The purity of kindness
Have you ever experienced another nurse do an act of kindness for you – did you ask them? Were you waiting in anticipation for their gesture? When they came to your aid was there an obligation to return a favor? When you were stuck not knowing how to enter your order, or, sync your device to send your doctor the triplicate, helping you with each step, did they say “you owe me on this one!”
As nurses, whether we are in the isolating outpatient setting, driving from patient to patient, or, in the inpatient setting, working with our best nurse comrades in the next patient room, we often find ourselves running fast to complete patient care. And, out of nowhere, someone will say “let me help you put in that order”. Or, “let me call the lab for your results”. Or, say “you go to lunch, I’ll take your phone.” They might say, “you need me to take that visit, for you?” Or, meet me at the nearest gas station and I’ll give you some supplies…my car is too full.”
Throughout my career, I have seen the wonderful selflessness of a kind nurse. Jesus is like this. While in the midst of hustle, Jesus is there with His presence, to calm us. When we are too tired to even know what to ask for, He knows how to fill us with His stamina and grace. When we are in the most desperate of need, He already sees the solution and goes before us to fill our need. Without even knowing that we would need a Savior, He had already taken our sin to the cross to give us eternal life. The kindness of our precious Savior is the most selfless, loving, radical kindness. And, accepting His kind gift of grace and forgiveness is the ultimate act of service for all mankind. Ephesians 2:7 tell us “God showed us the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.”
My Prayer: today, my prayer for you is that you will give God thanks for the beautiful nurses around you who selflessly show you acts of kindness. And that you will come to know the most beautiful kindness of all… “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…”
POWER SUPPLY of NURSES
Power Supply of Nurses
What if the work you do is not really you doing the work of patient care? What if the power within you to work effectively is actually your Lord?
Take just a minute to consider what you accomplish in a day’s work on your unit or in your agency. Would you say that you can’t believe all you were able to accomplish, in one day of nursing work? Would you say that you surprised yourself by all you handled, and while you find yourself exhausted, it’s a happy kind of fulfilling, rewarding kind of exhausted?
Have you ever sat quietly and asked God what He wants to accomplish through your life? It is He who works through you, and you are one of a kind! You have a calling to accomplish, that which no other person on the earth has been called to do! Is God calling you to apply for that Nurse Manager position? Or gain higher education to become the CEO of your organization? What if God would like for you to write a book for your specific specialty? Is He calling you to lead a Bible study for the nurses of your unit? Perhaps God wants you to be a part of the mission team who will help with global medical missions?
Ephesians 3:20 says it’s God’s power that is at work in us. This is not of ourselves. We cannot even breathe unless God gives us the grace to do this! God’s goodness is expressed in the outworking of the gifts and talents he has deposited into your life.
The joy you have while you work is also a gift. His goodness allows you to cultivate the gifts He has given you. You are an heir, a partaker in what He wills to accomplish through you. You can choose to ask what it is that He wants to do through your life. Or, you can choose to go your own way without asking for His direction.
Super hero! God bless you with the stamina to continue accomplishing God’s great work! The sky is the limit. Quite literally!
Today’s Prompts
Make a short list of 5-10 tasks you accomplish in your typical day of work as a nurse.
Beside each task, write a “M” beside those tasks you accomplish on your own. Now, go back to the list and mark a “J” beside those Jesus enables you to accomplish.
Today’s Scripture
Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”
Today’s Declaration:
“According to Ephesians 3:20, all glory throughout all generations, forever and ever, be to Jesus, who is able to do immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine. Amen.”
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF “IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES”
PERMISSABLE VS BENEFICIAL
A dear Christian woman challenged other Christian women to consider the permissible vs beneficial goodness of God’s provided bounty and employ the fruit of the spirit of self-control as it pertains to diet. She provided a parallel of being given spreads of scrumptious beautiful trays of prepared food. Challenging the listener to engage self-control, she asked, while having the freedom to take whatever foods AND in whatever amounts were to your liking, would it truly be beneficial to consume the type and amount of food chosen?
Nurse Friend, maybe you are in a place of choosing just how much of a good thing is beneficial. In a day of critical nursing shortages, you must exercise self-control so as to not take on too many shifts in an effort to help the sick and dying patient. Just as this woman drew the parallel to food, I would challenge you to be careful with your workload. Too much work and you may find you are unable to stay engaged with your patient assignments when critical nursing judgment is absolutely essential!
