Feeling better, it is like the fog is slowly going away.  Going into a violent a-fib and then the shock treatment in trying to make the heart go back into rhythm is rather rough on body and mind.  Unfortunately, they didn’t always work.

So, they flew me into Portland and I was placed in the ICU wing of OHSU.  By then my heart was back in regular rhythm.  Rather than doing an operation they were planning, they chose to try and maintain the rate with a more potent medication – we will see if it continues to work.  I meet with the surgeons in the middle of the month to determine what options would be bets taken.

Hopefully, 2015 will be more productive for me than 2014 has been.

I was impressed with the personnel at OHSU; dedicated to the medical profession and their patients in a professional and personable manner.  But there was a difference in the operation.

I talked with Wendy, who explained that OHSU is a teaching hospital; as such they have a different mission than most hospitals, not just helping the patient get well, but they are more on the cutting edge of medicine.

I did see a few things that ‘I’ in my opinion could be improved upon.  The nurses sometimes found that instead of having things they needed regularly available they had to go find them, the pantries weren’t being filled on a regular basis and I could see how frustrated they were – they didn’t show it in their treatment, but you could see it.

The one thing that did surprise me was the lack of concern for the spiritual aspects of the patients.  While I don’t agree in whole with Mid-Columbia Medical Center’s Plane Tree philosophy, they do help the patient in this area.

I asked for a bible so I could do my meditations for that day, Carla was in route so she couldn’t retrieve mine.  The nurse came back a few minutes later and said another nurse thought she had seen one on the floor.  She did come in a few minutes later with a New King James Bible – but it was the only one they were aware of in a 24 bed wing.

Out of curiosity a while later I asked if they had chaplains; I was told they could call one in if needed.  I said I didn’t need one, just wanted to know.  Later I observed a lady in her forty’s walking the floor.  She was obviously in distress.

As she walked down the hall towards my room I motioned for her to come in and we talked a few minutes.  Her father had come in earlier in the week for an outpatient treatment and was now in serious condition.  She was a Christian and we agreed in prayer for her father.

I thought to myself, there is a need – and they don’t see it.  I also started thinking to myself, how many times have I too not seen the need?  Dad :-)  

Jonah 1:8-9 Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

⁹ And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.

We all know well the story of Jonah, how he was told to go to Nineveh and preach to them.  Jonah, as most Jews, hated those in   Nineveh; he was afraid they would repent, and if they did God would forgive them, so he fled thinking that if he could get away from God, God would destroy Nineveh.

However, as he flees, the ship he is on goes into a great storm (obviously created by God) and is in danger of sinking.  They are afraid.  I am sure this was not a novice crew.

This had to be a storm none of them had experienced before.  These were brave men, experienced seamen, who knew that this great storm had to be caused by something someone had done.

The sailors determine the reason for their great peril rests on Jonah.

Not knowing who he is they ask – interestingly enough EVEN though he was running from the Lord in disobedience, he proclaims and I fear the Lord.

How many times do we proclaim our Christian beliefs, but are really in rebellion against the God and Christ we say we are following?  I look at the Word of God, and I see myself in these words.  I see my failures, my reluctance – along with God’s deliverance, protection and love.  These stories reflect who WE are, the very things we also do.  Yet, they also reflects and confirms that God forgives.

Jonah knows what he has done and tells them the only way to calm the storm is for them to cast him into the sea.  They did not want to do that, it would mean certain death and they didn’t want the God that Jonah served, the God that could cause such treacherous seas – evidently the likes of which they had never known - punishing them even more for causing the death of an ‘innocent’ man.

They tried to get to land, but could not.

And 15-16 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.

¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

Even though Jonah had disobeyed God, God used the disobedience to make an example of him.  In the process, the men in the ship learned who God is and turned to Him.  While Jonah sinned and disobeyed God – and of course was going to be held accountable for that defiance – men were led to God through the demonstration of God’s great powers in His dealing with Jonah.

Even when we fail God, God is not without using us to save others.  How we deal with the discipline He administers to us is our responsibility and to our shame.  But at least there is a distinct possibility others will learn and come to Him by seeing our punishment.  That is NOT to say we should disobey, thinking He will still use our disobedience to His benefit.  That would be pure insanity.

Romans 8:31   What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Either we are for God, or we are not.  Those that serve God willingly will be used of Him and will be able to praise and worship Him as true believers. 

Those that choose to deny Him, those that choose to diminish who and what He is will still be used of Him – their actions, ultimately will serve HIS purpose even if they think it is their own.

Each of us has a mission given to us by God.  It is not necessarily laid out in a plan for us to see, it is a day to day submission to God.  He has a grand plan, we are part of it, and while we may not see or understand it, we can be confident in the planner.

That is not to say we shouldn’t plan for the future, for a building to be built it must have plans.  There is an orderly process to be taken and it will take (usually) more than a day to complete. 

However, as we walk with God, we must be willing to follow where HE leads, even if it is different than the plan we originally had for the day.

Mathew 27:32  And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

I am sure Simon had no idea when he got up that morning he would be involved in one of the most famous incidents in history, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 

We don’t know if he was jeering Christ, a silent observer caught up in the moment, or a man who had listened to and loved Jesus.  We do know that the Roman soldiers looked around to find someone to help Christ, in His weakened condition, carry the cross and Simon was who they chose.

Simon had no choice.  Had he refused he could have been killed.

But WE have a choice.  We can choose to help carry the cross and serve God willingly in partnership with Him – or we can be compelled to carry a cross we do not understand, be used by Him and to our shame, instead of doing it for His Glory.

God will get the job done, by willing Christians, or unwilling Christians or sinners.  His Master Plan trumps anything man can do.  We need to understand that God is God and He is the One, the ONLY One, in charge and requires our obedience to Him.

Jonah knew that, but he chose to disobey.  He knew that God could forgive the people of Nineveh; he didn’t want that, he wanted God to destroy them.  So, he chose to run from God – it didn’t work for him, it will not work for us.

Far better to be a willing servant, than an unwilling slave; we will be used by God either way.

Later, Dad :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again