Blessed Sunday to you all! 

I am tired!  After two worship services and taco lunch at church I shopped with Geni the remainder of the afternoon.  Our first stop was WalMart to outfit her bathrooms and her kitchen.  As you can imagine she was shocked as to the things she needed to get started in her new home.  I must brag a bit as she planned for this expense and handled the cost well.  Then we went to Kroger.  We walked up and down every aisle so that she could pay attention to where things were and again she was really surprised as to the number of items in the grocery store that she would need to get started.  I probably said at least a dozen times, “Remember, there is only one of you,” as she tended to purchase multiples of certain items.  I purchased a couple of chickens and some salad and we went back to her apartment. 

After putting all of the food away we had her first meal with all of us present in her living room on the coffee table.  It was somewhat reminiscent of the carpet picnics Casey and his friends would have in his hospital room. We had a great time.  She is not sleeping there tonight, but maybe tomorrow.  There was a problem with an air conditioner leak in her upstairs bathroom, but the HVAC repairman came out tonight and made the necessary repairs.

I begin CPE tomorrow morning at 8:00.  Please offer a prayer that I may stay focused on the things that are important.  Thanks.

Prayer:  “Lord, as I bow humbly in Your presence, speak to my heart. Lord, remind me of Your goodness and mercy.  Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Open my eyes to the needs and hurts of those around me.  Guide me by Your Spirit to those who are in desperate need of the Savior.  Use me as Your vessel to make a difference.   Grant this prayer, O Lord, Amen.”

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

John 3: 8

I know how to go into a hospital room and pray with folks, listen to them and anoint them with oil for prayer and blessing.  But I still have everything to learn about how to work in a hospital.  I am glad that through scripture God revealed that I have a teachable heart.  I know I am capable of learning the skills and knowledge to meet the calling placed upon me.  The old saying about “God does not call the equipped.  God equips those who are called according to His good purpose.”  This is the equipping process. 

I must tell you a story.  I have shared with you that I will be working at Huguley Hospital and John Peter Smith.  John Peter Smith is a Trauma 1 hospital.  Almost 25 years ago I delivered Geni at Peter Smith.  At her delivery the nurses thought they heard a heart murmur and she went directly to NICU (Neo-Natal ICU).  I spent the next full week visiting her 2 or 3 times per day driving from Arlington to the hospital in Fort Worth.  In my week long time there I saw a lot of babies in that NICU, but what I did not see were many of their mothers coming to visit.  These babies were so sick.  The one that broke my heart was a tiny perfectly formed baby named Victoria who was in an enclosed isolet.  On the outside of her isolet was a message to her mother.  It read, “Please help my Mommy to visit me, to give me a bath and to hold and rock me.”  I decided at that moment that when I had finished raising my family I was going to hospitals and rock babies.  Perhaps God’s calling was on me even then, because I am going back to the place where I first made a solemn call to a ministry.  God’s Spirit is the supernatural force that speaks truth that transforms each of us sometimes in the silence of words and sometimes in the message written on the isolet of a tiny baby. 

Take joy in the journey.  Wear comfortable shoes and get some sleep.  Count your blessings and say your prayers.  Love you all and thanks for everything, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com     

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.