Unexpected Blessing

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Exodus 23:25     You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you.

Numbers 6:24-26     The LORD bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Deuteronomy 28:1-6     Now it shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I give you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above the nations of the earth.  And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.  Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.  Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.  Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

Psalm 1:1-6     Blessed is the man who walks not in the way of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, not sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers.  The wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind drives away.  Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of righteous…

Psalm 32:1     Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Psalm 35:27      Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant.”

Isaiah 30:18     Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he waits himself to show mercy to you.  For the LORD is a God of justice, blessed are all those who wait for him

Isaiah 41:10     Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jeremiah 17:7-8     “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 29:11     For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper and not to harm

John 3:16     For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:28     And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 

What a different life I live now that I know Jesus has me and is ensuring that all things will turn out for good in my life.  I used to be weighted down with worry, anxiety, “no time,” tending to family members who needed extra during certain health issues, raising a family, working full time, attending school and all the work and studying that required, and seeing no end in sight.

But as in all things, changes come; circumstances improve or sometimes they deteriorate.   Occasionally, we see change as an automatic negative.   During the above stressful time, my job offered me and one other girl on our ICU unit to work 10 hour shifts instead of 8-hour ones so we could each have a full day to attend classes to get our advanced degrees. 

The offer not only helped each of us but helped the unit.  Instead of reporting to work at 6:45 each morning, I came in at 6 am.  This allowed the night shift to finish up notes, last rounds, make sure all meds were delivered and so forth.  It left me to answer any alarms that might have gone off, do final vital signs and intake and output totals for their shift as well as the 24 hours.  They were able to finish all the tasks that come at the end of a night shift when patients are waking and needing to use a bathroom, wondering what the day will bring them, when the docs will be in.  Because I was free to answer any call bells, I was free to give them some info, sometimes, set the up with a basin of water to wash face and hands, brush teeth and help them feel a bit more refreshed. 

Instead of reporting off at 3:15 PM, I was free to hand off the patients I had cared for to the next nurse, but then free to answer call bells, assist docs who might be coming in to do a test and needed a second set of hands, and so forth.  It helped the oncoming shift gather their thoughts and meds and plan the care each person was going to require.

In the meantime, the other gal who had been offered the 10 hour “gift of shift” came to work at 1 PM, and was able to cover for lunches, help with final duties with the day shift nurses, and make it less busy and stressful to day shift to finish all required duties for their specific patients.  She did leave at 11:30, when all the other nurses from that shift were leaving.  Generally, the night shift is less busy, so there is no need for them to have an overlap at the start of their shift, but it is helpful to have someone there when their shift is ending in the mornings.

It was a win-win for the unit as well as for the two of us.   And it helped the patients; we were able to answer call bells sooner without interrupting shift report.  The “float” RN could then report to the oncoming nurse whatever issue they had helped the patient with so the oncoming nurse was up-to-date and not having to rush to answer a call bell, but could start her meds, get her vital, assess patient recently back from surgery, or another procedure.

But that change relieved so much stress for me.  I had more time to study, to spend with my son, to do errands than you never got to when working so many weekends and weekdays.  I could cook and prep meals in advance, could make doctor appointments on that scheduled day off, and it was a blessing I thanked God for daily.

We get so many blessings daily.  Sometimes, it’s a good, needed rain benefitting reservoirs and water sources and gardens and lawns.  The sun comes out and we love the brightness, the vibrant colors of seeing flowers in the sunshine, seeing the leaves on trees and plants sparkling with water drops that in the sunshine look like sparkly diamonds.  But there are birds, pets that love us and give us so much—love, tolerance, happiness on a return from vacation or whatever. 

God has placed so many wonderful, beautiful things in our paths.  The joy and innocence of children, the benefit of being a grandparent rather than the parent and worrying about money, work, promotions, doing the job right in raising your children, and all the other stressors of parenthood that decrease when you are now the grandparent.   He has given us wisdom and experience, and the ability to offer advice and assistance, but still is usually not solely responsible for raising these blessings. 

It overwhelms me with the number of blessings that I have received in my lifetime.   I recognize we all have individual paths to walk in this life.  Not everyone has been as richly blessed as I have, and yet they too are children of God, and worthy of His blessings, strength, grace, and the peace one gets to enjoy.

I think that is one of my greatest blessings.  I am mostly at peace with all.  His word promises He will turn all bad into good, He has a plan for my life, and He will always protect me with His righteous right hand.  I have only to believe and follow His guidance, seek Him, and be ever so grateful I found Him—or chose to answer when He knocked on the door.

Thank You, Lord, for all the blessings You have bestowed on me and ‘mybellaviews.’