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In the United States medical care has reached such an incredible level that no matter how miraculous a person’s recovery from a hopeless situation, it is attributed to the advanced medical care they received. Did you know that God still does miracles even in the States? We just refuse to see or acknowledge God at work. A lot of people think that they need to go to a developing country to serve God or to see Him at work but the reality is that He is always at work wherever we are if we choose to see Him.
I first met Miss Dotty when I was working at nursing home in the States as a nurse's aid during my college summer breaks. Miss Dotty was a small but mean and sometimes crazy old woman who walked with a cane and a little bit of a limp.Without fail, she drove herself for her daily visit with her sweet, forgetful husband who did not even remember who she was anymore. Not a visit went by that Miss Dotty did not leave without saying something nasty to one of the staff or the residents or stirring up some kind of trouble.
One day, Miss Dotty proudly waved a piece of note paper at me containing a nasty letter she had written to one of the residents. I gently reminded her that it is better to be kind to people to which she reluctantly agreed and begrudgingly threw away the letter. Another day, Miss Dotty was trying to drive out of the nursing home parking lot but could not figure out why she could not back up her car. She repeatedly backed up into the side of my co-worker pickup truck leaving a rather large dent in the side of it. Through those daily visits, I eventually developed a good report with her. I can't say that she was actually nice to me but she was not mean.
Three years later, Miss Dotty's declining health began declining which landed her admitted in the hospital where I now worked. She was always excited to see me and was eager to tell me how much she despised several of the long term residents at the nursing home.
It was nearing the end of my long 12 hour shift on the in-patient ward. How my feet ached from walking all day trying to keep up with the needs of my patients. At that point, I did not know what was going on in the emergency room until later. Miss Dotty was brought into the emergency room for not feeling well. The infection from her chronic leg wounds had entered her bloodstream which meant that she would have to be admitted to the hospital for a course of strong antibiotics. Miss Dotty suddenly took a turn for the worse, became unresponsive, had difficulty breathing, and then her heart stopped. The emergency room staff quickly started chest compressions, breaking most of the ribs in her frail body. Miss Dotty was clinically dead. The staff was able to get a weak pulse back after about 15 minutes of CPR. . After a minute or two, Miss Dotty started to take some labored breaths on her own but remained unresponsive. Before leaving Miss Dotty's room, my friend Katelyn who worked in the emergency room stopped and prayed, "God, give this woman a second chance."It was the end of my shift when I was told that I was going to accepting Miss Dotty as a patient on my unit. She was not expected to make it through the night. Miss Dotty was wheeled off the elevator and transferred into the bed. She was unresponsive and her breathing was labored with fifteen to thirty seconds periods of where she would stop breathing altogether. I could not feel any pulses in her cold, blue feet. I gently wrapped her leg ulcers with gauze and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. I called Miss Dotty's only friend Jane, who was a med-tech at the nursing home, to let her know that she was not going to make it through the night. I told Miss Dotty that Jane said good-bye and that she loves her. Miss Dotty moaned a little and then was quiet. I left work a few minutes later knowing that I would not see her again. I was going to miss her.
I reluctantly rolled out of bed and dragged myself into work early the next morning with my coffee mug in my hand. As I gathered my report sheets, I was surprised to see Miss Dotty's name was still on my assignment for that day.
"Guess who is awake and talking to me this morning!?!" night shift nurse Ashley exclaimed excitedly. I dropped my report sheets and coffee mug on the nurse's desk and sprinted down the hallway. As I flipped on the light, there was Miss Dotty sitting up in her bed. "Elizabeth!" she exclaimed, "Where is my morning coffee and donut?"
"Miss Dotty!" I said, "You're alive!"
"Of course I'm alive," said Miss Dotty, "Why wouldn't I be? Where is my morning coffee?"
"You can have all the coffee and donuts you want today!" I told her. I was in complete shock because this woman should not have made it through the night. I gave her coffee and a big jelly donut as she requested. Miss Dotty fed herself but was really weak so she got the jelly all over her face, gown, table, and bed linens in the process.
Dr Walter walked into the room and stared at her for a minute with his hand on his chin before stating, "I don't know what to say. I just don't know what to say." He was in just as much shock as the rest of us were.
Later that afternoon, I took some time to talk to Miss Dotty. In spite of having ribs broken from CPR the night before, she kept saying that she did not having any pain and she "felt wonderful!" We talked to about life after death and I read her verses out of the Bible. I took her through the Roman's Road to salvation and prayed with her. Miss Dotty did not accept Christ that day but maybe she did during the two weeks that she spent at the nursing home with her husband before she passed away. That day made me realize how God truly cares about everyone of us, even those who do not care for Him at all. God gave a mean, angry old woman a second chance to accept Him as Savior. That was truly amazing. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are or who you are, if you seek God you will find Him at work.
Praise!
The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando, came to our little village by helicopter this week. A lot of us got to meet him! He pulled some strings and got immediate accreditation for our bilingual school that we have been in process of for years! God is good!
Prayer requests:
1) For me to listen to God's direction and to have discernment in some decisions
2) we are in desperate need of more good and trustworthy Honduran nurses to work at the hospital
3) Financial provision is always a prayer request. I would not be here if it were not for all of you! If you feel led to support me financially, you can do so by clicking here.
Praise!
The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando, came to our little village by helicopter this week. A lot of us got to meet him! He pulled some strings and got immediate accreditation for our bilingual school that we have been in process of for years! God is good!
Prayer requests:
1) For me to listen to God's direction and to have discernment in some decisions
2) we are in desperate need of more good and trustworthy Honduran nurses to work at the hospital
3) Financial provision is always a prayer request. I would not be here if it were not for all of you! If you feel led to support me financially, you can do so by clicking here.
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