Recently our children had the opportunity to attend their first school carnival. They had a great time, and all was well. Right until the end that is. As I was helping with the clean up one of the ladies from the school yelled at me that my three year old daughter, Faith, had hurt herself, and that I was needed right away. As a trained Emergency Medical Technician I was expecting the worst. Fighting my paternal instinic to go right to my daughter I stopped to grab my kit out of my vehicle first. When I arrived in the school cafeteria Faith was with mom, who was holding a piece of gauze over her palm. I noted the drops of blood on Faith's white stockings, as she sat there crying. As I took the gauze away I could see that Faith had a very deep laceration on the palm of her hand.
I asked what had happened and learned that Faith had been running to our vehicle with a glass jar in her hands, and had tripped. The jar, which was filled with rocks, had been a prize from the carnival. As I pondered the wisdom of giving glass jars to three year olds, one thing was certain I had to take Faith to the Emergency Room to have her hand examined. Branson is 50 miles from the nearest hospital, so this was going to be a long night. With the help of the only other EMT in town we bandaged Faith's hand, and headed for the house.
Once we were at home Mom put Faith in her pajamas, as she was rather tired from a full day, and loaded her into the truck. Faith was terrified of the prospect of a visit to the hospital. In her 3 year old mind the doctor was going to have to cut her hand off! Mom finally convinced Faith that she would only have to see a nurse, and not the doctor. On the trip to town I did my best to ally Faith's concerns. However, in her fatigued state she quickly fell asleep.
Once we were at the hospital, and I woke Faith her tension was palpable. I carried her in, got her admitted, and held her hand the whole time. Both the nurse and the doctor were great. Thankfully the hospital is rather small, and we weren't forced to wait. We went straight to X-ray so that the doctor could check for glass that might be stuck in the hand. Once that was done the nurse numbed the would so that it could be irrigated to remove any small fragments of glass that might have been missed by X-ray. That was the most traumatic part for Faith as even with the numbing medication she still experienced quite a bit of pain from the water running through the wound. Once finished with irrigating the wound the nurse came and bandaged Faith's hand and we were done. As I carried Faith out of the hospital you could feel the tension drain away, and see relief set in. After all she still had her hand!
On the way home Faith had to talk to grandma on the phone, and tell her in very excited tones all about the experience. Then Faith chatted with me for most of the trip, sharing the insights that only those who have had a three year old can appriciate. She made me smile, and she was very happy. By the time we got back to Branson Faith was asleep again, and daddy was tired. However, I learned one thing on our trip to the hospital. Sometimes God blesses you with an unexpected opportunity to spend time with your children. I was tired, but there was nowhere else that I would have rather been than by my daughter's side in her time of need.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Staying on Target
Over St. Patrick's day weekend we went to visit some friends of ours in Greeley, CO. While we were there I got to go out to ghe range, and shoot. When I'm out shooting I have to practice all the fundamentals of marksmanship to accurately hit the target, or I consider the trip to be wasted. However, there are times when I miss. Even if I miss I am usually pretty close to the mark. If my target is too distant the my bullet will fall short. If I don't have a target then what?
Even in the simplest of activities we can find lesson to apply to our own lives. What are the targets in your life? Are they in range? Are you taking care of the fundamentals to hit your targets. Are your targets meaningful? Take some time to reflect on what the things you need to do in your life, and the things you want to do. Some targets may be out of range at the moment, and some might not be as important. Make sure you are not missing the important things in life (God, Family, Friends). Those things that seem out of range at now may come into range when the time is right, or it may be that they really aren't all that important in your own life. Simply put we have to trust God's plan for us.
Even in the simplest of activities we can find lesson to apply to our own lives. What are the targets in your life? Are they in range? Are you taking care of the fundamentals to hit your targets. Are your targets meaningful? Take some time to reflect on what the things you need to do in your life, and the things you want to do. Some targets may be out of range at the moment, and some might not be as important. Make sure you are not missing the important things in life (God, Family, Friends). Those things that seem out of range at now may come into range when the time is right, or it may be that they really aren't all that important in your own life. Simply put we have to trust God's plan for us.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Speaking of Our Town
Within an hour of finishing my post yesterday I learned that the U.S. Army had reached a deal to purchase 70,000 acres of land to add to the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site which is very close to our town. The Army has been attempting to expand the site since 2004 despite opposition from local residents. The Army decided to make the purchase in spite of a Congressional moratorium on funding for the expansion. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, when it comes to explaining why the expansion is bad for our town (and every other town out here), I have posted a link to the website maintained by the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition. Please take the time to read the information on their website, and then participate in my poll.
Added 3/16/2009:
I wrote this post after reading a March 10th article in the Pueblo Cheiftan. However, follow up articles in others publication have given information that the landowner states he is not selling to the Army. Then there were articles that the Army plans to lease the land rather than purchase it. With all the information and mis-information coming from the mainstream media it is hard to know who to believe. The articles have caused fear, anger, and further distrust of the Army. We must maintain our faith that God will provide for us, and that we must cast our cares upon him.
