Late nights!

On Tuesday I worked my longest shift yet and saw the work of Christ all around me, although at times I was too tired to recognize it!

I worked alone from 4-11p. Usually when I work the night shift someone else is working 1-9p, so I'm only by myself from 9-11p, which is a fairly calm time, but on Tuesday everyone else got off at 4p.

I had two intakes coming in, which requires a good bit of time and paperwork and such as well as being away from the phones for approximately 30 minutes. I also was scheduled to cook dinner by 5:30p, go to staff meeting, do med call and answer the door. God provided amazing volunteers to cook a yummy dinner, the director stayed and answered the phone until after I finished the intakes and refused to leave until I had sat to rest and have a bite to eat. One of the house staff members had emails to check and personal work to do on the computer, so she stayed until almost 10 pm, providing some companionship and someone to answer the door in my absence.

During the shift I was so frustrated and overwhelmed. I did not finish my work until after midnight, but as I laid in the bed that night, God kept me awake to give me time to process the day, but also to show me all the things that He had done for me during the shift, things that I had been too absorbed to see!

As I lay half-asleep that night, I heard a lot thump. I turned and saw my roommate, staring at her bed. She looked like she was sleep walking. "Are you okay?" I asked groggily. "I just want to go to SLEEP," she replied. I stood up to see what was going on and realized that her mattress had feel through the frame in the bed so that half of it was on the floor. I lifted it back through so that she could lay back down, but I couldn't help but laugh, and I couldn't seem to stop laughing, even after we laid back down to go to sleep. The pressures of the day began to fade as the laughter rose from my belly to my mouth. I had to contain it since Danielle was sleeping, but it did bring a smile to my face and a slight snort to my nose. Thank you God for laughter!

This morning I was reading about David in 2 Samuel 16-17 and how God provided him with assistance in the midst of his struggle with Absalom. David must have at times been tempted to say, "Where are you God?" but if he would have looked up from his troubles, he would have seen all that God had provided, just as I saw!