Tag: hospital

  • Are you thirsty?

                 Last summer my body became extremely dehydrated and I ended up in the hospital attached to IVs. The medical staff pumped bag after bag of various liquids to boost my levels of fluid and electrolytes. They continued to monitor every part of my body until all remained stabilized. The whole ordeal proved painful, lengthy, and costly. My family and I were extremely thankful for quality health care right near our home and professionals who saved my life.

                After that ordeal, I remain keenly aware of the necessity of drinking lots of fluids. I always carry with me either a fluid replacement supplement such as Gatorade or water. I never leave home without a bottle.

                Applying that same theory for everyday life and living, when I become thirsty or hungry longing for acceptance and understanding, I know where to find it. The only true source of comfort is in God. He’s the only one who can fully satisfy my every need. True, my friends and family provide love as much as humanly possible. But only God’s love is unselfish and 100% unconditional.

    Prayer:  Help me come to you first when I ache with desire. Thank you, God, for satisfying my soul when others may try, but fail to me my inner needs.

    Ask:  Are you thirsty today? Do you long for someone to fill that empty void of loneliness or sorrow?

    Thirst no more: come to the water that satisfies! 

     “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” – Psalm 63:1, a psalm of David when he was in the Desert of Judah. 

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  • Eat to live, or live to eat?

    Do you eat to live, or live to eat? That is the question. Some Facebook friends say they eat to live; others say they eat to live, and at other times, they live to eat. Several live to eat chocolate (I vote for that!). A fellow Goldwing rider declares he eats so he can ride his motorcycle. We occasionally ride with a few local Goldwing chapters and use riding our bikes as an excuse to ride and visit. Meeting at a central location, we then ride to a dinner location, and after dinner, sometimes ride again to an ice cream hot spot.

    Eating is so much a part of our social experience. How often do you hear, “Let’s do lunch, or dinner, or breakfast.” Breakfast, if you’re an early morning riser. It’s hard not to imagine a meeting (business/church/social) without coffee and doughnuts, cake, or appetizers. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy food—sometimes too much.

    You might recall this past summer I battled with severe intestinal issues which turned out to be an inflamed intestine, colitis. I experienced dehydration, hospitalization, an ambulance ride to the hospital emergency room, then ICU confinement. Not fun! Gatorade® with electrolytes proved my best friend. Eventually, I graduated to eating rice, bananas, Jell-O®, and popsicles. Very soon, I became weary of that boring diet and craved anything except those prescribed items. Once my stomach could digest bland items (and keep them down), I was re-introduced to real food. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

    Eating is good. Eating is necessary for sustaining life. In Julia Child’s book My Life in France, Julia enrolls in a 12-month cooking school at the famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She learns to selectively purchase the correct ingredients and cooking utensils to prepare mouth-watering dishes. Julia shares these creations with her supportive husband, family members and friends.

    Bottom line: all I do should be done in moderation. Balance is the key in eating, drinking, exercise, education, career, and so forth. Too much of any one thing (even if it’s a good thing) can tip the scales and throw mind, body, and soul off balance.

    So, do you think just one piece of chocolate (dark, of course) per day is acceptable?

    “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17-NIV).

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  • Be strong

    “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”

    “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” (NIV)

    Psalm 31:2

    When I think of courage, I think of firemen or policemen, not a regular person like me. Firemen brave heated, potentially life-threatening buildings. Policemen put their life in danger every time they report for duty. This verse would undoubtedly be comforting to them in their day-to-day jobs.

    As I think of my life, is it any less dangerous? There are no guarantees I will be around tomorrow, or even later today.  This weekend I transported my sister to emergency at the hospital. She was in the middle of a painful kidney stone attack. I wanted to take the pain away. I prayed feverishly for her as we traveled, for the vehicle to keep running, and for us not to be involved in a traffic accident. I tried to speak words of comfort to her. Otherwise, I was basically helpless to take away her pain or assure her she’d live through the awful ordeal.

    Our hope is in the Lord. Deep down, I knew He was in control, and that He knew the beginning from the end. Thankfully, my sister survived. Medical personnel sorted it out and administered pain relief and her whole body eventually calmed. Today she is resting at home glad to be alive and out of pain.

    God did strengthen our hearts as we both hoped in Him. We trusted God to see us through from beginning to end, and He did not let us down.

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