The Shakedown

“Ouch…My left shoulder hurts, too,” complained the middle-aged male inmate. Slumped on one of the chairs, with both wrists in a handcuff, on his back, he claimed that he felt dizzy earlier in his unit.


“My rib also hurt. Aren’t you going to call the Sergeant and take pictures of my injuries or something?”, he asked.


“Sir, let me examine your injuries well and let me decide on what I can do best to help you after doing so,” I firmly stated.


“Well, they haven’t even given me my evening meds yet,” as he kept grumbling.
From the look of it, he seemed to have been gotten hurt, though minor, but his injuries seemed they would make him feel sore. There was a minor reddish streak on the area below the rib cage. It was a minor abrasion but there was no ecchymosis [bruising or discoloration]. The area was not swollen nor tender to touch. He grimaced as I touched that area and screamed “Ouch!“


My stethoscope did not pick up any abnormal lung sounds. There was no signs of difficulty breathing. His left shoulder didn’t seem out of alignment. He could move all of his fingers and there was a good capillary refill on all of his fingers. That was great! He seemed to be answering appropriately, despite the claim that he was slammed against the wall.


The deputies were lined up and with protective coverings, started marching toward a particular unit. Armed with pepper sprays and anti-riot gears, they were not visible to the inmates or particular cells they wanted to inspect. It was an unannounced “shakedown” [like raids] in that unit.


Inmates were caught in a big surprise. They were asked to turn and face the walls. One particular inmate did not want to listen and started yelling profanities, so the deputies had no choice but put his body against the wall and kept him there by one or two deputies, as the other continue their search for contrabands [illegally-smuggled goods]. They used metal detectors and hovered them over the mattresses with the aim of finding any metal objects.


In this particular inmate’s cell and mattress, a little thing was forming looking like a “shank” [a makeshift knife]. He seemed to have hoarded tons of apples, too [remember my post about pruno?]. There was also some whitish, powdery material in a small plastic.


The “shakedown” was over in short minutes. The deputies were precise in targeting what they were looking for. The inmates were placed back in their particular cells. Whoever was caught hiding illegal things would have some charges added to their sentence for sure.


This man never stopped complaining after the “shakedown”. He started complaining of feeling dizziness and started blaming the deputies that he got slammed against the wall. That he needed to be treated for his injuries and he wanted a Sergeant to listen to his details in what harm the deputies had done to him. Yet, he never mentioned the illegal substances found in his cell.


He was that man I was seeing as I just started my shift and the whole time, he had thousands of words against one or two statements of mine. But I must not be involved. I told him I could only treat him with medical problems and the issues with the deputies, it was for custody staff to hear.


His argument would not win anything as his injuries resulted from him not listening to authorities. He was in a bigger mess because it was in his cell and in his mattress when the deputies obtained all of those illegal things he was hiding.


“I’ll have the doctor examined you further in the morning. I don’t see any obvious trauma except for one minor abrasion below your rib cage. If you’ll have increasing problems later, you can also put a sick call, “ I calmly instructed him.


He didn’t say a word when he got up. He didn’t know that I was aware of how he sustained those injuries he was claiming. He was focused on pursuing that if there was a possibility of the deputies being in trouble, he would.


　
How many of us are hiding things in our lives? And when the Deputy comes and does a shakedown in our hearts, we often become argumentative or we have too many excuses instead of accepting our own responsibilities.


We all need to bow down and confess our sins to God. He does an unannounced “shakedowns” in our hearts but that’s for our benefit. He wants us to rely on Him for apart from Him, we can’t do anything. Yes, we are injured... And only God can heal…


Despite being saved, I still need to welcome His shakedowns in my heart and I hope you do, too.


“The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.” -Psalm 51:17."

Spiritual Sundays

Are you feeling rejected? Alone? Wishing you look better than ________?[another person]... Broken heart? Hopeless? Weak?

The truth is....you are never alone...There is Someone Who's always there for us. All He wants is for you to acknowledge His offer of love and friendship. The word "surrender" has an ugly meaning from this world's vocabulary. It feels like a total loss to surrender to someone or something.

But in God's vocabulary, "surrender" is victory in Christ Jesus. He already paid the price for your sins, for your pains, for your brokenness.

There is a door in your heart. And if you are willing to accept His visit, all you need to do is open that gate and let Him in. And as you start a life living anew, may you open your heart to let the good things grow and let go of the bad things that do not have room in your Spirit-filled heart.


Search our hearts Lord and help us have a swinging gate in them. So that we can let go of the bad things and only let the good things come into them. May we refrain from judging others, as we see them, but instead, may we remember that we are all Your creations and that You love us all, no matter what our physical appearances are.


1 Samuel 16:7 -”But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord look at the heart.”

For more Spiritual Sundays, visit here and be inspired by other awesome encouragers of the Lord. Be inspired by their stories, poems, songs or prayers. Spiritual Sundays is hosted by two encouragers themselves, sister Charlotte and sister Ginger. May you all have a wonderful rest as we reflect on the Lord's love, not only on this day but every day in our lives. Thank you for visiting me and God bless.

Find The Way Of The Lord

I found the Clinic almost empty except for one person whose work was equivalent to being a medical secretary. I had just walked in and was prepared to tackle another night of work.


“Where’s everyone?” I asked that coworker.


