Bad Can Be Good

Have you guys seen this video? Before I transferred to working in a prison facility, a lot of former co-workers from the hospital mostly had negative remarks of why I shouldn't go there. The number one reason was it was not a safe place to be.

But what would I do if the Lord was bringing me here? I would rather trust the One Who knew what was best for me at that time. And He would be my Protector!

Turned out to be, I even felt safer working in that environment.

There are many deputies who would be there in a heartbeat if something goes wrong. And of all the impossible.....there are those times, when some inmates themselves, step in to protect the staff....

From the moment I started working there, I knew that if I wanted to be respected, you had to treat everyone with respect..."You reap what you sow..." [Galatians 6:7].

[Please silence my playlist before watching]...




A new broom sweeps clean.

We may change our methods but we don't change the basic principles.

If you're not changed, you don't have Jesus, because He changes people! No matter how good you are, He'll make you better!

Lord help me to change the things that need to be changed, & not to change the things that don't need to be changed, & especially Lord, help me to know the difference!

Just because we did it that way yesterday, doesn't mean we have to do it that way today! If you can find some easier, quicker, shorter, better, faster way to do it, do it!

All changes are difficult & sometimes costly, but if they're good changes, in the long run they pay off!

[Quotes from Word of Love]

Disobedience vs. Obedience

He had two bumps up on top of his head. One bigger bump started bleeding and the Intake Nurse phoned me and asked me what needed to be done as she didn’t remember that particular inmate going through her to be asked with medical questions.

“Let’s take care of the bleeding first. Then, we’ll find out if he’s already booked, we can ask the Sergeant if we can have our transportation deputy bring him to the hospital, since it looks like his cut needs suturing. For now, let’s control that bleeding,” I stated.

The man was not too drunk. His face was red and a slight alcohol smelling breath was exhaled every time. He was in a bar at the wee hours of that morning and ended up having a fight with a woman. He didn’t remember much, except that she hit his head with her high-heeled shoe that caused those two bumps and that bleeding cut in one of them. He seemed nervous, being new to the jail.

“Sir, just follow the rules here, whatever they tell you. In a few hours, just be patient and remain cooperative, and you’ll be released. When they do, our deputy will bring you to the county hospital and give you a ride. That way, the doctor in ER can suture your bleeding cut,” as I reassured him.

After the bandage was put with pressure, he was told to go back to the holding cell. Unfamiliar with the rules, he wasn’t sure what to do next.

“Cross your hands in front of you and stay on that red line!,” hollered a deputy.

He said something back to the deputy that was not clear for the Intake Nurse and I to hear. As I was making my way back to the Clinic to resume to my duty, next thing we saw, he was pushed against the wall and few deputies had pinned him down on the floor.

The Intake Nurse called me few minutes later and told me that this inmate ended up having a bump on his right eyebrow and some more blood spilled on that cold floor. He was immediately sent out to the ER since he sustained another bleeding cut from his eyebrow and somewhere inside the mouth.

When he came back from the hospital, he told the Intake Nurse that he didn’t deserve that. The Intake Nurse told him that, that was the reason why I told him in the first place, to listen and just follow the rules. When he said something to the deputy and did not obey what he was telling him, that would be taken as being disrespectful. He finally understood and started listening more. That saved him from further troubles.

What repercussions disobedience brings! Cain ended up killing his own brother. King Saul lost his kingship because he didn’t listen to what God wanted him to do. And many more stories.

God desires for us to show Him our love by being obedient to His Word.

In contrast to being disobedient, Noah’s obedience saved humanity from being destroyed. Abraham’s faith and obedience resulted to a great nation promised to him: lots of descendants. Joseph saved his family from famine, despite the abuses he had to endure from his siblings. And Jesus….obeyed what was willed for Him: to die on the cross to be the ultimate sacrifice for humanity’s sins.

Jesus said in John 14:15- “If you love me, obey my commandments.” Jesus always strived to please no one else but the Father when He was here. He remained obedient, to the point of giving his life on the cross.

Man’s disobedience always leads to DEATH…But Jesus’ obedience leads to ETERNAL LIFE.

Beauty In The Eye Of The Beer Holder

True scenes from Female Intake [female side of the jail where they receive female arrestees from the streets, as told by the Intake nurse that night] on the eve of Halloween:

One drunk female was brought in, screaming and melted mascara from her tears, smeared her face.

Drunk Woman: “What kind of nurse are you? Can’t you see?! I can’t breathe!”