In today’s economy, nursing provides you a bounty of opportunity, you must ask God how much to take as your own.
Today’s Prompts
In your part-time, full-time, or PRN work, what are the required number of hours/shifts?
While you are engaged in patient care, do you feel you are able to perform with completely safe critical nursing judgment?
If you were able to work fewer hours, what change would be seen in your bedside nursing care?
Today’s Scripture
First Corinthians 10:23 “’I have the right to do anything,’ you say – but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’ - but not everything is constructive.”
Today’s declaration
“According to 1 Corinthians 10:23, I, _____________, have the right to do anything. And, I, ____________, will choose only that which is constructive.”
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES
ARE YOU READY?
Passing into eternity
There is a remarkable joy in working as a hospice nurse. Hospice nurses experience the miracle of death. With all its mystery and unknowns and uncertainties, hospice nurses get to partake in the 2nd most memorable day of a patient’s life – the day of their passing. Second to the miracle of birth, is the unknown, the uncertainties, and mysteries, of passing.
As a fairly new hospice nurse, I was beginning to know how to conduct myself at the bedside of dying patients as they took their last breath. Being available to administer much needed medication, or, manage to provide comfortable positioning, providing a calm supportive presence for the grieving family, pronouncing death, and even providing post mortem care had become a joy, except on one occasion. My patient had been a very famous veterinarian. Serving the Prince of Saudi Arabia was once in a lifetime experience he had enjoyed during his lifetime. Later, he would move to our town and become famous for his care of animals of all types and sizes.
On the day of this patient’s passing, I just happen to be on duty, and the aid had called to tell me he looked to be in his last hours. As the aid and I cared for him, his daughter recounted his exciting life doing what he had loved. She understood this would most likely be the day of his passing, so she was also trying to inventory what still needed to be done once he passed. As he began transitioning to his final breaths, we all became quiet, and still. Hoping this time would not drag out to hours, I watched his every breath. Unlike all previous passing’s I had witnessed to that time – all of which had been just a matter of the person peacefully taking their last breath, then stop breathing, this man all of a sudden, with his eyes closed, had the most fearful look on his face, then, gasped as in complete horror! And just that fast was gone! Trying to keep my composure, so not to upset his daughter, I did my usual routine of listening to the heart for a full minute, in order to pronounce his passing. Then, I offered the support she needed to say farewell allowing her time to say farewell to his body, before she left, crying.
What made his last breath so disturbing, to me, was the unknown question of why? Why would a man entering his final eternal destiny have reacted with such astounding fear and horror? At the moment of seeing the fear, horror and shock in his face, my thoughts went toward the possibility of him having received not a reward to live in the light of Christ’ presence, but, that of eternal torture, isolation, and fire. My fear is that I had just witnessed the passing of a man who may have very well entered into an eternity of Hell’s fire where there is torment, including darkness, agony, and unending physical pain.
Nurse Friend, please do not put off accepting the opportunity for eternal joy, today. Please answer the call to the calling deep within your heart, today. If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, it could very well be that the feeling inside your heart is not indigestion from the pizza in the break room. Perhaps if you have not yet accepted Christ as your Savior, that’s Him! He is knocking on your heart’s door. Please do open the door of your heart, this very hour. Accept Christ as your Savior. Please contact me, today, with this beautiful decision. He loves you so!
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES
When the Nurse is Sick
On a daily basis we nurses are guiding our patients to their exam area, orienting them to their new environment, reviewing protocol of and expectations as they are in our department, providing medications, treatments, teaching new self-care remedies, etc. Taking care of the sick and dying patient is just what we do, daily.
But, what if the nurse is the patient? Perhaps you have found yourself receiving a diagnosis you were not expecting. The doctor’s office call back included an invitation to come see him, personally; and as a nurse you know what this means. As the nurse, you have helped numerous patients and families with devastating news of a serious diagnosis. As your doctor explains your diagnosis your nurse mind goes directly to the module in med/surg, or a specialty rotation when you studied this disease.
Nurse Friend, can I tell you, Christ, himself, suffered infirmities. He suffered any emotion and physical challenge known to humans. He did this, for us! Isaiah 53:3 says he is one who has suffered and is familiar with grief. Isaiah 52:14 describes Jesus after being beaten, he was disfigured, and, having suffered so much physical punishment, he was unrecognizable. Matthew 26:38 says Jesus was crushed with sorrow, to the point of death.
