First 2010 Inventory

Resolution for 2010:
Set frequent goals.

Resolution from last year that I did not keep:
Almost every one of them.

The book I'm currently reading is:
"Third Base Ain't What It Used To Be" by Logan Levkoff. Our teens are beginning a weekly bible study on the Song of Solomon and purity in relationships and I get to be a group leader!
(I'm sure Abby is thrilled)

I'm stressed about:
What am I always stressed about?
Wouldn't you know that we'd be trying to raise 18 kazzillion dollars right in the middle of a frazzlin depression.
When we first began Jae's memorial scholarship, we agreed that we wanted it to be "God-story".
Impossibility is the platform for a miracle.....right?

What I am excited about:
Abby's soft heart.
The young'n isn't perfect...no no no. She can go from calm to hysterical in 3 seconds flat, but she is listening and learning and seriously tries to do the right thing.
Now if I could only force her to switch her high school major to academics rather than friends.

What I am also excited about:
Casey.
She worked out near impossible details in order to graduate this May.
She is excited and scared to death.
She may not know what she wants to do in life, but she's positive that she wants to be done with school!

Another thing I'm pumped about is:
Ralph cleaned off the top of his dresser.

I wish I could:
Burn.

My current Bible study is in:
Nehemiah.

The song that's moved me recently is:
"His Favorite Song of All". It's by Phillips, Craig and Dean and is at least 15 years old. There's a few songs which I simply HAVE to listen to at an ear-splitting volume. Someday I will get a ticket for either the noise or the 85 mph speed that I go when this song is on.

I was glad that I:
made Abby read Dr. Martin Luther King's letter from the Birmingham jail.

I am frustrated that I:
opened my mouth way too much over some irritating things recently.

My new phrase for this moment in my life is:
Passionate Patience.

2009's List Which NO ONE wanted to know

A completely unofficial list of personal thoughts from 2009.

TV show
Best: Spike TV's "Destroyed in 8 seconds"
Worst: All CSI shows,..which run 24/7 on all stations.

Movie
(This category is limited since I only recall seeing 1 this year)
Best: Blindside
Worst: I swear I can't remember another single movie that I've seen this year! (?)

Date with Ralph
Best: All dates with Ralph are in this category

Car Ride
Best: An early fall trip to Fayetteville with Ralph to watch the Razorbacks.
Worst: Atlanta to the Youth Specialties conference.

Ministry moment
Best: Feeding the homeless Thanksgiving weekend under the Broadway bridge. It was wonderful to have an abundance to give away.
Worst: Running out of food under the Broadway bridge as we fed over 130 homeless men.

Song
Best: Hearing Abby play The Rainbow Connection on her guitar. We sang this every night in her bed when she was tiny.
Worst: everything that raps

Scary moment
Best: (is there a "best" in this category?)
Worst: there's not one moment here, but rather 6 long weeks of scary moments as Casey traveled the US on her own in a million year old truck.

Funny moment
Best: My father-in-law needed a quick place to throw away some raisins while he was sitting near My mom-in-law's hospital bed. He dropped them into a bedside commode nearby. When my mother-in-law got OFF of it later in the day,...the nurse looked into it and said,....well,..you only went raisins! (hee hee,..nurse humor I guess)

Book
Best: A Diary of Private Prayers by John Baille
Worst: Lovely Bones

Job
Best: Expressing my love for co-workers/patients as we dissolved part of Cardiac Rehab.
Worst: Spending a day taking my resume all over Little Rock.

Nursing
Best: Successfully removing a large sheath out of a patient's femoral artery.
Worst: Being in a position where I am unable to develop relationships with patients .

Emotional
Best: Getting to know Casey's half-brother Adam. Three years ago, we didn't even know he existed.
Worst: Being angry at someone who was ridiculously rude.

Children
Best: Watching Abby perform in band competitions
Worst: Missing one of Abby's band competitions.
Best: Casey's return from a summer of living large.
Worst: A text message from Casey (in No. Carolina) which filled me with fear for her safety.
Best: Watching Abby lead worship on Sunday mornings


Pets:
Best: All things about Ralph's hairy daughter.
Another best: My new horse,..Pete.
Catastrophic: BC (barn-cat) is pregnant. I thought she was a he.

Gift
Best: My t-shirt that says..."The Donut Whisperer"
Worst: No no! not gonna tell!

Passionate Patience

II Timothy talked to me the other day about perseverance.
Occasionally, when I read a passage of scripture, I search the same passage in another translation for a different perspective. The Message translated "perseverance" into a phrase called "passionate patience".


Well Well Well.


What pray tell do I need to be passionate about in regards to my patience?

My job.
My church.
My daughters.
Myself.
My electric blanket which apparently is not one of those blankets with a brain.
My computer keyboard which prints an "i" only about half the time I hit it.
My job.
Some people.
Some other people.
One other person.
Myself.
My new TV remote.
Abby's cleaning abilities.
My kitchen faucet which sprays water 180 degrees out.
My clothes dryer which dries on every setting at 895 degrees.
My washing machine which just might walk around the utility room when it spins a load of towels.
The defroster on my car. I have 185,000 miles on that thing and still can't work the stupid defroster.
My outside dog which will kills every attractive flower and plant in my yard but protects the weeds and poison ivy.

Greg Long has a song entitled "In The Waiting" and when I hear it I know that Greg has also wrestled with this waiting business.
Here's some of his words:

Pain.
The gift nobody longs for,.... still it comes.
and somehow leaves us stronger when it goes away.
It seems the hardest part is waiting on You
when all I really want is just to see Your hand move.

I want a peace beyond my understanding.
I wanna feel it fall like rain in the middle of my hurting
I wanna feel Your arms as they surround me
and let me know that it's OK.
To be here in this pain
resting in the peace that only comes in the waiting.

Peace?
Passion?
Patience?
Perseverance?
How about,....pitiful?

It's a great thing that He is strong when I am weak.
It's a great thing His mercies are new every morning.
I'm so glad He loves me and knows my heart.

The Joys of Nursing

A very few of the funny moments in the professional life of Becky Russell RN:
(Real names and situations, of course, are not revealed)

**Preparing to bathe a patient,...only to discover that the lady in the next bed had already done it.

**Working for an hour or so in an patients room who was in isolation. As I prepared to exit the room, I whisked the door curtain back and saw through the glass my co-worker wrestling with our only other patient in the ICU. Cheryl had evidently been calling out for me for some time, but I never heard her.

**Calling a patient's husband at home to inform him that his wife was ready to be discharged. He told me that he did not have a ride to come get her, so I encouraged him to get someone to help him solve this problem.

He called 911.

**Looking up from my chart to see my patient coming down the hall towards me naked. I immediately got up to go towards him and he began running away from me screaming ''HELP!!! HELP!!!"....Like I was abusing him.

**Being asked to assist in the Emergency room. I went into one room to ask a man his name and he replied Buck. I wrote that down and asked his last name to which he replied "nekkid".
"Buck Nekkid" I said? "That's your name? "
I asked for ID and of course,..he had none. because he had no where to put it. He was buck nekkid.
Mr. Nekkid was treated and released.

**Having an orderly to assist me as I got an elderly lady into a chair. She was straining to help us when she.....tooted. My wonderful chivalrous orderly tried to spare her embarrassment by saying "Excuse me". She glared at him and wanted all the credit: "You didn't do that! That was MY fart!"

**Taking a life-sized Resusci-Annie home in my car. The stories here go on and on.

**A very large family member who washed and then hung out her big big panties in the waiting room to dry.

I think I may even know the lady in this video......