JUNE 2000
"Healing the Hurts with Love"
June 24, 2000
"Therefore, as God's Chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
- Colossians 3:12 (NIV)
The other day I was called to a scene to talk to a disturbed man. You could tell by looking at him that he was lost in a world that was crushing in on him. His eyes were wild. His hair was tossed. He said he was 44 years old, but he looked at least 60.
For three days this man had envisioned people coming after him and people trying to kill him. All of the stories he was telling were very real to him... he was scared to death.
Since it was obvious that this man's mental state was brittle, I called 9-1-1. Shortly, a Houston FD medic unit arrived, followed soon thereafter by a HPD officer. All of us talked and listened with this man.
The longer we sat there, the more I began to notice the compassion coming from one of the paramedics. It turns out that the medic's nickname is "Skip", also! More importantly, he told me that he became a born-again Christian about a year ago. Somehow, I already knew that. You could tell. The tone of his voice. His demeanor as he spoke with this wreck of a human being.
The police officer was a caring person, too. It took almost 3 hours on scene with this man until he agreed to go with the medic unit to sign himself in at the county hospital for mental evaluation.
This story is a wonderful metaphor for this week's verse. Everyone on that scene was under stress... especially the man with the visions. But, we "clothed ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" in order to get the man the help that he needed.
The only thing that would make this weeks' story any better would be to find out that the man became a Christian. That way, we would KNOW that he received the REAL help that he needed.
Thanks to the paramedics and police officers who actually stop and take the time to show our REAL CHIEF's Love to others.
On HIS Shift,
"Father Knows Best"
June 17, 2000
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you."
- Exodus 20:12 (NIV)
Are you old enough to remember the old black-and-white TV show "Father Knows Best?" Okay, I know I lost about half of you when I said "black-and-white TV" - "what's that?" All right, I'm revealing my age, aren't I? Anyway, a guy named Robert Young starred as the father in this all-to-perfect family. The sitcom dealt with "typical" problems for families in the late 50's, early 60's. Everybody always, though, respected dad. At least on the TV show.
But, you and I know this is no longer a black-and-white sitcom society we work with. In our profession, we often see "fathers" who are nothing more than a father by name only. They certainly do nothing, it seems, to deserve honoring. We see so much abuse these days.
Even in our own families, sometimes our fathers didn't always do what was right as a father. Parenthood is one of the most difficult tasks we are given, I believe. I think if we could be parents FIRST, then we would appreciate what it means to "honor." I think back now on how many times I broke this commandment. And now, my father is dead and I can't tell him how sorry I am about things that happened.
This week's verse might seem familiar to some of you. It is the first commandment that Moses brought down from the mountain. A commandment carved in stone by God's own finger. And, it is a commandment with a promise; honor and you will live long in the land...
Tomorrow is a day we set aside to honor our fathers. Our verse this week is a command.
Honor thy father... find something about him that is worthy of honor. For some, that is very easy and comes naturally. For others, you may have to dig in your memory banks; remember something your father did worthy of honor. If may be tough to do, I know. But remember, this week's verse is not a request, it is the first commandment.
"Pressing On..."
June 10, 2000
"And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't get discouraged and give up."
- Galatians 6:9 (TLB)
How many times have you been doing CPR to the point of total frustration? Notice, I didn't write "exhaustion," but, "frustration." I think each of us have given CPR to the point of exhaustion. What I am talking about is doing it to the point when you begin to wonder "WHY?" "This isn't doing any good." "This is pointless... this patient has got to be 180 years old, anyway!" Oh, you may not say it. But, I believe we all think these similar thoughts.
But, let me tell you something; if you have ever actually successfully resuscitated any one, you will understand what a great metaphor it is for our verse this week.
The writer of the book of Galatians was a gentleman named Paul. Paul was a guy who had actually hunted down and arrested Christians prior to his conversion at the feet of our REAL CHIEF. In this book (which is actually a letter written from Paul to the church he established in the province of ancient Galatia), Paul is saying to "never tire of doing good." He, of course, is speaking of the good of living a Christian life... the good of serving our REAL CHIEF daily.
It is so easy for us to listen to that little voice that says "give up... nobody appreciates you... this isn't doing any good... you're tired... you're doing it wrong" etc., etc., etc. Friend, that little voice is the root of evil. It is that little voice that leads you down the road to destruction. It is that voice that wants you to quit.
I am here to reassure you with the Words from our REAL CHIEF. Don't quit. Keep on doing good. Seek to serve HIM.
"Laughter IS the Best Medicine"
June 3, 2000
"What happiness there is for you who weep, for the time will come when you shall laugh with joy!"
- Luke 6:21 (TLB)
My family and I had a wonderful day today. The best part was this; we had the pleasure of sharing the joy with a whole bunch of people. I don't think you could have found stress anywhere.
You're saying now, "okay, I give up. What was so great?" Well, let me share. Today was the 2nd Annual Muster and our 1st Firefighter Expo for Montgomery County (Texas). For those of you "not in the business", a "muster" is a chance for fire and EMS departments to gather together and show the taxpayers the kind of equipment they are paying for: engines, tankers, rescues, boats, ambulances - they were all there today. It was great seeing how each department was presenting their best.
Then came some real fun and a lot of laughter: the "Firefighter Challenge." We had stretcher races and I.V. bag tosses and "midnight alarm" drills. Then on to the outside events: the bucket brigades and the pumper races.
And all of this was for a great cause: raising money for the Montgomery County Firefighter's Foundation...
I thought that this week's verse was particularly fitting. So often, our jobs are ones where we see a lot of weeping - a lot of sadness. Sometimes, at its' worse, our jobs cause US to be the ones weeping.
But, thankfully, our REAL CHIEF promises joy and laughter to those who have weeped in sorrow and have come to HIS service.
It's very hard to get yourself stressed out when your laughing.