Perfect Timing

I have to say that in the last few months I've gained a much greater appreciation for health-care professionals who do lots of night call hours. Since September I've been doing more scheduled call nights than ever before. I've learned that it is not easy to put in a full-day's-work and then see as many emergencies as arise during the night only to be back for another full-days-work the following day.

We've been in the midst of some staff transitions which is why the call schedules have been switched up again. Thankfully things seem to be evening out now. I actually won't have to do a long stretch of on-call nights again until mid-December. Praise God! I'm just one of those people who does not do well with sleep deprivation. I don't think I've ever successfully pulled an all-night in my life.

Last night I had two cases. One around 9PM (sewing up a child who had been kicked by a cow) and another at 1:30 in the morning (pre-term labor). I think the toughest thing about being on call is knowing that you are the only one to handle the situation. There is no support staff, no one to consult with, no assistant to help you hold a piece of skin in place while you sew it back to where it is supposed to be. It's just you and the patient.

In the past few weeks I've been feeling a bit drained. I have to say that I'm ready to step away for a little break. It's been a great year, but it has also been a super busy year with tons of teams, interns, and major happenings at the clinic. One of my colleagues in the USA frequently asks me "Michelle are you getting any time to rest?" I have to confess that I usually skirt the question because the truth is I don't have time to rest very often. But Diana I have good news for you, I have rest scheduled on my calendar!

At the same time as I'm beginning to feel weary I'm also feeling thankful for God's perfect timing. You see tomorrow I'm traveling to Nairobi to meet my parents and baby sister at the airport. They are flying in and staying through December 10th. The first two weeks they are here William and I will still be in full swing in both our jobs. But after that we are getting a chance for some rest and relaxation with my family. God worked it out just perfectly so that our new nurse at the clinic, Percival, could finish her orientation just in time for me to get away. It is perfect that just as I'm feeling a need to be refreshed my family will be arriving. It's perfect that while my family is here I'll be able to take some time to step away from my normal daily activities and spend some time of refreshment with them. And I've also recently been reminded of God's incredible provisions as he uses his people to meet our needs. As we head towards Thanksgiving I'm finding I have so many things to be thankful for.