Be careful what you pray for!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

At work, there are times when patients don't show up... or they're super late.  Working on a weekend means that I'm all alone.  There's no back-up for the burn/wounds department.  Sometimes, patients show up unexpected and dealing with an unexpected situation can be difficult.  Seeing one patient late can result in seeing _all_ the following patients late.  *sigh*  This is one of my greatest fears... to see one patient too late, then get behind with everything else.  *shudder*

So to start the day... this is what I prayed:

Father in heaven, thank you for getting me up this morning.  I had enough time to take care of Mango (neighbor's dog), my own two cats while Noel's away, AND still swipe into work on time!  Lord, I want to make my productivity minutes today.  May the patients I see be fun to work with.  I ask, Father, that you provide a nice flow in the patients I do see... may the patients not get to their appointments late... but also not too early either.

Thank you, Lord, for the start of a new day... for waking me up... and allowing me time to spend with you since I don't have to rush.  I'm really tired today, probably will be very easy for me to fall asleep... so God, can you help me so that I don't doze off while doing my paperwork?

In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Yeah... be very careful what you pray for!  Today's patient load ended up being non-stop! 

First, I got the opportunity to exercise/play with two young patients in the burn unit.  Being young... commands like "stretch your elbow or use your hands like this (grasping motion)" doesn't work!  Instead, we went from playing iPhone games to drawing on paper to grabbing random toys laying around.  Thank you God that I was able to get into the pediatric department playroom!  That part of the treatments were really fun!  Kids are just so very cute!

However, in the wounds department after my short stint in the burn department... one patient arrived after another.  I even had an unexpected patient show up because they needed more bandages... the ones we placed in our department fell off.  Luckily, there was enough time to squeeze this person into my schedule... but that left me with no breaks throughout the day and a strict 30-minute lunch break.  *shrug*  Mix in cleaning rooms and documenting treatment... Wow... my day just FLEW by!  =O

I prayed for a good pace... I got it.  No breaks, but each patient arrived and walked in the door just as I finished another treatment.  I never needed to search for my patients or wonder if they were coming.  *wide grin*  No time either for dozing off!  Instead, between treatments, I threw sanitary wipes everywhere for an ultra-fast clean-up and chicken-scratched barely legible notations as my documentation.  Done!  *sweat drip*

Father, when I pray and ask for stuff... I know you answer... but to answer so specifically to the wording of my prayer request this morning... ummmmmm, I gotta modify how I pray huh?  Lord God, I can feel you laughing... you answered my prayers, but I just never considered that today's pace would be so impossibly fast nor some treatments super long.  Not only did I meet the day's worth of 320 minutes for my 9-hour day of productivity time... I got in the 500 minute range!  *jaw drop*  Father God... maybe don't take me so literally next time?  *hopeful look*  Either way, I've gotta be careful what I pray and how I pray for it!

In Jesus' name, I thank you Lord for a fun-filled, action-packed, non-stop day of tending to patients and their families... for meeting my minutes... and for not giving me the opportunity to doze off!  Amen.