The nature of being a pediatric nurse is one with many variables. Days constitute long hours, various patient care activities, and a knack for time-management and keeping on-schedule. This particular day on the job was no different.
I received report from the night shift nurse leaving and began working in each of my patients' rooms. After starting my morning with the usual nursing care activities, I was able to sneak into each room to have a conversation about the plan of care with my parents and patients regarding the flow of the day. This is my favorite part of my job as it allows me to teach critical nursing concerns as well as establish personal relations with those I am there to serve.
Every morning on my way to work, I ask the Lord to grant me opportunities to speak of His Son. I pray for moments to share my faith with others, remembering we do not work for human masters but for the Lord (Colossians 3:23). Often times, these conversations start contingently. One common thread within each opportunity, however, is God's pervasive glory.
In my first room of the day, the mom of my patient glanced at my tattoo and asked me to explain the decision behind it. On my inner wrist is a cross and the word 'grace'. I sat down in her room and told her that the decision idled between two words, yet my understanding of grace as unmerited favor overruled my desire for all other options. We were able to continue our conversation to the point that I learned she was just considering coming back to Christ after walking away for several years in her adolescence. She wanted to know if I had a similar testimony.
The Lord opened the door for me to share with this woman that doubting His Presence is not something I have personally struggled with. At that moment, she told me with unwavering confidence that she wanted to reaccept Christ as her Savior. She said just that morning she prayed to meet a believer who "walked by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Later on, I received a special visitor. As a nurse on a chronic floor, we are prone to receiving the same patients for multiple admissions. The mother of one of my chronic kids came to visit me at work this day. Her purpose was gift-bearing, but it was her words that made an impact. She left me with conversation that her daughter had rounded a corner to healing and thanked me for remaining "joyful in hope, constant in tribulation, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12).
This particular mother was someone who accepted Christ personally for herself after watching her daughter's witness and faith lived out in the hospital. I served on her primary nurse list and therefore had many opportunities to pray at bedside for both the patient and mother. Her last remark upon leaving was an expression of gratitude for my bold expression of Jesus, which she claims led her to Christ.
When we choose to live life in surrender and boldly pursue our cross with honor, God will give us ample opportunities to pursue His Son. I prayed 1 1/2 years for this mom to come to Christ. Those will remain some of the sweetest words I'll ever hear because they were words sought earnestly for Christ's Kingdom. While we cannot elicit a response to the gospel, we can unashamedly share it, and share it we must.
