Death

This past Friday was a very strange day. I worked my clinical rotation in the Johnson County Er from 8-5. Around 4:30, they received a call that an ambulance was bringing in a 43 year old male in cardiac arrest who had been electrocuted. By the time they arrived, it had been almost an hour since the first responder received the call, the man was gray and they were still doing compressions. I didn't know what to think. Having worked in the nursing home, I have had a few of my residents die. But this was different, the man was so young. I was standing there watching, when one of the Paramedics asked if I would like to do some compressions. This was the first time I had done compressions on a real person, and needless to say...I did not last long. Compressions are very strenuous work, I was soon out of breath and asking for a relief. The man had been putting up Christmas lights, he was moving his aluminum ladder when he hit the power line. He smelled very strongly of electrical burn. The Doctor soon pronounced the death and I high-tailed it out of there.
I was doing pretty good until I called my Mother. My parents had went to Columbus Ohio to be with my Aunt whose husband was having emergency surgery for sepsis. When I asked my mom how Tom was doing...she told me that he had died that morning. It was at this point that the tears came. It's one thing when you see an elderly person die...it's probable. My uncle was only 59 and didn't seem "old enough" to die.
Uncle Toms funeral was on Monday. It was a rough funeral...it's just really hard to believe he's gone. My siblings and cousins and I were reminiscing about Uncle Tom. There were basements in both houses that my Aunt and Uncle lived in (that I can remember). Uncle Tom always had a pool table and a bar in those basements. We kids loved to play with the pool table and make up our own games and rules. I do not ever remember a time when we got in trouble for playing with it. We just all knew that we had to take good care of the things when we got them out, and we had to put them back right where we got them from. Uncle Tom was always teasing everyone about how much food they would eat. He would make snide comments like, "boy, do you think you could get some more food on that plate?" or "whoa, are you sure there is still food out there? Or did you take it all"? He always had a grin on his face and a joke to share with everyone.
I guess the one thing that this last week has reminded me of is that you never know when you will die. You just have to be prepared to go whenever it's your time.

Procrastinate

Procrastinate - to put off till another day or time; defer; delay

I admit, at this very moment I am...procrastinating. I'm sitting in the library, on the internet when I should be sitting at a desk reading my wonderful EMT book. I find it very interesting how many things I can find to do while I'm procrastinating. You know...things like checking my e-mail, or my bank account, or finding a drawer that needs to be organized. Currently I am head deep in homework for my EMT class. Dispite that fact, I can never seem to interest myself in plunging into all of that homework. It is much easier to just waste the time away rather than use it wisely.
However, I need to create disipline in my life. So, at this time I will turn to chapter 29 and read about Musculoskeletal Injuries. Yes I will!

Update

Just a little update on Onan. He is doing much better, Thank the Lord! However, he lost a good portion of his face in the shooting. As I understand, he lost one eye, and his lower jaw including part of his tongue. He is still in the hospital.
I would ask that you would please pray for his family. When Onan was shot, he was giving a 27 year old man a ride on his motor cycle. To my understanding, Onan did not know the guy but was simply giving him a ride because he was interested in buying the bike. That man was in some trouble with some other guys. Enough trouble that they decided to shoot the man. Onan happened to be there with him so they shot Onan as well. When Onan was shot, he fell into the ditch where they could no longer see him. When the police came, two hours later, they found the man dead and Onan lying in the ditch. However, once they found Onan, they would not treat him at the hospital until they contacted his mother. So, in all reality, Onan should not have lived through that shooting. All I can think of is that God must have great plans for his future.
Now, the family of the 27 year old think that it is Onans fault that their son was killed. So they have come to the Morales home looking to get revenge. Needless to say, they have not been able to go home. Please pray for their safety and that God would lead them in the right direction. I know that God has everything under His control.

