Director

Dear Friends,
We wanted  to share with you that Andrew was asked to become the Chester City Director of WI, starting on August 16th.  We confirmed this was the Lord's leading with much prayer and counsel.  We ask for prayer during this time of transition for our family and missionary family.  Thank you for your love and prayer all these years!  We are so grateful to you!

A 3am wake up call

I recently worked an overnight shift without getting rest prior to the start of my shift, it was a busy night, with almost 25 patients waiting in the waiting room.  About 3am I am wishing I can snuggle in my own bed with my husband.  I'm off to see what feels like my 100th patient, but in reality, only my 7th.  The diagnosis is intractable back pain, and reading the ED spread it said "only IV Dilaudid helps."   No clinician wants to hear these words whether it's 3 in the afternoon, let alone 3 in the morning. 

I learned a few lessons from this patient.  I listened to him, without judgement, and believed he was in real pain.  Watched him brace pain as I palpated his spine and paraspinal muscles, his eyes misting up when he thought about how he's unable to lift up his little boy anymore, and could see the frustration he has had with the numbers of doctors he's seen, but no firm diagnosis.  How quickly one can half-listen, counting patients as a drug seeker, but feel God gave me this patient to hold onto compassion.  I know I was another white coat in a long stream of clinicians he's encountered, but I hope he felt God listen and care about his pain. 

Lessons taken away:
1.  Listen without judgement and open-mind.
2.  Being compassionate isn't an option, no matter what time it is.
3.  Gratefulness for good health. 

Planning a Health Fair!

Currently in the beginning stages of planning a health fair for next Spring....very excited and nervous at the same time.  If you have any experience or tips for me, I'd be very grateful! 

The Lord will provide.

Highly Recommend

Dr. Carson is one of the nations prominent neurosurgeon, graduate of Yale, resident of John Hopkins Hospital, and most recently a professor of Pediatric neurosurgery.  He is far away from the rough streets of Detroit, Michigan, but in this book he never forgets his roots.  He is unashamed to talk about his faith in God, the miracles he witnesses, his compassion he has for his patients, and the roadblocks of prejudice he faced along the way. 

A little goes a long way

After being a patient myself during the delivery and then having a loved one hospitilized shortly after, my perspective changed on what it is really like for my patients.  So often I would find myself letting the fatigue, mentally and physically, let me do the bare minimum in terms of bed side manners...just enough to get by...a little effort is better than none right?  A little goes a long way...isn't that the saying?

Well, I want to do an experiment.  What would happen if I went an extra mile or two for my patients?  How much more will they not feel like a number, a patient, but a person?  My first day of my experiment went well yesterday.  The benefit to me isn't the thank you's from the patients and their families, but the peace of knowing I'm not falling into the trap many medical providers fall into...apathy.

A good rule of thumb:  Treat your patients like you would want your mom (or dad) to be treated if she (or he) was hospitalized.

Already?

It's already been 3 months since I delivered my precious Christopher and now I start back to work tomorrow.  I am looking forward to seeing my coworkers again, getting into the grind of it all again, but my heart is pulled towards home now.  I'm sure I will call 20 times a day, just hoping for a coo or "oh!" from him. 

I am so thankful that Andrew is taking care of him while I work, that in fact it is a vital part of ministry.  In this community where fathers are nonexistent or not active, people will see how a father cares for his children.  Already I've had so many young girls say to me "Wow, Mr. Andrew looks really comfortable with Chris!"  or "Mr. Andrew takes really good care of him."  I hope that stays with them and that less is unacceptable in their own life. 

I hope it's a busy day tomorrow...

"My family or the poor?" A CMDA Devotional

I subscribe to Christian Medical Doctors Association's devotional, and wanted to share today's.  I find this constant battle between my family and the poor especially after having a child.  I do believe God is passionate about the poor and desires to use us to bless and show them His love, but also believe that God blesses us to bless our families too.   If you struggle between the two, you are not alone!

My Family, or the Poor?

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack, “he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Mk 10: 21

My wife of 36 years and I were spending a weekend at a medical educational meeting. One of our real pleasures on such excursions is to eat at fine restaurants and view the bay or the mountains as we enjoy really good food. I have neglected her a lot over my many years of practice and it feels good to provide for her extravagant experiences that we can share. At the same time, in the same real world, I realize that the dollars I spend for the wife I love might be life saving dollars in places like Haiti, where thousands have died and hundreds of thousands are homeless.
 
Jesus spoke about money far more than he spoke about many topics that we stress in our faith, such as sexual fidelity and personal evangelism. The Scriptures portray a special place in God’s heart for the poor and down trodden. As Christian doctors we walk through life with a continuous tension between using our money to bless those we love, and using it to help those in great need. My observation has been that Christian doctors seem to reside somewhere along a continuum. Some reject their responsibility to the poor and almost exclusively use their money for those they love. Others minimize the importance of caring for their families and almost exclusively use their money to care for those in greater need. Most of us reside somewhere along the continuum between the two.

How do we decide where we should live and give along that line? It’s not easy. I suspect that the more our hearts and money reach out to the underserved, the closer we are to God’s heart: not only because we help the poor He loves, but also because we are more likely to trust Him with other aspects of our lives when we don’t depend on our own financial capabilities to gain what we want in life. At the same time, I believe I honor God when I share wonderful dinners with my wife and spend time with my children on family vacations and provide them all with a comfortable home. I pray I am right in this. What guidelines can we use to walk through life with God, with money and without a constant anxiety caused by choosing between our families and the underserved? Let me list a few:

1. Accept as God-given my dual responsibility to care for my family and to care for the poor.
2. Since my natural drift will be toward my family, when I plan to spend on my family, I should consistently hold up the poor in my decision making.
3. Regularly ask God, “How can I give sacrificially to the underserved?”
4. Divide my family expenditures between “luxuries” and “necessities”. Consider a covenant with God to give to the poor an equal amount that I spend on luxuries, above the tithe.
5. Seek ways in my practice life to sacrificially care for the downtrodden.
6. Spend focused time every year caring for the poor, either domestically or internationally.
7. Ask God at regular intervals in my life if he would have me shift occupations and serve the underserved with a larger proportion of my time.
8. When God whispers, obey.
9. Within a life defined by these boundaries, enjoy caring for my family, even sometimes extravagantly.

Dear God,
Let me honor You with the money You have placed into my hands. Please bless my family far more than I could with my income. Let me give extravagantly to those in need.