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The Wicked Thing

Sitting on one of the chairs used for sick calls, a young male was holding on to his upset stomach. With our medical secretary nearby, to interpret for both of us [between Spanish and English], he complained of not being able to keep his food down.

He was just incarcerated the day before. But he failed to inform the Intake Nurse [admitting nurse] that he had a habit of using massive doses of methamphetamines daily. So, he started going through some withdrawal symptoms that day. When night time came, he couldn’t stand it any longer and had requested to be seen by the medical staff.

All day, he wasn’t able to eat as he had been throwing up and had been going to the bathroom, afflicted with bouts of diarrhea. His vital signs fortunately were normal, except for his rapid pulse. My concern was that he was prone to being dehydrated because of his nausea and vomiting coupled with his diarrhea. And him, not being able to eat nor drink, the lost fluids were not replenished.

Night shift nurses were there to only see inmates with emergency kind of illnesses. His was not that of emergent but because of problems with dehydration, I told the charge nurse, I would go and treat the said inmate.

“Why are you seeing him?”, grumbled the deputy who needed to guard me as I treated the inmate. “So what if he’s withdrawing? Mother____!” “You use drugs and then, you come here to the jail and keep complaining. A-----!” “You need to throw up, then throw up! Jesus!”

I wasn’t saying anything. I knew in my heart that anyone who hasn’t fully accepted the Lord’s love would have the tendency to talk like that. And if that deputy is a Christian, that just showed how much we are in need still of God's grace and knowledge every day, to help our minds be renewed, our hearts transformed to His likeness.

As my emotions were building up, I asked the Lord for His wisdom in this situation that slapped my face. Immediately, I felt calm and sealed my mouth and felt I didn't need to speak until there would be a better opportunity to speak back, but not in the manner that would displease the Lord.

While getting the appropriate medications to relieve the inmate’s upset stomach, one LVN walked in as I was washing my hands and said sarcastically, “Well, the deputy wanted me to tell you for you to give TLC to that inmate.”

"This is it! This is the opportunity that the Lord whispered to my ears..."

Loudly, I responded, “Isn’t that my job? Not to judge but to give TLC to sick ones here?” I knew the deputy was passing by and I wanted him to hear me.

At that point, I walked out of the pharmacy and he was right there. He didn’t say anything but I intended for him to hear my response. He couldn’t look me in the eye.

The inmate took the medications and immediately felt relief. So he requested if he could go back to his unit. I informed him that the medications would continually be given for up to 5 days. He said “thank you” and walked away, not holding his stomach anymore.


James also reminded us about learning how to tame our tongue. Such a small organ but if we are not careful, it’s unimaginable to know how much damage it can do! Before we say anything, we must be careful that the words are not something we will regret later. It’s either you use your tongue to build up someone or hurt them. Your choice…Will you have a wicked tongue? Or will it be under control?

James 3:7-12 - “People can tame all kinds of animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes, it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so, blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty pool.”


Please turn up your volume and enjoy this song of worship! To God be the glory!

Please Follow Him

“Give him a mask,” I suggested to the Intake Nurse as I went there to help her out in screening newly-arrived arrestees. I distanced myself far away from this man when I was screening another arrestee and my attention got caught by his coughing.


This particular young male she was screening for health problems was coughing until he threw up a little bit. He stated that he had been sick for five days but he never sought any medical treatment.


Aware of the prevalence of the “swine flu scare” that we had recently, despite the vital signs being normal except for a mild fever, putting a mask on him was what first came to my mind as the number 1 intervention. Doing so would prevent others from contracting anything if that inmate happened to be contagious.


The other nurse kept sitting close to him. She didn’t seem to listen to my suggestion. Hesitantly, she felt like sending him to the hospital. She phoned the charge nurse for her second opinion. The whole time, the inmate continued to cough without a mask on.