Nurse: “Ma’am, I’m sorry. But if you can yell at me at the top of your lungs like this, then, I know that you are breathing fine.”

Drunk Woman: “Well….long pause…my doctor said that I can talk but it doesn’t mean that I’m breathing fine.”

After signing her medical questionnaire and ticket, she was placed in one cell. Once sober, she would be released in a few hours.

An hour later, an older, drunk, heavy set woman was brought in. Her hair was sticking up in different directions. Nice jewelries visible as the precious stones shone from her fingers. Cooperative at first, but when the Intake Nurse and the arresting cops wanted her to sign the needed documents, she became uncooperative. Turning her face into another direction, she stated:

“I’m not signing anything until my lawyer gets here.”

She started fighting, too with the female deputies. Being uncooperative, the deputies put her immediately to where the first woman was placed. You could just imagine some scenarios that could happen between a yelling woman placed along with a snobbish, older woman…Both potential for being combative.

Few minutes passed and the nurse and the deputies were wondering why it got quieter in that cell. Checking up on the women to make sure they were both okay, they saw the yeller [who was complaining of difficulty breathing] sleeping on the cold, cement floor…When all of a sudden, the older, heavy-set woman [the one who didn’t want to sign her ticket and medical history] straddled herself on top of the sleeping woman and acted like she was going to suffocate her.

The other woman woke up and started screaming again while turning red on her face, “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”

Intake Nurse: “Now, I believe you.” As she was saying that, the female deputies rushed to rescue her from the other woman.

All these craziness resulted from their foolish actions being intoxicated. They were both not even fully aware of what they were saying and doing. Everyone from work could not imagine what they would think and feel once they would be more sober.

It was amusing to watch all that drama unfolded. But the consequences of their actions were not fun at all. They would both realize that, once the alcohol was out of their system.

Some warnings from the Bible about drinking alcohol:

Genesis 9:20-26 - Noah became drunk; the result was immorality and family trouble.

Genesis 19:30-38 - Lot was so drunk he did not know what he was doing; this led to
immorality.

Leviticus 10:9-11 - God commanded priests not to drink so that they could tell the difference between the holy and the unholy.

Deuteronomy 32:33 - Intoxicating wine is like the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps.

Proverbs 4:17 - Alcoholic drink is called the wine of violence.

Proverbs 20:1 - Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging.

Proverbs 23:19-20 - A wise person will not be among the drinkers of alcoholic beverages.

Spiritual Sundays - Dead Without Deeds

Sunday again? Wow! Time goes really, really fast! But this is the best time of the week, when we look forward to this gathering at this special place called Spiritual Sundays. Thank you sisters Charlotte and Ginger for always inspiring us and hosting this great site! For other encouraging posts, or even to join in, please visit Spiritual Sundays. God bless.


“Did you go to a mandown while I was eating?” asked a co-worker when she came back from her break.

“Yes. But Nurse Inglish [not real name], thank God, waited and ended up going to where I was to help me out,” I replied.

“I’m so sorry. I could have helped you…only if I was listening to the radio traffic,” she uttered.

“You mean, you’re not listening? That’s okay if you can’t help me out. But it’s very important that you should be listening to the radio traffic all the time. You just never know if there’s an emergency or maybe a call for our safety,” I stated.

Nurse Inglish who helped me, didn’t need to do that as she was assigned to another unit of the prison. She heard that there was someone having a seizure in one unit and saw me rushing out toward the hallway, with the emergency bag hanging from my shoulder, my own stethoscope, dangling around my neck. My small radio sticking out from my left pocket.

“I’ll stand by. Call me, Rcubes if you need help, okay?” she hollered.

“Okay, thanks,” I hurriedly replied.

The man was unresponsive for a good 10 minutes. Obviously, he bit his tongue as dried blood was noticeable on his upper and lower lips. He was dazed, with a deep kind of snore. My priority was to preserve his airway at that time. But I had asked the deputy to call for an ambulance immediately anyway as he was not responding.


I didn’t call Nurse Inglish for assistance. She heard the radio call herself, and dashed immediately toward that unit. She came and helped me by trying to start the IV as I went to the computer to check the man’s medical records and initiated the paper work that would be sent out to ER.

It was the nurse on the break that was supposed to be helping me. Because we were both working in the Infirmary that night. But she wasn’t listening to the radio calls. How could she help me if she wasn’t listening in the first place?
　
Words without actions are dead. God clearly explained it through James. From James 2:14-26, NIV:

“14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.


25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”