His Maker

Sometimes things are just unexplainable. No matter how hard we try, God just does not fit in our box. Some things I just have to file under the song sheet "We will understand it better bye and bye" and then let go.


I 'd like to share two stories from my nursing career. I can't explain either as I was not privy to know the "inner goings on" but I know for a fact in both instances that it was an encounter with man and his Maker.


I was a critical care nurse for the first 20 years of nursing. While I was working at Memorial Hospital in Cumberland, which was regional shock trauma at the time, we received a man status post motorcycle accident. He was critically injured and it became apparent very quickly that he was not going to make it. Life support was just prolonging death not life
.
The strangest thing was-the knowledge of the impending accident must have left an indelible impression on his mind because the look of horror on his face was almost grotesque. Over the course of multiple days NOTHING changed that look.


At that time it took 3 days of Caloric tests for brain death protocol to be established and it had been determined that there was no brain response at all and tomorrow morning they would pull the plug.That night (11-7 shift) he was my patient. Around 5 a.m I went in to give him a bath. As I was bathing him I began to sing "Jesus Loves Me". I cannot recall any other time that I have ever done this before or since but in retrospect I realize I was a conduit for  "HIS love reaching."

I had my back to him as I was doing his lower extremities when George, the respiratory therapist, came in the room to do vent checks etc. His immediate reaction was "Oh my goodness-what happened to him" quite emphatically, I might add.



I looked at George and said "What" and he pointed to the patient. The patient had a smile on his now relaxed face. We called the whole unit it to see as we had all been so aware of the emotional pain exhibited on this mans face.He died a couple of hours later, still smiling and relaxed. I honestly believe he was cradled in the arms of Jesus!


Next time we'll hear Rusty's story.