Added 3/16/2009:
I wrote this post after reading a March 10th article in the Pueblo Cheiftan. However, follow up articles in others publication have given information that the landowner states he is not selling to the Army. Then there were articles that the Army plans to lease the land rather than purchase it. With all the information and mis-information coming from the mainstream media it is hard to know who to believe. The articles have caused fear, anger, and further distrust of the Army. We must maintain our faith that God will provide for us, and that we must cast our cares upon him.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Our Town
What opinion do you have of small towns? Your answer will probably be based on the experiences you have had in your own life. There aren't many options to stop and talk to someone when you visit our community as it is now. As Christians I believe that we have fallen short in making people feel welcome in our town. The local chapter of the FFA put up a sign on the highway into town. It reads "Small, but friendly". I find the words "but friendly" to be telling when it comes to how welcome strangers must feel in a small town. It would be more appropriate if the sign read "Small, and friendly" perhaps.
We would love to have more families here in Branson. However, three families have moved away since our arrival last July. It is hard for anyone to learn about our town and tell others if there is nowhere for them to visit. Fortunately we have a member of the community who has spent his own money to buy a building with plans to renovate it into a museum / coffee shop. Many of us hope that this will give travelers a place to stop and visit. A place where they can see a friendly face, and learn about our town. When it is finished I will be sure to post about it. In the meantime if you feel like visiting Branson, CO let us know. Just like in the Montgomery Gentry song, several of us would be happy to show you around our town.
We would love to have more families here in Branson. However, three families have moved away since our arrival last July. It is hard for anyone to learn about our town and tell others if there is nowhere for them to visit. Fortunately we have a member of the community who has spent his own money to buy a building with plans to renovate it into a museum / coffee shop. Many of us hope that this will give travelers a place to stop and visit. A place where they can see a friendly face, and learn about our town. When it is finished I will be sure to post about it. In the meantime if you feel like visiting Branson, CO let us know. Just like in the Montgomery Gentry song, several of us would be happy to show you around our town.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Hearing and Listening
Today seems like a good day to start. My wife maintains a blog chroniciling the growth of our youngest dauther Hope, and our other children. She started the blog after our youngest was born with a condition that caused her to lose 90% of her small intestine. The combined medical wisdom several doctors told us that she would not survive more than a month after her birth. However, with no further medical intervention Hope is now 16 months old. If you don't believe in miracles then you need to meet our daughter. If you would like to read about her you can do so at http://hopesjourneywithashortgut.blogspot.com/.
In spite of our daughter's miracle sometimes I am subject to the human failing of knowing that God is there, but not listening. This hit home today while listening to our Pastor, Brad, deliver the message. As the message hit home I realized to on more than one occasion I have sat in church and heard God's message, but have failed to listen. This is akin to what occurs when I am engrossed in something, and my wife starts talking. I am aware that my wife is talking to me, but instead of listening to her I remained focused on something else. Instead of casting all of my cares upon the Lord as I should I find myself worrying over them while sitting in church on Sunday morning. By doing this I am esentially limiting my ability to listen and learn from God's message.
Fortunately we have a good God, and he is patient and understanding. As I sat this morning with my worries weighing on me they played right into God's message. It is said that we believe through faith in Jesus, because we can't see or hear him. The truth is that God can speak right to your heart if you are willing to listen. The message for today was from Matthew 7 about discipleship. Brad compared discipleship with apprenticeship. After all the disciples were apprentices of Jesus. All of us who follow the word of God, and accept are salvation through Jesus are apprentices. That is while here on this earth we must continue to learn from Jesus through his teachings. Brad said that in earthly things we eventually move from apprentice to master. That is true only in that we reach a point where we can teach others what we have learned thus far. Only God posseses infinite knowlege and wisdom, there is always something to learn no matter how much we think we know. It is much more so with our journey toward's God's Kingdom, we must listen and continue to learn until we too "enter through the narrow gate."
The outcome may not always be to our liking, but if we follow God in our journey and learn from him then we will know that the outcome is part of God's plan for us.
In spite of our daughter's miracle sometimes I am subject to the human failing of knowing that God is there, but not listening. This hit home today while listening to our Pastor, Brad, deliver the message. As the message hit home I realized to on more than one occasion I have sat in church and heard God's message, but have failed to listen. This is akin to what occurs when I am engrossed in something, and my wife starts talking. I am aware that my wife is talking to me, but instead of listening to her I remained focused on something else. Instead of casting all of my cares upon the Lord as I should I find myself worrying over them while sitting in church on Sunday morning. By doing this I am esentially limiting my ability to listen and learn from God's message.
Fortunately we have a good God, and he is patient and understanding. As I sat this morning with my worries weighing on me they played right into God's message. It is said that we believe through faith in Jesus, because we can't see or hear him. The truth is that God can speak right to your heart if you are willing to listen. The message for today was from Matthew 7 about discipleship. Brad compared discipleship with apprenticeship. After all the disciples were apprentices of Jesus. All of us who follow the word of God, and accept are salvation through Jesus are apprentices. That is while here on this earth we must continue to learn from Jesus through his teachings. Brad said that in earthly things we eventually move from apprentice to master. That is true only in that we reach a point where we can teach others what we have learned thus far. Only God posseses infinite knowlege and wisdom, there is always something to learn no matter how much we think we know. It is much more so with our journey toward's God's Kingdom, we must listen and continue to learn until we too "enter through the narrow gate."
The outcome may not always be to our liking, but if we follow God in our journey and learn from him then we will know that the outcome is part of God's plan for us.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
