FUTURE WORLD

An Open Letter to a Doctor in Training
I hope that it will inspire you as well. Steve

Dear Andie,

Now that you know that you can do this (you just handled one of the worst professional days of your life), you can do anything the Lord puts in your heart. Overcoming problems builds confidence, toughness and resolve and is a blessing in disguise for those who go through it. You have proved that to everyone; your colleagues, your husband and yourself.

Do you still have that letter I wrote to you in college when you were so down. I hope you have kept it because when you have another one of those worst days of your life it will inspire you to keep going. Post it where you can see it.

May be you can relate to this.

When I was awakened at 3:45 a.m. last night in the Emergency Room and I labored for two hours to intubate a patient, a 17 year old girl who was bleeding out so that she had long enough that her father got to say goodbye to her - as she blinked in acknowledgment and cried - .................. Am I appreciated? Do I get paid enough after 31 years of education? Maybe I should be a lawyer, philosopher, or comedian… But I don’t have enough time because morning rounds are beginning and there’s already a patient yelling at me that I am a horrible person because she’s in pain and I have to round in an hour and start the day.

I haven’t slept, but hopefully I’m dreaming... A young doctor.

Get to know your doctor. Be gentle. They are under appreciated and overwhelmed, yet it is that iron will to preserve life and the desire to help their fellow man that drives them.

A doctor, like anyone else who has to deal with human beings, each of them unique, cannot be a scientist; she is either, like the surgeon, a craftsman, or, like the physician and the psychologist, an artist. This means that in order to be a good doctor a woman must also have a good character, that is to say, whatever weaknesses and foibles she may have, she must love her fellow human beings in the concrete and desire their good before her own. - W. H. Auden (she substituted for he in this quote).

Andie, you are an inspiration to all who know you not just professionally but spiritually as well.

Every club director longs for a volunteer who understands the model of relational ministry. Campus Life is not just about a club meeting once a week; Campus Life is about being invested in the lives of young people: showing up at their football games, track meets, band concerts, plays and musicals.

In this model of ministry a well-planned meeting cannot compete with a 79 cent burger at McDonald's paired with a good conversation. Andie understands this model and has lived it out over the past few years in ways that challenge me to dive deeper into the lives of the students I work with. .... (Author: a great looking guy who goes by the name of Dave.) Perhaps you know him?

What more can I say?

I will bless the Lord, who has given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:7-11.

When you are down and weary and overwhelmed think on these things for they are the path to life. He will be your rock and anchor. He will guide you when there is no apparent answer. He is standing right next to you to carry your burdens and get you through that impossible shift that seems to have no end.

Be still, if even for a moment and listen. He will guide your thoughts and direct your paths.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

Post this where you can see it in time of need. It will inspire you to keep going when the going gets tough. You are an inspiration to all of us.

Love Dad

ourfutureworld.blogspot.com