A Chance to Serve

-
Yesterday I found out about a family that very recently moved into our ward and is now living on our street. The mother was in critical condition in the ICU with the swine flu. She has three children, ages 8, 4 and 9 months. Our Relief Society president had asked one of my counselors to watch the children this afternoon, and she left our presidency meeting that morning with the intent to go buy diapers for the baby and then go watch the poor kids. They were in my thoughts that afternoon. Last night as we were putting our kids to bed, I received a phone call from the RS president telling me that the children were now being watched by a couple of 18 year old girls in our ward, but that the baby was running a fever. She asked if I had baby Tylenol, and if I knew what dosage to give him. I have children's Tylenol, and I found a dosage chart, so I grabbed the medicine, the book containing the chart and my bathroom scale and headed up the street to their home. The baby was warm, but had been given a bath and didn't seem to be burning up any more. We figured out the baby's weight and were able to figure out the correct dosage and give it to the baby. He looked sleepy, but was crawling around, pushing a toy across the carpet when I left. I met the 8 year old girl, and she seemed really sweet. She is in 3rd grade, just like John, but although she knew she would go to the same school as my kids, she didn't know which teacher she would have yet. I think the 4 year old had already been put to bed.

With all my feelings of being overwhelmed and trying to figure out what I am supposed to be doing in my new calling, it was nice to have an opportunity like this one. I had a chance to serve someone who needed it. I had what was needed, I knew what to do, and it was something I felt comfortable doing. I hope I can have more opportunities like this one.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Talk about Gratitude

-
I recently told my bishop that I enjoyed giving talks in Sacrament Meeting, and it is true. I didn't expect, however, that I would get an email from a bishopric member on Thursday last week to say that his talks for Sunday had to leave town, and would I be willing to speak? Here is the talk that I gave on Sunday, May 27th, 2012: For my topic today, I was given a talk which was given by President Monson in 1992, entitled “An Attitude of Gratitude”. In his talk President Monson begins by telling the story of the 10 lepers. I would like to share it with you. In Luke 17 we read: And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” And when he saw them, he said unto them, “Go show yourselves unto the priests.” And it came to pass, that, as they went,
Read more

How Clean is Clean Enough?

-
Image
How clean is "clean enough"? I realize this question is loaded and the answers are very individual, so for a moment, think about yourself and your home and consider, for you, how clean is "clean enough"? What is the difference between a "quick clean", a "daily clean" and a "deep clean"? At what point do you consider your home "clean enough"? Does "clean enough" mean having a clear path from the front door to the other rooms in the house? Is it having the clutter picked up and the floors vacuumed? Must it be dusted every week, every month, or at all? Is it a quick swipe on the surface to remove the dust or crumbs? Is it a scrub with disinfectant? Is it clearing tables and desks, or delving into cupboards and drawers, purging and organizing?    Does it depend on the day of the week? Is "clean enough" on a weekday the same as "clean enough" on a weekend? If not, is it more clean, or less? Is there a
Read more

School closing, Josh adventures, Back pain relief...

-
On Wednesday school was cancelled all over the Denver area because there was a credible threat that an 18 year old woman with a fixation on the Columbine shooting would attack a school. Apparently she arrived in Denver and bought a gun and then vanished, so they shut down everything just in case. (They found her body later that day... She committed suicide. More info here .) John was frustrated that school was cancelled because one acts are coming up (they are this week!) and he needed the rehearsal time. Instead, John took advantage of the free day to go to School of Mines to check out the campus and talk to someone about getting his admission deferred. I got a ride to my book club, and both of us were home again before Josh and Peter rolled out of bed. Early in the afternoon I took Josh to Children's Hospital to see a cardiologist about his seizures . They did an EKG, but the results were normal. He doesn't have a heart murmur or anything else they could identify. I still thi
Read more