Jesus knows our sorrows. He is acquainted with our grief. He knows the sting of pain and the finality of death. His heart can understand our angst, worry, grief, doubt, fear, or rejection after treatment. While some of our family and friends may have never experienced the pain we have, Jesus absolutely and repeatedly has been there!
If you are the one who is sick, your suffering is not strange to him, nor is it impossible for him to understand. The most blessed hope is He has been there. He knows exactly how to hold your heart sure and strong as you lean on him and melt into his power to carry you.
So, while you may be the patient, my nurse friend, Jesus remains your Savior. Cry out to him, today! He understands!
Today’s Prompts
Have you or a close nurse friend been found to have a new medical challenge?
During your medical crisis journey in what ways have you seen the miraculous hand of God providing for your passage through this season of sickness?
How can you pray for the nurse you know who might be facing a medical crisis?
Today’s Scripture
Second Corinthians 1:3-4 “3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
Today’s declaration
“According to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, I, ______________, will praise God. He is full of compassion toward me. He knows my troubles. He will comfort me so that I am able to comfort others.”
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES
God’s Loving Kindness From the Ocean
Every time I come to the ocean the most enjoyable part of the experience is walking along the shore. During these walks, I hear the crushing waves, with their never ceasing powerful splashes plunging water onto the beach. And, looking out over the expanse of the ocean, it just seems to go on forever, falling over the edge of the horizon. Looking down at the sand under my feet, and the bazillion grains of sand, this experience of being a small part of such a tremendously vast world is refreshingly somber. Here I am at a place thousands of people visit each year – that of a beach – and somehow in the vastness of the moment, I feel as if I am insignificantly small! Since I was young I’ve been taught the Creator of the world knows me, intimately, and loves me. Yet, during these moments, I feel so insignificant!
Also, in these moments, the Holy Spirit reminds me of precious Scripture verses speaking of sand and the ocean. One Scripture which often comes to my mind is in Micah 7:19, describing God hurling my sins into the depths of the sea. Can you imagine the loving kindness of our Lord? He knows our sins. He knows how aweful we have been. He even knows the nitty-gritty details of the sin that perhaps no one else on earth knows of. However, in his incredible infinite love he chooses to show kindness to us by casting our sins out into this vast ocean!
Can you imagine, for a moment, the items you may have lost during a fun beach trip? While Bill and I were playing in the Andaman Sea in Phuket, Thailand, I was wearing what had become my very favorite sun glasses. And, at one point in our play, I realized I was no longer wearing what had become my favorite pair of sunglasses! When he looked at me and wondered what I was looking for, I told him my sunglasses had come off my head. His response was “this is the sea, they are gone!” Because the sea is so wide and vast, how could a person find anything they may have dropped, here? Yet, Scripture talks about the Lord casting my sin into the sea of forgetfulness! What loving kindness this displays!
The love of my God is also described in the way He thinks about me, and, how often! Psalm 139:17-18 tells me God’s loving thoughts are toward me so often the frequency is compared to the grains of sand of the sea! The King of the universe loves me so much I could not even count the number of times His thoughts are toward me!
While being raised in church, we often would sing this delightful song “thy loving kindness is better than life, thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee, thus will I bless Thee, I will lift up my hands unto Thy name!” YES, LORD! I will lift up my hands unto Thy name. I will bless Thee! And, I will praise Thee! For your lovingkindness is better than life!
Today’s Prompts
Close your eyes and imagine your most enjoyable trip to the ocean. Now, consider how God tells you he casts your sin where they are no longer remembered.
Praise Him for his grace, mercy and forgiveness.
Today’s Scripture
Micah 7:19 “You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
Today’s declaration:
“According to Micah 7:19 God has compassion on me, ___________________, and has casts all my iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES
THE LITTLE FOXES WHICH DESTROY
Song of Solomon 2:15 says “Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!”
For some it might be a bad attitude. For others it might be chaos of disorganization. For others it might be incidental waste of time with frivolous conversations. Still others, it might be the little nasty habit of poor impulse food choices. Maybe you have ruined several pieces of clothing for having used them instead of a tissue. This seems rather frivolous, but, can add up as many pieces of clothing require replacing due to lack of a simple habit like using tissue instead of your shirt. How many relationships are damaged by the whispers shared in gossip against another? For the person who just can’t seem to meet their goals, maybe their little fox is that of wasting away precious minutes, which cannot be redeemed? Maybe you don’t have any foxes, and, I’m so happy, for you. But, if you, like me, do have some little foxes which might be causing unnecessary chaos, let’s take today and address them, with the attitude of freedom and growth God desires to bring us.
