I can’t seem to get my act together. I woke a little late for my taste and had to bounce to get to work on time. Luckily, it’s all of five minutes from the house 🙂 I didn’t have much time for thinking what with all the icing to be done. Food City keeps me hopping, and I like it! My back doesn’t much care for it, though. I don’t know how I stood ten hours a day, five days a week at the Co-op all those years. I remember my feet giving me the devil and being nearly crippled there at the end, but not my back. Never my back.

But I’m older now, and whether or not I like to admit it, heavier, too. It takes a toll. And I’m standing in the same spot virtually all day, and putting pressure through my hands and arms. It’s all connected, according to my yoga guru. I guess it makes sense. I’m just tired.

Around three o’clock I was really starting to hurt and I would have welcomed a fifteen. I didn’t want to ask for one, since my coworkers were doing inventory and busy too. I guess I could have just went, nobody would have said a word, but I was right in the middle of all those carrot cakes. and it was time to start cleaning up. So I just got down to business.

It was only after I was home, back in my pajamas, melting into my couch that I remembered I hadn’t chosen anyone for Lent. I hadn’t prayed, and I hadn’t intentionally fasted anything. Which got me to thinking.

I’ve got several close friends in the nursing field. Bless their hearts. I hear these horror stories about their jobs, how their shift ends at seven but they’re frequently there till ten, charting. How there aren’t enough nurses employed to be staffed as the hospital should be. How they’re ran ragged all day, only pausing for lunch as they chart, chart, chart, between administering meds and answering call buttons and all the other vitals and check ins that occur regularly. They don’t pee all shift sometimes. I can’t even fathom. They must really love their jobs. It’s not for everybody.

And when I say they must love their jobs, I don’t mean where they work. I mean the caregiving aspect, making a real difference. I would feel privileged and safe in the care of any one of them. They are caring and smart and observant. I know that if something is amiss, they will notice and treat accordingly, with swiftness and effectiveness. I feel that when these women are with you, they’re really with you, you know what I mean? I know when I spend time with my girlfriends, they are wholly in the moment, nodding sympathetically and what have you.

I think I should leave her prayer requests private. They are pretty significant, as things go. She is not unhealthy, but there are concerns regarding housing, financing, and her last job. I just want to lift her up in prayer and take her worries away.
For Deuteronomy 31:6 tells us~ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
And Joshua 1:5~ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

I’m not going to spell out my prayer for her today. I won’t risk slipping. But I love this girl, and she works so hard, and she has a good heart and loves what she does. And so I pray for her. May she be vigilant and kind to her patients, may she bring them peace and comfort in their distress. May others look to her as an example of fine nursing ability. May the powers that be convene to help place her in a dwelling to make a home for the rest of her days and all her life finally fall into place. I pray she cease worrying and lay it at your feet, Lord.

So in honor of my friend, let’s say I gave up comfort during my shift. I didn’t take my last break even though I wanted to and I really needed to. Because if I were in her shoes, a break is a pipe dream most days. I have no pressure on me decorating cakes. It’s one of the many perks. So I can sacrifice a break. And yes, it does feel like cheating, but in my defense, she never texted me back with anything to fast. Probably because she was running her hind end off and thinking, just pray for me and my patients…don’t let anything slip through the cracks. I don’t know how they do it. And I hope I never have to find out. May the good Lord have mercy on all those truly working on the front lines of the healthcare system.

Love from Appalachia,

Amy xoxo