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What a week this past 7 days has been! Do you find yourself marvelling how you got through the week, sometimes week after week, with all its challenges?
The contrast and juxtaposition between the Sabbath and the rest of the week can be so strong that thoughts of the Israelite slaves back in Egypt come to mind. This may sound dramatic, but it is a good thing in the context of deeply appreciating God's gift of the Sabbath day. In our times we have so many comforts and luxuries such as the homes we live in, hot and cold running water, reverse cycle air conditioning, big beds that support our bodies to aid in restful therapeutic sleep, furniture including sofas so comfortable that we easily fall asleep in front of the TV, white goods, electrical items galore, gadgets for this or that, plenty of clothing, a huge variety of food and drinks, and not least of all...our cars, without which we would not be able to engage in the employment that makes our lifestyle possible. We are so blessed in this country we affectionately refer to as “our wide brown land” as in the famous poem “My Country” written by Dorothea MacKellar. Many a young Australian or new Australian read her poetry in grade school last century. Here is the link if you would like to immerse yourself in poetry of opalescent beauty: https://www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/archive/mycountry.htm. If you would like her poem read to you by Dorothea herself, then please click on the following link:
https://youtu.be/o5bNhQrKay0.
So...what’s in a week? Plenty. Sometimes far too much for me to cope with. The challenge was in the amount of work (double shifts) and the nature of the work which was excessive due to understaffing as the facility was in crisis. My understanding was for sustainable hours but this changed due to the lack of staff, sickness, and the rural placement unable to access agency staff at short notice. It is difficult to say no when your superior implores you to help and so I did, not once or twice, but three times. However, in this instance I was not fully informed of the sheer volume of work and found myself thrust “in the deep end”. Even the fit, younger staff in their 20s commented that they cannot cope with the volume of work. Experience counts for something but there are only so many duties one can do at one time.
All I can say is that God got me through. Even to think, say or write this feels like a massive understatement. God’s help was perfect; and I truly believe He saw to it that many incidents which could have occurred, did not. Disaster was averted and we all survived. All glory and praise to our Father in whom we delight (Psalms 111, 117, 118, 121, 136, 138, 145, 146). Nevertheless my physicality was challenged along with my mental health. Nobody likes to feel a failure and we all desire to finish everything expected of us at work. In 30 years of nursing experience I can honestly say that two staff were required instead of just one for my role and job description; and they would have been kept steadily busy and felt safe with a modicum of control.
Nurses joke around at times, even quite often, as the stress takes its toll on us, and to cope with the tragedy we see from those around us for whom we try to do our best when caring for them and counselling with their loved ones — so we say things like “I need a mental health day” among our colleagues and we mean it. Working hard physically can be countered with a good night’s sleep if we are not doing shift work which does not allow enough time to sleep— yet we cope, but it is very draining on our emotional health; even more so when combined with the lack of adequate rest between shifts. The law still stands that there must be 8 hours between shifts...at best, this means only 4-5 hours of sleep to allow for travel and all the necessary activities one must do in order to live. Nowhere near enough for optimal functioning, and this is even more important and apparent as the cumulative effects of days, evenings or nights on duty, take their toll.
The take home lesson here is that the workload is incredibly excessive and now that I am fully informed of what is expected, these particular shifts will not be accepted again as I know if just one thing goes wrong it will be very unsafe. Why put yourself through that? The irony is that people here go to work and hope nothing goes wrong but this is not realistic and they are living in fantasyland. It is one thing to want to help and not be informed fully (which should have occurred) but another again to help out with the benefit of wisdom when one knows it is setting oneself up for disaster. More than once I was offered double shifts which could earn incredible amounts of money, but this has not been my objective. Rather I choose sustainable work in which I can pace myself so as not to “burn out”, especially at my age. Those in the world do not take notice of what God says but as a Christian, I am acutely aware of the scripture found in Proverbs 23:4 “Do not overwork to be rich; because of your own understanding, cease!” Wisdom personified!
Comparisons and Contrasts
The remainder of the week went by in a blur. Glimpses of blue skies, sunny days with balmy breezes and temperatures around 26 degrees Celsius came and went with little recognition except for entering and exiting buildings. The beauty of our lakeside retreat would have to wait for another week to enjoy when things settle down to normalcy. The frantic work pace of work, home, read, sleep, shower, eat, and repeat no doubt took its toll on my usual peace and ability to indulge in collecting my thoughts.
One delight of great proportions to counteract all the turmoil, was news of the bore hole work in Zambia, South Africa from donations through LifeNets in Australia. Here is the link. LifeNets work is a project of pure joy and is very dear and close to my heart. Just look at the expressive happiness and delight amongst the women who no longer have to travel great distances and compete with wild animals for water. We turn on our taps here without a second thought and expect that it will come out either hot or cold depending on our choice. How blessed we are!
Another thing that happened to restore joy in my heart was finding a couple of Feast of Tabernacles gifts for loved ones, some overseas nearby where we will be attending next month. Quite by happy accident we saw the “perfect” gifts that are practical, well made like old fashioned times but with new technology, as well as specifically decorated to suit the taste or preferences of those concerned so much so that I could hardly believe my eyes! The store we went into along the main street of the little country town where we are staying while working locally had just the right thing! So we purchased them and paid by eftpos. I usually look at all the receipts but this time I just quickly glanced at the charge and nothing else due to being rather rushed for time.
The next day after some much needed sleep I looked at the receipt and to my amazement realised that the charge had been declined. We returned to the shop before work that morning to show the owner who was so taken aback that we returned to pay the rather large sum. She kept saying over and over again she would not have known and it would have gone undetected. Naturally she gave us the credit for being honest with exuberant words and incredulous disbelief that anyone would return instead of saving themselves a lot of money. It was so humbling and beautiful to be in a position of giving God the praise and glory. The shop keeper did not seem to process this, or if she did, made no comment when mention was made of God. One day in the future she will be easy to teach...in the meantime, I guess she will recount this story to her friends, family and others as she was really beside herself in gratefulness as business is slow in these times of recession and a flagging economy.
At the close of this week, it feels like we are entering the Sabbath after climbing out of a huge hole to claw our way up a steep narrow path in order to arrive home in time for the Sabbath; there is no chance this day could be taken for granted this week, nor should it ever be, for its holy time of healing, restorative properties, rejuvenating power, 24 hours of refreshment, and re energising us along the very words contained in Psalm 96. It gives us time to pause, reflect, recount, regroup and go on mindfully remembering those who went before us all those thousands of years ago...the Israelite slaves in Egypt who were treated so brutally and cruelly at the hands of Pharaoh. They soon forgot all the miracles God did for them as they relied on their own strength — this is such an important lesson for us today and is just one reason it has been written down in the Bible for us...never, ever forget that God rescued us from the slavery we were in to the devil even though we were completely clueless and deceived but did not even realise it.
So let us continue to be greatly mindful of our weekly release in order to worship our most awesome and wonderful Creator, King of kings, LORD of Lords, and give Him the glory for His most perfect love. One last scripture which is perfect to remember and reflects God’s great sense of humour is from Psalm 92:12-15 “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him”.