*Lessons from a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

There aren't too many things as a ER Nurse that I categorize as shocking anymore; but every once in a while something happens that I never thought I would ever experience. I vividly remember the day that I found a moldy grilled cheese sandwich in the fat folds of a patient!  Even more amazing was the calm, even tone and demeanor her spouse used recalling the date two weeks prior that he cooked that very meal. 

It was very sad to attempt to help this severely obese woman who  was struggling to balance her spine on the stretcher because she was competing with 200 pounds of fat hanging over EACH side! Thanks to the assistance of a few unwilling co-workers I recruited; we were finally able to literally push and pull flesh on top of this lady to get one side rail up on her bed! It was when we were attempting to put the other side rail up that I made my discovery. My gloved-hand touched something strange and as I tugged on it between the skin folds and out came a precisely-cut triangular sandwich that smelled like something out of a horror movie!!

I am not proud of the fact that I gagged at the sight & smell of it. There are some things the senses were not made to endure or encounter & this is a great example. The skin that had been subjected to the rotten sandwich had broken down & infection had set in that was foul and draining pus. The patient said, "Oh I remember losing one of my sandwiches the other day. I had wondered what happened to it." She never seemed to notice the disgust on the staff faces or the obvious smell that was so very apparent to everyone around her. He husband verified the story by saying to her, "Yes. I made those sandwiches weeks ago."

The sad truth is that we all carry things that shouldn't be a part of us. Things such as lack of forgiveness, jealousy, bitterness, depression, anger, malice, judgment and negativity that can become a part of us & we don't even realize it! These things can cause infection to set in and literally make our mind, body & spirit sick. We will have a stench about us that will turn people away from us causing us to be isolated and alone. A sick or hurt person can and will spread their bacteria around to everyone they touch or see or speak to. It can go from a local infection to a systemic infection very quickly if not identified and treated quickly.

Now I had tons of questions swirling in my head that day such as, "Do you eat naked to get that lodged into your fat folds?" and "When is the last time you bathed?" But I suppressed those thoughts and went to work helping the lady and treating her with the dignity and respect she deserved. How she got in this condition is beyond me and my judgments weren't going to help her. 
The cool thing is that when God sees us he doesn't look at us with disgust; curl his nose up or even gag! He sees His creation that is beautiful. How amazing that he sees POTENTIAL even when we are in the middle of a MESS! I know he has got to shake His head at the situations we get ourselves into. But he doesn't judge us...He loves us. We can be like the prodigal son in Luke 15 laying in the mud with the pigs but HE has the ability to visualize us with a white robe, a ring and a new pair of shoes all the while enjoying a time of reconciliation. 

^20-21"When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'
 ^22-24"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time." (the message)

You know that the son had to smell like the pigs!! But his father covered him and reconciled him, hugged and ate with him. God wants to do that with each if us. No matter where we have been or what we have done or are currently trying to hide...He wants to make it clean and bring healing into our lives. God is the God of MANY chances. He has a plan orchestrated for each one of us even in our stench and all we have to do is make the effort to want what He so willingly and freely wants to give. 

A Prayer for You:

God help me to open my blind eyes and see the true condition of my life. God if there be any thing within me that is causing an odor that is not pleasing to you; reveal it to me. Help me to see where I really am and where you want me to be. I long to be like you and I can't do it on my own. I need your healing power to wash over me today and make me clean. Take away the stench of yesterday and cover it with the washing of your blood that makes all things new. Thank you for your salvation power and that I can leave everything at your feet and walk away whole. I have faith in you as my savior and I humbly put every need and every care in your hands today. God give me new clothes, a new identity in 
you and bless my ever step I take in your name I pray. Amen.


Adjust that crown! 

Jonna