infirmary’s waiting area. I motioned for her to go back to the same spot and just try to relax. She didn’t know. I was just observing her. I didn’t see her throw up not even once. I saw her got up many times, trying to scan who the people were inside the Clinic. She must have seen how busy the Nursing staff was. She glanced back at the tv monitor up on the wall, when she saw me looking at her.

A few hours had gone by. She started becoming fidgety and uncomfortable. The fingers previously rubbing her abdomen became intertwined with each other and moved restlessly.

“Nurse! Nurse!” she yelled.

“How may I help you?” I asked as I approached the big glass partition window.

“I’m sorry. I’m okay now. I think I’ll just go back to my unit. Thank you for giving me those pink pills for my tummy. They worked,” she uttered.

I signed her yellow pass and reminded her to be patient. That she could still put a sick call request whenever she didn’t feel well. The demands she had when she first walked in vanished into thin air. As her shadow disappeared, I knew she wouldn’t be back for a while. She discovered it wouldn’t be easy to get what she wanted every time. She found out that no matter how much she whined, she still needed to be patient and needed to learn how to endure every passing moment. That it wouldn’t be easy to lie when it came to medical symptoms. That she couldn’t go anywhere despite the fact that she was able to go out of her tiny cell, the reality was that she was still inside the prison even if she had found a temporary few hours of freedom being in the Clinic. I saw her frustrated eyes replaced with a grateful look. She was thankful to be out of the Clinic as she couldn’t stand being monitored anymore by the Nursing staff, especially with my watchful eyes. Yes, I let her go. Not because she demanded but because there was truly no intervention needed. I made her aware that she was not sick after all. And that was one thing to be grateful for. There were a lot of sicker inmates than her.

I forget, too, sometimes that there are lots to be thankful for...But when we realize that God created us because He loves each of us, we, in turn, can’t help but give to others, as God gave to us. Out of the millions of people, we may all differ in our characteristics or traits from one another, but we are all the same when it comes to Him calling us to love Him first, then, love others. Our good God deserves all our thanks and praise.

Oh Lord, You alone are worthy to be worshiped. Help me to always joyfully come into Your presence. May I remember to always thank You and praise You whatever circumstances I am in. For You are awesome and Your unfailing love endures forever. May my life be a sweet offering to You Oh Lord. Thank You for Your love, mercy and grace. In Jesus' Name. Amen.




Happy Thanksgiving friends and may God bless you all.