While Christ was on the earth he taught of God’s commands, and, showed the people how to live to honor God. After he ascended the precious Holy Spirit was given us to continue that means of instruction and subsequent power to bring converts to Christ. Being raised Pentecostal, my mother use to say “that preacher had an unction from the Holy Spirit”. Do you know she was right! In the King James Version of the Bible, 1 John 2:20 says “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.” So, I thought she was just speaking in terms of a Pentecostal feeling or impulse a preacher had which caused them to give a word of prophecy, or, encouragement. However, today, as I read this verse, I am reminded that this “unction” is for ALL Believers. We ALL have the opportunity to have an “unction” from the Holy Spirit. And, this is also called the anointing. As we perform the calling of our lives, according to the purposes of God, He continues to anoint us, enabling us to perform his purposes and to point others to Himself.
If you do become aware of the little foxes which cause you to stumble, be delayed in your calling, tempt you to fall into sin, or, are just a momentary nuisance, I hope today’s words will encourage you! Encourage you to remember if you have received Christ, you are also filled with His precious Holy Spirit. You can be assured of God’s desire to release His power within you to accomplish every good work he is calling you to perform. And, this is not of your, or my own, power. Rather, this power to perform any good work is all coming from the Holy Spirit within us, just as it came upon the church as written in the New Testament. We have within us the ability to call out temptations, remove bad influences, crush deceitful spirits, and overcome any distraction, temptation, bad habit, or demon the enemy throws at us. These little foxes must flee at the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
You and I can and will accomplish that which God is calling us to do! Realizing and utilizing the Holy Spirit in our lives is the means we identify and rid ourselves of the little foxes so we can rise above these temporary obstacles and bring Christ to others.
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES
One Thing
To Be Concerned About
A new admit urgently arriving, a patient having just returned from testing, or a discharging patient threatening to leave AMA are included in the likely events of a busy Observation unit. With so much work to be done and a limited amount of time to accomplish all the work, and with the serious condition of your patients, you might be easily overwhelmed, almost paralyzed and deemed ineffective.
Have you ever heard of the story of Martha and Mary? While Martha was busy in the kitchen, she wondered what was up with Mary that she wasn’t in the kitchen helping. The Lord was in the house and Mary had the audacity to be sitting DOWN!!?? What could she have been thinking? With so many details needing to be accomplished to provide the very best for our Lord, how could Mary just sit there, at the Lord’s feet?
In this story found in Luke 10, Martha goes to Jesus and complains of Mary’s lack of urgency in all the details and tasks required in preparation of the meal. Jesus rebukes Martha and explains that while she has been frantically busy with meal preparations, Mary chose to be at his feet – listening to words of wisdom. More than physical food for the body, Mary craved spiritual food – eternal food – for the soul! She craved the eternal everlasting bread Jesus offers anyone who will sit at His feet.
What is a busy nurse’s takeaway from this story? In the moments when you are so overwhelmed with all that needs to be done, maybe this is exactly the time to stop and consider Jesus’ words, “there is only one thing worth being concerned about…” At this moment, maybe you can pull a small devotional book (THIS ONE!) out of your locker, isolate yourself, and contemplate the words of wisdom your Heavenly Father would speak to you in the midst of patient care. If you can spare a few minutes, take a deep breath, set your mind on Him, and allow God’s Spirit within you to set the priority of your tasks.
In the midst of nursing care, think about God’s love for your patients. Allow the presence of God to fill you, to draw you to Himself, and renew your mind. Without the panic of much to be done, or being overwhelmed and unable to make priorities, allow God to ease your mind and prioritize your nursing tasks. God promises to draw near to us when we draw near to Him.
Today’s Prompts
In the midst of your busy working day, how can you remind yourself to yield to the prompting of the Holy Spirit?
For a month’s time, try keeping a devotional/journal, like this one, in your locker. During those moments of sheer panic, try isolating yourself, asking God to help recenter your focus on the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s Scripture
Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Today’s Declaration
“According to Matthew 11:28-29, when I am overwhelmed, I will pursue the Father who will give me rest. Taking His yoke upon myself, God will teach me, out of His gentle and humble heart, and my heart will find rest.”
-PEGGI HUDSPITH
AUTHOR OF “IT’S BREAK TIME FOR NURSES”