“They had a Code Blue [a code meaning the nurses are trying to revive an unconscious person] few minutes earlier before you walked in,” he replied.


“Was it Mr. O?” I wondered.


“Who’s Mr. O?”


“Remember? He would always play around with staff, claiming that he swallowed razor blades? He was unpredictable. We would send him to the hospital and x-rays would show no razor. Other times, he did swallow one. He was in and out of the jail’s Suicide Watch.”


“Yeah, yeah! I remember him now.”


The sheepish smile was widely painted on this young man’s face. The look on his eyes always beamed with pride that he would always have things his way, no matter what. Nurses couldn’t do anything, he knew. That even if his claim that he swallowed razor blades were false, the nurses had no choice but to send him out to the hospital. He seemed to have enjoyed those frequent trips. But most of all, he enjoyed getting things done his way!


His psychiatric medications were constantly changed, adjusted to his level of moods and behaviors. But every time, Mr. O always claimed he did something to try to hurt himself. The medications seemed to not have reached its full potential to help his mental state.


That night was not a unique one. It was another typical night of him playing around with his own life. He reassured the deputy from that unit that he wouldn’t do such a foolish thing. But it was the duty of deputies to check often cell per cell, every hour.


The body was motionless. [Pardon me friends, I wouldn’t write the manner of how he did it]. The deputy frantically called over the radio for a “Code Blue”. The Clinic was only across from that unit’s hallway. But their effort that was going on for a few minutes, almost an hour before I entered my workplace, remained futile.

He finally had it his way. And it resulted to a devastating loss. He was a young man, whose life was ruined by the use of drugs. His mental capabilities deteriorated over time.


God only knew if he meant to just play around, like the usual. But this time, he couldn’t get out of his own scheme.


How many of us are the same? Wanting to do everything with our own strength and effort - having things done our way, not God’s way? Doing so, most of the time, leads to a DISASTER! Stop now while you can!

Proverbs 3:5,6 -"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will direct your paths."

The Painting Project

My family and I embarked on a project together this week. The summer temperatures soared to higher degrees that my son didn’t feel like traveling, not even to go to the nearby beaches to cool off. He would rather stay inside the house and do his passion of drawing cars and making his own models in the computer.

[picture of the finished wall in our living room]


My husband and I had been wanting to paint the walls of our house into a different color. It might seem like a "foolish plan" to paint the walls when it still looks good, but painting a new color over it would make it more beautiful. When my son heard it, he got excited and wanted to help us out. So, off we went to the nearby home improvement store and got all the materials we needed. Choosing the color became easier as my son, also had given his input.


The plastic was laid all over the tile floors as my husband brought out the cans of paint and the brushes of different sizes. He put a scoop or two of the paint into the container with the handle and with the brush. He gave it to our son, not knowing what to do at first. Patiently, my husband and I guided him. Awkward with his strokes of going up and down, sometimes, sideways, the wall started to emerge in a different light.


“I’m sorry, mom and dad,” he uttered.


“Why?” my husband and I wondered with his apology.


“’Coz….I’m too slow. I had only painted a small area and I’ve been here for a few hours now.”


“Son,” I said without hesitating, “This is your first time to paint, don’t forget. Dad and I think you’re doing a great job because look! There was no splatter on the floor or anywhere else and look at your area, it might be small but it looks great because the paint is even. I would rather have you be slow but you’re getting the things done in proper way than be fast but messy and the wall would look with uneven layers of paint. You’re doing a good job! I love you.”


“Thanks mom and dad. I love you, too,” he replied.


The following day, my son was so confident and was ready to paint an area all to himself. He knew what to do now. And this was the wall he painted by himself and my husband and I were so proud of what he did as he learned patiently the day before. He might be a "beginner" in this project but putting his heart into it, learning patience and endurance at the same time, made him ready for the work that needed to be accomplished.








Laying on the couch, resting with sore shoulders, God brought something into my mind as I started to talk privately with Him. He has a painting project, too that’s been going on and we, His children, are also a part of it. We tend to be slow and awkward but He is always there, our Dad, guiding us, cheering for us.

When we splatter and mess up, He lovingly roots for us, despite our weaknesses. But when we triumphantly are able to accomplish things well, He is the first One to cheer. He is always faithful and patient and His “I love you’s” endures forever.


Look at Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians 1:25 -30:


25- “This “foolish” plan of God is far wiser than the wisest of human plans and God’s weakness is far stronger than the greatest of human strength. 26- “Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. 27- “Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28- “God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, 29- “so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” 30- “God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom.”


Yes, God’s plan of salvation sounds “foolish” to those who don’t believe. But the “foolish” people who simply accept Christ’s offer are actually the wisest of all, because they will live eternally with God. God’s way of thinking is far above ours. We are not to value the “painters” more than what is “painted”. Christ’s painting project seems so “foolish” to you, who doesn’t believe. Our society worships power, influence and wealth. Jesus came as a humble, poor servant and he offers His Kingdom to those who have faith, not to those who do all kinds of good deeds to try to earn salvation. Christ is the mighty power of God and the only way we can be saved. Knowing Him personally is the greatest wisdom anyone of us, can ever have.


So, are you willing to join in and be a part of Jesus Christ’s painting project? Are you willing to trust in His plan and help out painting the walls of this earth?