URGENT

PLEASE PRAY

I have a friend named Elmer who is Guatemalan and who lives here in the states. Last summer I was able to travel to Guatemala and meet his family members who were still in Guatemala. Yesterday, I received a phone call saying that Elmer's youngest brother, Onan, had been shot multiple times. He took two shots to his stomach, two to his legs, and shots to his face. He lost one eye, part of his mouth and nose. They are not expecting him to make it. The other boy he was with was killed. Onan is only 16 years old and is not a christian. Onan has been struggling with negative peer pressure and has started to get in with the wrong crowd. They do not know what caused the shooting to take place. They have not let his mother back to see him due to the fact that she has heart problems and his brothers are scared of what will happen to her physically. I took this picture when I was in Guatemala with them last summer. Onan is the third from the left.
Please pray for God's will in this situation. My heart breaks when I think of this family who has been through so much already. I love all of them. I am praying that God will go and comfort each one of them. Please pray for the Moralez family. His mother, brother Omar, and sister in Guatemala. And also for Elmer, Eric, and Giovanni who are all in the states.

Friends!

Last weekend I went to GBS for Homecoming and I was able to see some of my friends there. I stayed with Tiffany in her room along with her sister Nicole. Tiff decided she wanted to make our stay as memorable as possible, so...she cranked the AC to max. It was so cold. I (as was Nicole) was not prepared for these extreme weather conditions so I had to ask Tiffany for a hoodie and warm fuzzy socks. Needless to say, I slept with my hood on that night. It was soo cold.



Nicole and I sporting our hoodies.



Me just trying to prove my point.

CHURCH PICNIC

Saturday was our church picnic. We played volleyball, softball (I didn't for simple reasons), and cornhole. And...we had lots of food. This years picnic was different from last years due to the fact that the weather was much warmer. This made the hayride perfect because we didn't need as many layers of clothing!

The amazing Catcher!



Elmer, Aaron and another man whose name I do not know.



Action in the field.



CHEESE!



Me....telling a story...about frisbee.



Oh, oh. This is the best part. I didn't know she was taking pictures of me.



Getting ready for the hayride!



Bekah and I



People



Yay for friends. Sorry, Daniel was not totally in the picture



Oh there he is



Emily and I



Haha, typical southern Indiana harvest.

Friend Day!

FRIEND DAY

My church had Friend Day on October 5th. Up until this day, our record attendance had been 135. On Friend Day 2008, we had 136 people in attendance! We were so excited to see the many new faces that came as a result of the church people working hard to invite their friends. God is working in a church in a very special way, I am so excited to see what He has planned for the future!

A view of our Friend Day crowd.



The Stainbrook brothers



The beautiful Gardner kids



There was so much food! I was having trouble deciding what to have! (I am muttering to my Mother that, no this picture is no appropriate)



My nieces and their cousin Jadelyn



Everyone stuffing their faces



Now those are some big plates



My friends Emily, Haley, and Rebekah



Our future firefighter



Haley and I

Elizabeth Grace

POOR THING
My niece, Elizabeth, loves to swing around on their play set like a little monkey. She was doing this Saturday when she fell off and broke her arm at the elbow. Vanette took her to the ER in Madison where they took X-rays and then decided to send her to Louisville for surgery. It ended up being 17 hours from the time of the break until they took her into surgery. And 21 hours until she could eat or drink. That is a long time for a five year old.
For being a drama queen, she did really good. However, the last hour before surgery she decided she had enough. These are a few of the things she said in her despair: "I want to see the doctor, NOW!" "I want a drink, I want a drink, I want a drink, I want a drink." This last one was repeated over and over for several minutes. I understand that these things could make her look like a brat, but put yourself in her shoes. How would you be feeling if you had to lay there in significant pain for that long??
She came home Sunday night. I left this morning and she was still in a lot of pain. I am very proud of her and how brave she has been.


Sunday night after she got home from the hospital. I think her face says it all.


Finally able to go to sleep.


Trying to spend some time with Rebekah who has been a little neglected in all the excitement.


Smiles!