When I really think about my life and the vast scope of people who have influenced the person I am today, I am able to identify numerous wonderful people who I have admired. That being said, very rarely do we come across people whose consistent faithfulness and servitude set an example truly worthy of being used as a guide and inspiration for our own actions. For me, one of the rare exceptions has been Dr. Gary Parker. He is one of those exceptional saints who I consider to represent, not only the epitome of excellent healthcare, but also the epitome of who we should be as followers of Christ.
Which is why I know that when Dr. Gary is holding a teaching session, there is something important to be learned. Like tonight, for example.
We have just spent the last week and a half waxing floors, making beds, cleaning the wards, stocking supplies, orientating local day volunteers, hosting members of the Togolese medical community, and touring the non-medical crew of the Africa Mercy through the hospital … all important tasks for the eventual reopening of the wards…..but none coming even close to bringing the satisfaction and sense of purpose that bedside nursing brings to a nurse. So, I was just starting to contemplate the idea of maybe feeling just the slightest bit unmotivated. Or distracted. Or invested in things that, deep down, I know don’t really matter but that seem to start to matter when your mind has nowhere else to be.
Until I started to listen to Dr. Gary’s talk.
I was so clearly reminded of why we came here. He reminded us that the biggest health problems in the developing world have simple solutions. He reminded us that to whom much has been given, much is expected (“…freely you have received, freely give” Matthew 10:8). He reminded us that we have the opportunity to offer tangible hope to people who may have never experienced anything comparable (at which point I considered the very real possibility that bringing hope and healing represents so much more than just catchy alliteration on my Mercy Ships-branded wear).
And just so readily, all else began to fade. Thoughts of whether I would remember how to complete the excel spreadsheet for the patient census when I do my first shift as a charge nurse seem shockingly less relevant.
Perhaps that is how God intended it. That if we turn our eyes to him, trust him, choose to honour him, obey his commands, and listen to his voice – that he will take care of the rest.
"At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."
- Mother Theresa
posted by Jenn
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When I really think about my life and the vast scope of people who have influenced the person I am today, I am able to identify numerous wonderful people who I have admired. That being said, very rarely do we come across people whose consistent faithfulness and servitude set an example truly worthy of being used as a guide and inspiration for our own actions. For me, one of the rare exceptions has been Dr. Gary Parker. He is one of those exceptional saints who I consider to represent, not only the epitome of excellent healthcare, but also the epitome of who we should be as followers of Christ.
Which is why I know that when Dr. Gary is holding a teaching session, there is something important to be learned. Like tonight, for example.
We have just spent the last week and a half waxing floors, making beds, cleaning the wards, stocking supplies, orientating local day volunteers, hosting members of the Togolese medical community, and touring the non-medical crew of the Africa Mercy through the hospital … all important tasks for the eventual reopening of the wards…..but none coming even close to bringing the satisfaction and sense of purpose that bedside nursing brings to a nurse. So, I was just starting to contemplate the idea of maybe feeling just the slightest bit unmotivated. Or distracted. Or invested in things that, deep down, I know don’t really matter but that seem to start to matter when your mind has nowhere else to be.
Until I started to listen to Dr. Gary’s talk.
I was so clearly reminded of why we came here. He reminded us that the biggest health problems in the developing world have simple solutions. He reminded us that to whom much has been given, much is expected (“…freely you have received, freely give” Matthew 10:8). He reminded us that we have the opportunity to offer tangible hope to people who may have never experienced anything comparable (at which point I considered the very real possibility that bringing hope and healing represents so much more than just catchy alliteration on my Mercy Ships-branded wear).
And just so readily, all else began to fade. Thoughts of whether I would remember how to complete the excel spreadsheet for the patient census when I do my first shift as a charge nurse seem shockingly less relevant.
Perhaps that is how God intended it. That if we turn our eyes to him, trust him, choose to honour him, obey his commands, and listen to his voice – that he will take care of the rest.
"At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."
- Mother Theresa
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