Thursday...

 It must be Thursday... Here we go!

Thursday

 Here we are on another Thursday... It's been so busy but I am grateful for the work that I get to do...❤︎

Thursday...

 Yep, here again.  It must be Thursday.  When I started here almost 21 years ago, the only park of the hospital was the tiny building in the background... Things have definitely changed over the years!

Here we go...

It must be a Thursday. Here we go...

Also, this is the month that my girl was born...

Our unit is decorated for Valentine's Day and I just love it:

new routines

It must be Thursday.

I have made a new routine for work: I do flights of stairs to shake off pre-shift jitters. 

I use the time to pray for my patients and my co workers and the shift ahead.  I think it has been helping calm my mind! 

It must be Thursday...

Here we are, another year, another shift...

Christmas at the hospital...

 Today I am at work, thinking of all the things ahead in the holiday weekend.  People who come to our unit come with anticipated joy for the arrival of a new baby.  Other places in the hospital are filled with such sadness this time of year.  My heart feels acutely aware of that emotional pendulum that exists for each person entering our doors...

Prayers for our patients and families will always be on my mind as I come to work...

Thursday...

A  little glimpse of our unit at Christmas time...

I think back to all the years ago when I was doing oncology and the holidays were so incredibly hard because often it might be the last Christmas with that family member.  Here there is just so much joy.  We hand out tiny beanies and socks with candy canes on them too...

It such a special time to welcome little ones into the world!

Thursday...

Here we are, sun is up and we are ready for the day ahead... 

There is always some nervous anticipation of what is waiting for me and what will fill my shift, but here we go!

having some fun...

 Thursday means my work day. Sometimes there is some silliness in the busyness...

It's really fun to be a mother/baby nurse!

the sun always rises and sets...

 Sometimes I will be in a patients room at the end of the shift and look out the window to an incredible sunset. It reminds me that no matter what is happening in my day, there is One that is bigger than all of it, and holds it all together.  He makes it so that the sun rises and sets every day, and His mercies are new every morning...

snapshots of a workday...

 I wanted to remember little mental snapshots of my workday...  In 20 years I have never thought to take little pictures throughout my shift, just to remember what my workday are like...

I get to work at 530 and take time in my car to pray over my day, over our units, over my patients, and our staff...

I take the same stairwell that I took to my first ever unit for oncology.  When they built our new tower, my old unit on 5 north was connected to my unit on 5 southwest.  Every time I go to work, I think of those early years of my nursing career and I think of how grateful I am to have the job that I have now!

My old unit...

My home for the last 17 years...

I have pictures of my family on my locker and I love that I get to see their faces before I start my day!

I get my stuff set up in my little corner of the nursing station...

Between my patients room and here, I spend SO MUCH TIME for the shift...

For my break I walk our stairs.  It's an amazing stress reliever...

Time for lunch where I text Kit and play sudoku on my phone and listen to calming music on our Care station on our staff room TV.

At this point in the day, my hairstyle, at best, can be described as deranged poodle...

By the end of the 13+ hour day, I make my way to the parking structure.  

There is something so satisfying about the end of the shift, viewing this job as a ministry, utilizing a degree that I have, financially supporting my family, and getting to connect with amazing friends, co-workers, and patients... I am so thankful for this job.  I am thankful to have these little snapshots of the workday to remember... 

Thursday...

 When I walk into our hospital to work, I pass these two areas: Our promise and our values.

Sometimes in the stress and intensity of work, I forget the beauty of what I really get to do and the values that support my job as a ministry.  It is such a gift that I get to serve patients here...

The last time that I worked, I was running late and I got this photo from Eden:

I am still loving my job, even on the hardest day...❤︎

~~~~~~~~~~~

Also Eden found a picture that she had drawn around the age of 6 and we couldn't stop laughing.  The teeth, the bangs, the eyelashes... She sent me that photo too...

It was so sweet!

sunsets

 As I left work last Saturday, this was the sunset that was waiting for me as I walked to my car:

It was a sweet end to a very busy shift...

Thursday

Here we go again...❤︎ 

Here we go...

 Here is the photo, in the stairwell, on my way to my unit, that Kit gets, with the text to pray for me as I start my day...

I don't know what it is like to not have a spouse pray over me, especially as some days can feel so heavy.  Today, I am thankful for my husband and the way he loves on me by interceding for me, on days that feel like there is so much to carry...

Thursday

 Here we are...

Mental prep...

 Every Thursday, I mentally prep for the next day of work, not always knowing what it will hold...  I was reminded as I walking into work of a sign that is posted that I can very easily miss as I pass by on my way to my unit...

It has probably been there since I started almost 20 years ago, but really, it's what nursing is all about and I don't want to miss it...

It's Thursday...

 ...So you know what that means...

Here's to a new day!