I have been a nurse for 30 years, the last 15 years in Home Care. This may surprise most people, but Home Care has been the most interesting, exciting and rewarding. I have a good imagination but I cannot make up a story that is better than what I see in my job. Unlike most home care nurses that work during the day, I work at night. The unfavorable places they go and things they do during the day become more unattractive after hours. This is my job.
It was dark and the heavy rain had become a mist as I drove by the abandoned buildings with boarded up windows and graffiti spray painted on the sides. All of a sudden, I heard a loud crack from the passenger side windshield. I looked over to find my windshield wiper hanging like a broken arm swinging back and forth. Before I could turn off the wipers, the blade went flying across my windshield and lodged itself under the wiper in front of me. There was no safe place to pull over and try to problem solve. It was dark and a bad part of town, and all the shops were closed. I proceeded to my patient’s house. When I came back out it had started to rain again, and I knew I needed to come up with a solution. If I used my windshield wipers the passenger side would scratch the glass. I looked around in the dark and asked, “Well God, how are we going to fix this?” I looked into the back seat of my car and saw my box of wound care supplies. I reached in and pulled out rolled gauze and tape. I quickly wrapped up my windshield wiper. Quite proud of myself, I took a picture and sent it to my husband. Laughing, I drove to my next patient thinking, “Only in home care.”
Still driving I asked God, “So what’s the message in this God? All I see is humor and a professional bandage on my windshield.” That is when I realized that no matter what our situation or experience may be, God has already prepared us and given us the tools or resources to accomplish the task. Sometimes we have to look outside our normal thoughts and take stock of our resources, but they are there. It may be our friends, family, knowledge, a personal skill, community resources, prayer or a roll of gauze. If we look, we will see He has prepared us.