1. This morning I couldn't get my gas flap to open. I. Tried. Everything. I even took a butter knife to it and NOTHING was going to give! So finally, I set out of my drive way saying a continual prayer all the way out of my neighborhood. Every ten-ish feet I would try pulling the trigger that would open the flap and after about three tries it FINALLY gave! So I pull into the gas station lot and it is absolutely jam-packed. I wait for close to ten minutes for a spot, and during those whole ten minutes I am trying not to let myself steam up like a green been... because seriously... about three grandpas speed up into free spots I had my eyes on the millasecond they were available. So I fill 'er up, and drive to Barnes and Noble to buy a book I need for my class that day. Barnes and Noble is closed. I am starting to get fed up with the morning.
Blessings: Running late made way for me to snag the best parking spot ever at school under a big shady tree. Turns out the school library had the book I was looking for, so I got to borrow it instead of paying ten bucks for it!
3. I have been having ansomnia pretty badly for the past couple of days... like... only two, MAYBE three hours of sleep at night. Now. some of you night owls may be like, "Psh! No big deal you big baby!" But dudes... my normal routine is getting sleepy around 8:00, getting ready for bed around 9:00, and asleep by 10:00! Any less than eight hours of sleep for me is usually unacceptable for normal human function in my world. That being said, it is a miracle that I was able to go to and be conscious at both church and work on Sunday running on only five hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. Needless to say, I have been exhausted.
Blessings: Being up all night has enabled me to snack like crazy and catch up on all of my shows! Now, this may not sound like much of a blessing, but lately (with school) I have been eating a lot less and watching TV a lot more. Having only two classes a day, and most of them only being once a week, I have very quickly fallen into a habit of blowing off my homework and veggin' out once I get home. I also quickly lost my appetite and had a hard time remembering to eat (another uncharacteristic thing). HOWEVER! The ansomnia gave me enough television for weeks, and couple that with Lexee's recent obsession with watching Bug's Life 24/7, the television just makes me want to not. Plus my appetite has returned with a vengance, which drives me to go to the gym more so WOOT!
2. I was supposed to start working with another client this past Saturday but had to cancel because I hadn't gotten on top of the paperwork that went along with it. I was feeling pretty crappy about myself for not being on top of things. But hey, at least I still got to go to the temple that morning right?
So on the way home from the temple with Lindsay and Chi we were feeling pretty great and on a definant spiritual high. All of a sudden, Lindsay exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Did you guys see that man?!?" Chi and I had no idea what she was talking about, so she clarified, "There was a man lying on the side of the road in the rocks!" Of course Chi and I were shocked.
"Are you sure that's what you saw?"
"Yeah! His bike was leaning against a bush and he was just lying on the ground."
"...that's really, really weird." "Where was he?"
"Just back there by the light! Either he crashed his bike or he was just some druggie taking a nap..."
We kind of laughed about that comment and then it just hit me like a brick wall. This overwhelming feeling that screamed, "Turn this car around NOW!"
Before I knew what I was doing I signaled, swerved into the left turn lane, flipped a U turn, and was asking Lindsay, "Where did you see him?"
I was trying to drive slow, but when Lindsay finally saw him my peel into the neighborhood still felt like something out of a car chase movie. We were parked, we knew where the man was, and we were going to go make sure he was alright.
I didn't know that he was really in trouble, for all I knew he could just be a bum taking a nap, or what if he was violent? We were three girls is dresses with sopping wet hair... definition of vulnerable.
But earlier in the week I hadn't acted right away in an emergency situation and was so ashamed of myself afterward for it. I wasn't going to let this one pass by me without checking, especially when I had had such a strong feeling that I needed to turn around.
No.
We were gong to see this thing through.
Plus, I was prepared. I'm CPR and First Aid certified so I know how to check vitals, and how to tell when someone isn't okay, and when it's time to call 911, and how to keep someone reletivley stable. I do. I felt okay.
So we turn the corner, and there he is. A middle aged hispanic man covered in tattoos lying on his back, hands crossed on his belly, and legs propped up... pretty leisurley looking to me.
Honestly, I felt relieved. The last thing I wanted to do was to have to perform CPR on this man... sorry, but no thank you please. So it looked okay, just a simple case of napping in the Arizona sun. I guess it was a nice day. Still... I didn't want to leave without making sure.
From about six feet away I yelled, "Sir, are you alright?"
No response.
Again, just a little bit louder, "Sir! Are you alright?"
This time I could hear him breathing. Before I had passed it off as snoring, but this time I noticed his belly rising was a little irregular and his breaths sounded very labored and wheezy.
And then I noticed his surroundings. His bike was parked next to the bush but there were obvious skid marks in the rocks. He had been wearing a hat that was set not on his head, but next to his head. He also had a water bottle that had been opened, dumped out, and thrown down open.
Okay... a couple more red flags.
I was terrified to approach this man, but at this point I had enough reasonable suspiscion that there was something fishy going on.
I walked around him and knelt next to his head, gently shaking his shoulder and saying again, "Sir, are you alright?"
He stirred and spoke a little bit of gibberish to me, but obviously wasn't waking up. Okay. This pretty much ruled out the bum taking nap option so I went straight into medical mode.
His vitals were alright, so I started checking his mental functions.
"Sir, can you tell me your name?"
*softly mumbles his name after about thirty seconds*
"Okay, nice to meet you. Sir, do you know where you are?"
*tries to open his eyes (which turn out to be SCARY bloodshot) and shuts them right away, then shakes his head no after about thirty seconds*
"That's okay, do you know what day of the week it is sir?"
This time he responds, "Yeah, yeah. It's like Monday? Or... Tuesday?"
It was Saturday.
I finally tell Chi that we need to call 911. This man was stable with his breathing and cardiac functions, but mentally he could barely communicate, was disoriented, and was not acting normal socially.
The operator was very kind with us in finding our location and the emergency responders came in record time!
Honestly, it was all just really surreal... I mean... upon closer inspection everything pointed to attempted suicide in my mind. He had placed up multiple life threatening road blocks in his way, had hidden himself behind all the bushes so as not to be easily found, and had tried make his situation appear like a crash.
And the Lord SO prepared the three of us to respond to him!
He blessed Lindsay with the eyes to spot this man in a nearly impossible spot from the road.
He blessed me with the knowledge and calmness to respond to this man's physical needs.
He blessed Chi to be prepared to call for help, for she was the only one of us who had her cell phone on her.
Blessings: In the amount of time it took to respond to this man's needs, I would never have been able to make it to work should I have gotten my papers in on time.
The Lord knew which would be more important in my life at that moment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been trying to have a better attituted of optomism lately, and in today's self-searching I found these little gems of AHA moments.
I felt they were worthy to share on the blog.
Necessary even. :)
I dare you to try it!
Every time something frustrating happens to you make a mental note to yourself of, "Okay, keep your eyes peeled, something good's about to happen!" and just watch.
It's almost scary how quickly the Lord is willing to react to positive thinking!
No comments:
Post a Comment