In All Things

One thing that we learned in nursing school that has and should stick in every nurses  mind is prioritizing.  What is the most important thing to do first, then second, and so on?   Always planning ahead and always basing these priorities on who is the sickest.  Take for example a code blue, when a patients heart stops beating.  What do you do first? To be fair you are probably doing multiple things at once, calling for help, assessing for breathing, heart beat, responsiveness, what have you.  But, you are not always in a situation where  you can do more than one thing at a time, you can't go see two patients at one time, so you learn to figure out which ones you need to see first.  

It is a skill that I never knew I needed until I learned it.  I remember getting so stressed because I had so much to do and I didn't even know where to start.  Now, I find myself planning before I even realize I am doing it.  Or I start to categorize everyone's situations and deciding who needs more prayer, or whose situation is more important than mine so I do not go into this "poor poor pitiful me" stage, which is what my last blog kinda did.  I was hurting but I realized that "it could be worse".  

I do think this is an invaluable skill and is necessary for everyone.  It puts life into perceptive.  It is so easy for us to get sucked into ourselves, that we forget that there are others around us who is hurting and struggling as well.  It may not be as great of a struggle, or it may be one that you would not wish upon your worst enemy, but we all have them.  And if you say you don't, you are lying to yourself.  Please do not misunderstand me, there is always going to be those times where you can not look past your situation because it is just so extraordinarily heavy and consuming that you literally can not focus on anything but that.  Perfect example is Brillyn.  If anyone expects Ashley and Cody to be able to take their attention off their immediate family  and focus on your broken toe (just an example), they seriously need to do some soul searching.  

I was thinking about all of this today.  I have so many friends/family who are going through a lot that I find it hard for me to focus on my needs/desires/plans/what have you because I feel guilty when I think about how tired I am knowing that Ashley and Cody probably have not slept more than a couple hours at a time, or I picture Brillyn laying in the hospital bed fighting for his life.

But I think that is what makes my God so amazing.  He does not have to prioritize because He is able to take all of our concerns and address them with the same love and power.  He can handle them, and he can hear them, and though he may not answer the prayers we think he should he will answer them.  He can listen to my neighbors prayer about his broken toe (I do not have a neighbor with a broken toe) and give him peace, while he is listening and comforting the hundreds of people who are constantly praying for B at the same time.  He does not choose one situation, or one person over the other.  He loves us all the same and while we have to focus and prioritize our attention on situations for our own well being, He is everywhere and in all things.  It kinda blows my mind when I think about the fact that He loves me just as much he loved Mary, the mother of Jesus, or someone who prays all the time and has their life figured out.  Just chew on that for a bit :)