“Sir, will you please cover your mouth whenever you cough?” I commanded.
Upset with his latest arrest, he seemed to purposely cough louder and tried to draw attention to scare others nearby. He was admitted and the nurse placed him for the doctor’s sick call that morning. Still without agreeing with my suggestion of giving him a mask.


When I went back to work that night, I learned about the chaos that ensued. The doctor ended up sending that inmate to the county hospital because he had swine flu symptoms. Swabs were done on him and the custody staff who came in contact with him. The nurse who saw him wasn’t aware since she was off that night and work had failed to try to get hold of her. No one was answering her home phone. As a precaution, some deputies were started with Tamiflu, the antiviral medications that hopefully, would prevent the staff from getting sick and whoever was exposed with him.


All the high ranking officials and medical staff’s highest supervisors were notified. The actions came swiftly to contain those who had contact and treatment was initiated in no time.


I was grateful to know that we had that kind of response. But deep inside, I knew in my heart that this chaos would have been prevented if that inmate was given a simple mask and isolated from others.


That morning, I called that nurse early and didn’t care if I had to wake her up. She needed to know because I knew that she was exposed herself. Pending the result of the swab, it was her option to take the Tamiflu or not. She didn’t bring up about my suggestion but I felt her anxiety because it became a big problem. I sensed she was afraid if she would get in trouble as supervisors were all notified.


Why are we selective when it comes to hearing God’s Word? We know His ways are best for us but somehow, we ignore His warning. We do what we think we know is right. But oftentimes, our actions come back to either haunt us or hurt us.

Proverbs 4:4-9:

4 - “Take my words to heart. Follow my instructions and you will live.”

5 - “Learn to be wise, and develop good judgment. Don’t forget or turn away from my words.”

6 - “Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you.”

7 - “Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And whatever else you do, get good judgment.”

8 - “If you prize wisdom, she will exalt you. Embrace her and she will honor you.”

9 - “She will place a lovely wreath on your head; she will present you with a beautiful crown.”

Spiritual Sundays - Nothing Beautiful

For how long those posters were hanging on one side of the walls in our medical clinic, no one knew not unless they had worked in the jail for a long time.


There were 4 columns of men’s and women’s faces, horizontally and vertically. They were the “before and after drug use” kind of photos. And the pictures told it all, they were not pretty!


Two or three years of drug use made these faces looked so old! They were in their 20’s or 30’s and they looked like twice, even thrice their ages already. Teeth were decayed, some receded to their gum lines. Their hair falling off and brittle, compared to what was once thick and shiny hair with a nice style. Clear facial skin was replaced with overly dry condition, filled with rashes or acne all over. The once over-all well-kept appearance looked shabby and unkempt.


These people were trapped in the web of habitual substances abuse. Others made fun of them. They were ridiculed, outcast, perhaps, rejected. They would find their “quick-fix” by increasing the amount of drugs they used to achieve that “peace and elation” feelings they were hoping for. But unfortunately, their mental condition also began to deteriorate at the passing of times.


People are often quick to judge others just by seeing their faces or over-all appearances. They think that they know that person’s character just by merely looking at them from the outside. If they appear handsome or beautiful, they associate it with them being “good kind of people”. Or vice versa.


Long time ago, though He didn’t use drugs and “sinless”, there was a humble Servant who came here but he was judged, laughed at and ridiculed. He did not appear majestic so why would one believe that He was the “Son of God” even? He was only a carpenter, born in a manger, so how could He be the “King of all Kings?”


The prophet Isaiah described Jesus this way [Isaiah 53:1-6]:


1- “Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power?

2- “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender, green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.

3- “He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care.”

4- “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!

5- “But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!

6- “All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of all.


Be careful not to lose that opportunity of becoming “friends” with others just because your opinions have formed pertaining to their physical appearances.


It may be the “best friendship” you can ever find in your lifetime!

For more of encouraging posts, please visit Spiritual Sundays, hosted by sisters Charlotte and Ginger.