I was trying to savor each crucial minute that was passing
by. As my plan for an unexpected early exit from working in the prison seemed to
materialize more at the passing of each day. There in front of us, five nurses,
sat a middle-aged man, slumped slightly forward as he tried to put more effort
in getting in more air to his chest that started hurting this morning. Slightly
pale and diaphoretic when we first got there, the other nurse and I who
responded barely knew his medical history. We just knew he was diabetic and was
getting dialysis every certain days of each week. But his blood sugar was not
that bad for the morning check.
“I bet he’s coming down with some lung problem more than the
heart,” I suggested to the nurse whose fast pace, I tried to keep up with, down the long, silent, cold hallway.
Tapping my stethoscope before putting it on his upper, right back, I heard his breath sounds diminished on that side.
Feeling the hot skin even with my hands donned with gloves, I knew he was
running a fever. I advised for the deputies to put him on a guerney so we could
take an EKG but I told the nurse, he looked so weak. I would rather not waste a
second in calling for an ambulance so he could be brought to the county’s ER immediately.
To which she agreed.
After calling over the radio, the other three nurses
immediately worked like a precise team. One started the IV. One connected the
mask to the oxygen tank I hauled with me. One helped me and the other nurse did
the vital signs and other assessment.
To what seemed like an eternity, it actually took us five to
ten minutes to settle the man and did the best first aid we could. I had an AED
machine near me. In case…
He became more calm. His pinkish color returning to
what looked like a grayish, pale face we first saw. The EMT finally came with their
guerney and agreed that he could hear diminished sounds on the right
side of his lungs. The EKG strip returned without any abnormalities.
Walking back to the Clinic, five of us were more relaxed by
then, enjoying that special mission which tried to make a life not be lost. I told
them...It was a moment like that, that sometimes stopped me and gave me doubts
if I truly wanted to leave working in the prison. I told them I had more
stress-less nights despite chaotic shifts. Because I was working with the right
team. They all smiled and those smiles showed a hushed thankfulness to a
well-meant flattery.
Working in the prison, I know better now as the Lord still
continues to teach me each time…that as His child, I don’t have to do things
that are fear-based. Because of Him, I have learned to face each critical event
with calmness, heart pounding, not with fear but with flipping the pages of
learned experiences that can intervene to a particular symptom or emergent
situation. But paired with that, He also gives some of His children, who I must
learn to trust and work with with respect, no matter what degree of education
we, each, hold.
Because of Him…God Who gives a spirit not of fear but of power and love
and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).
Whether I stay or leave the
prison, there is no thing truer than this:
The Spirit of God, who
raised Jesus from the dead, lives in me. And just as God raised Christ
Jesus from the dead, he will give life to my mortal
body by this same Spirit living
within me.(emphasis was mine)
My power? It is God’s power….The SAME
POWER…
I heard this song from Jeremy Camp a while ago on my way to
work. May you, child of God, always be reminded that wherever you go, whatever
you do, you are living each moment, not for your own good, but for His glory.
Sharing Christ to those who don’t know Him. Whatever you face, you have that
power that comes from Him. There is nothing to fear. Instead, you and I can do
everything in Christ Jesus. To Him be the glory forever.
