Well, my Sunday started at 1:30 am as usual. I love to get up in the wee hours of the morning and read my Devotionals, read my Bible, pray over my prayer lists, and pray over the scriptural promises that I have selected to take to my heart as my very own. I get such strength and spiritual power from these times of prayer and meditation and they keep me fresh and focused on God’s will for my life. I believe that personal prayer time is one of the most important things to a minister of the Lord.
I got myself and my Mother ready for church at around 8:00 am, after going back to bed for a few more hours of blessed sleep. I love my church, Mimosa Lane Baptist Church in Mesquite, Texas. We are small enough to feel friendly, and yet large enough to have mission trips to India and the Philippines. My Pastor is part of the Southern Baptist Convention and they currently do not ordain women as Pastors. I have met with the Deacons in order to be commissioned by the Church as a Chaplain at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.
We finished the sermon and worship service by 11:00 am and went to our Sunday School class, the Agape group. That is the group for the elder adults. They allowed me to join their group because I attend to my Mother in that group. They also elected me to be the President of the group this year, after I served as Treasurer last year. That is such an honor, coming from my elders. We discussed distributing Thanksgiving Dinners to the poor in our city, and buying Christmas gifts for a Salvation Army Angel Tree Child this year. We also love to support the Texas Baptist Men with donations for all that they do.
By 2:00 pm I arrive at Parkland and I page the Chaplain on call. He comes and gives me my list of patients to go and visit. I ride the elevators up to the floor where my patients are and I wind my way down and around the long halls and finally arrive on the ward. I notified the charge nurse that I was visiting patients on the floor. I did not tell her that it was my first time. I had been a Critical Care Nurse for 13 years, so I did not expect any problems. Then I found out that half of my patients only spoke Spanish!! I said “Dios te bendiga” (God bless you) and “Rezo por ti” (I will pray for you.) That was the extent of our communications, but they mostly seemed pleased. We have translator telephones that I can use, but I did not have the code the first day on the ward. I had patients with illnesses, surgeries, injuries and one dying of AIDS. I am using the English to Spanish translator at http://spanishdict.com to translate a few pastoral sayings and phrases, as well as prayers, to take with me next week. It was a fantastic experience. God bless you.