It's hard to fathom that 9 months have already slipped by since the appearance of dear babe number six, Master Davey. It seemed at first that he wanted to arrive on Friday but then he changed his mind. After much cajoling from both the doctors and his mother, he finally made his grand entrance at 4:16 a.m. Saturday morning. With our insurance I had the option of staying two days post delivery.  So, with going in on Friday and not delivering until Saturday, that meant that I could stay until Monday.  In total, I ended up with a four day stay. In that time I enjoyed nurses at my beck and call (though I'm not one to call them unless absolutely necessary). Housekeeping came in regularly to make sure things were nice and tidy. Food service brought well-balanced, nutritious (and really tasty), regularly scheduled meals plus snacks. My wonderful new blessing and I snuggled almost continually. The sounds of laughing visitors mingled with the cries of newborns. I could hear people excitedly chattering in the hallways. Everything was bliss and enchantment. I was happy with not a care in the world...as far as the outside world was concerned.

Later, the Lord brought those moments and feelings back. Even yet, nine months later, I can recall wiht vividness those "perfect" first four days. But God used that time to prick my heart. You see, all my years of nursing were either spent in Labor and Delivery or Neonatal Intensive Care. Now granted, there are sad times in these deparments on occasion, as not all babies live, and sometimes they struggle to stay alive and win the battle against death. But the majority of the times are happy times, especially when you coach a tired mother through her labor and subsequent delivery...to see her face when that beautiful little bundle is placed in her arms soon after her feelings of dispair of "I can't DO this!".  Sending a precious wee one home with family after maybe 2, 4, 6, or even more months of straight hospitalization. Nothing can compare to those feelings of happiness and accomplishment. But then God asked me, "What about the others on different floors?".

Different floors???  Well, the thought hadn't crossed my mind. After all, I  was happy and content. I had everything that I needed. There's different floors?? Yes, there's oncology. Cancer patients struggling--some minute by minute. Terrible drugs being pumped into their bodies making them extremely ill. Nausea, vomiting, hair loss, many going without visitors due to the high risk of them catching a death bug from the outside world. Geriatrics. Old people. People coming in from nursing homes. Huge bed sores. Broken bones from falls. Dementia. People lonely and forgotten, untold numbers of them left by relatives to live out their last days/years all alone. Emergency. Death being wheeled in via ambulance stretchers at regular intervals. Gunshot wounds, stasbbings, car accidents. Blood, intravenous fluids, stitches, needles, beeping machines and jumbled shouts intermingling. Yes, there are other floors. Other floors where everything except happiness abounds.

Very much like the world. I'm happy in my own little world. My family of eight. My four walls. Our schedule. Routine. But what's going on out there? There's hurting people, lonely people, sick people right outside my door. Who's going to help them? Who's going to notice? Jesus said in Mark 16:15, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature". Who's going? Who's willing to give some happiness to the lonely, hurting, and forgotten? Am I going to stay within my walls, just a content little Christian, while the world slips away to hell in a hand basket? Jesus is coming soon and if we don't wake up and change floors, many of our family and friends are going to miss the opportunity of eternal happiness in Heaven. We've got to touch the hurting. Reach out to the sin-diseased around us. Put hope back into the eyes of the hopeless with the gospel that Jesus saves. Jesus heals. Jesus redeems. Jesus forgives.

So,what floor are you on? Are you willing to step off that elevator onto a different one, one that will make a difference for Heaven? 

Til Next Time,

Lisa