Dave's Deep Thoughts - A Faith Lesson for Type A Personalities

Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.

Now I am all for bargains,

but some days you get more than you bargain for.

It was an 8am doctor appointment on a Wednesday in late May.

A few days earlier, I had noticed that my left leg

from the knee down had begun to swell.

I had gone to a local urgent care facility to have it examined.

Because they couldn't immediately ascertain the type of infection,

they gave me a general antibiotic and drained some fluid from the knee

 to see what type of infection was causing the inflamation.

They scheduled a follow-up appointment.

When I arrived at the 8am appointment 3 days later,

I fully expected them to indentify the bacteria,

 hand me the appropriate antibiotic,

tap me on the head,

and send me home for milk and cookies.

Instead I got......

"You're going to the hospital."

I immediately let them know that that was not possible.

Late May is a very busy time for me at my work,

as I am deeply involved in getting several summer ministries started.

A trip to the hospital was neither convenient nor practical.

The response was quick....

"If you want to keep your leg, you are going to the hospital!"

There aren't too many words that stop type A personalities in their tracks,

but words like "amputation" & "prosthetics"  just might do it.

Confident that he had me at checkmate,

the doctor gave me two hours to pack,

take care of loose ends, and arrive at the hospital.

Two hours later, this Type A pastor

arrived at the local hospital

armed with lap top, spread sheets, and flash drives.

They might be taking me down

but I was determined to get my work done while doing so.

I put on the obligatory

hospital gown of embarrassment

fully aware of what was coming next.....

the poking/prodding session.

Let me say this about poking and prodding.

Nothing is left to chance.

NOTHING.

If I thought I was thorough in my work,

I was about to meet my match in Nurse No-Nonsense.

She marched into the room armed

with thermometers, blood pressure monitors

and a few unknown tools that immediately struck the fear of God into my heart.

If I was type A, she was Type AAA.

It was revival time

and Nurse No-Nonsense was determined to cast out whatever affliction she could find

in the name of science.

Soonafter, the doctor arrived,

and the interogation began.....

Every childhood disease was scrutinized,

every family member's medical history was brought into question,

every medical procedure, every vaccination was investigated

They wanted information

and I just wanted an intravenous  antibiotic drip.

But what I got was a trip, not a drip....

a trip on a guerney to someplace deep within the bowels of the hospital.

They started talking about possible blood clots.....

 and that meant a trip to the sonogram room.

This day was getting more complicated by the minute.

Six hours earlier,

I was intent on getting some pills and getting back to work,

but instead, I was now in a dark room with a guy named Jacque and a hot oil massage.

To this day, I have no idea what a hot oil leg massage

has to do with finding blood clots,

but all I can say is that sometimes life takes you to some very strange places.

Type A personalities like to be in charge

and  be in control of their environment and their lives.

Type A people do not like poking, prodding, and surprise hot oil massages.

Three hours later,

I got my I V drip and within hours, my leg showed improvement.

After a one night stay, I was home once again.

Life is full of twists and turns.

You can't be sure what each day will bring.

As a Christian, I am sure though, who walks with me through each day.

My issue isn't trusting that Jesus is with me.......

it is in trusting that He knows better how to use my day than He does.

I know that sounds arrogant

but that is the challenge for me and likely, other type A people.

Lesson learned.

Somehow, the world still turned with me in the hospital overnight.

Somehow, the summer ministries were able to start on time.

Somehow, life still went on.

It's a humbling lesson.

We aren't as important as we think.

We aren't as needed as we think we might be.

And yet, it is God that gives us our importance and purpose,

and it has nothing to do with our personality type, abilities, or job position.

                                                           

                                        Sometimes we get more than we bargained for in a day.

                  But the real bargain is the One who will carry us through the day, if only we allow Him.

        

                                              And that is what I learned in the hospital. 

    

                                             Oh, I learned one other thing in the hospital.

        Never  ever get into untreated pool water to fix a leak.

Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another,

for God is opposed to the proud,

but gives grace to the humble.

                                       I Peter 5:6b