Pure Pleasure in a Planned Outing - Community Health Evangelism
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Pure Pleasure in a Planned Outing

StitchesEven though teaching prevention of disease saves more lives, there are times when I miss hands-on nursing. So when Eva, a member of our church, told me her sister-in- law needed her stitches out, I volunteered.

“When did the doctor say to remove them?” I asked.

“Nine days after the surgery,” Mercedes answered. She’d had an appendectomy at the General Hospital in Ensenada.

“Which was two days ago?”

“Yes.” she replied like she was right on time.

“Why didn’t you go have them out?”

Eva answered for her “She would have had to go to Ensenada and didn’t have bus fare.”

That wasn’t completely true – she could have gone to the government clinic right there in Colonet, but I decided not to waste my breath.

“Can I look at the incision?”

Several pairs of eyes followed me as I washed my hands and took off the bandage. There were seven girls in the house: Mercedes’ four ranged in age from ten down to two; Eva and Canciano had three more plus one son. Mercedes’ husband had abandoned her and their daughters at the beginning of the year. He now resided in the States with his second family, one he’d obviously started long before he left.

“She was working full time until this happened,” Eva had told me. “One day a terrible pain gripped her and we rushed to the hospital here. They told us no surgeon was available so we had to take her to Ensenada for the operation. Since she couldn’t work, they didn’t have money to buy food, so we invited them to stay with us until she’s well.”

The house was good size. Canciano had worked five years in Michigan, sending money back to Eva for the construction. He had never met his five-year- old, the adorable Sara, until he returned in December. Enrique and I had both had to eat humble pie – we were sure he was never coming back. Now we knew him and he seemed to be a loving husband and father. Mercedes was his sister.

“These look ready to come out,” I told her after examining the surgical site, “but I’ll need some instruments. Can I come by tomorrow morning?”

“Sure!”

The next day was a school holiday and raining so the children were playing inside when I arrived. Apparently they made a group decision that whatever I was about to do would be more interesting than their games. They crowded around the bed.

“Who wants to be a nurse?” I asked.Nurses

Two said, “I do!” and I gave them the best view with a strict warning not to touch anything. Eva watched, too, as I carefully removed the seven sutures. At one point I looked up. It was a moment I would cherish – seven gorgeous, well-behaved girls from diapers to pre-teen, closely observing my every move, wide-eyed and silent!

“I feel like I’m doing surgery in the middle of an elementary school!” I joked, and the atmosphere lightened with our laughter. When the stitches were gone and everything cleaned up, I told the little nurses to remind their mother/aunt to walk several times a day and eat healthy things like fruits and vegetables. I also left them some bandages and tape to play with. After saying goodbye to everyone, I was on my way out when Sara called me.

“Pastora! Wait!”

I turned and saw her walking beside the youngest child, two-year- old Celia, wearing nothing but a diaper. The toddler was looking up at me waving her hand and saying, “Bye, bye, bye!” It was the perfect ending to a pleasurable visit.

“Bye, bye, preciosa!” I answered, giving her a big hug.

Ephesians 2:9 tells us “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” To think that God planned this delightful outing eons ago and that He would credit me with “good work” for something that was pure pleasure! That taste of His nature shows me – we have no reason to fear His call on our life and every reason to obey!

Amen?