joy

NCFI Cares: A Song in Your Heart

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I have a granddaughter who is constantly singing. When we are driving in the car, hanging out at home, or walking to the park, she is singing a song. Many times, she repeats the chorus or refrain to a recent pop song over and over. I enjoy listening to her sing even when it is annoying to her older brother. At times I do have to have her tone it down, especially if her singing borders on the edge of screaming. The beautiful thing about her singing is it comes out naturally; in fact, she was born with a song-in-her-heart. When she was just a few days old, I remember holding her and she was humming along. Since she had just left the Lord presence, I asked her softly, “Are you singing the songs of angels?”

I share this with you, not just to brag as a loving grandmother, but also to remind us that we can all have a song in our heart. The natural song or verse in our heart overflows from a heart and spirit filled with the goodness of God. We sing praises of his wonderfulness and out of gratefulness to Him and all his provisions.

There are many verses which speak of having a song in heart:

“singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord always giving thanks to God the Father for all things” (Ephesians 5:19-20)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16

“Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises” James 5:13

“The Lord strengthens and protects me; I trust in him with all my heart. I am rescued and my heart is full of joy; I will sing to him in gratitude.” Psalm 28:7

Take some time this week and put a song in your heart. If you are naturally musically, invent your own melody of praise; otherwise find a favorite hymn, song, or refrain to fill your heart with the Lord’s praises.

NCFI Cares: Lost Joy by Guest Contributor

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“The joy of the Lord is our strength” Nehemiah 8:10

There are things we tend to lose, right? The things that we most easily lose in our daily tasks are the pen, the glasses, the cell phone, the piece of paper where we had an important annotation, and some would say “our hope”. But there is something that we all easily lose, especially Christian nurses, and it is joy.

On Sundays we leave the church joyfully excited to serve the Lord. Yet, as soon as we arrive at the hospital, there is bad news, a change in our work plans, the absence of a colleague, work overload, and a host of other things that make us lose our Sunday joy.  Romans 14:17 says: “The kingdom of God is not food or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Joy is a natural consequence of following Christ. While we are living during these difficult days. we are reminded of Lamentations 5:15 “The joy of our heart ceased, our dance was changed into mourning “. It seems like the complaint and the hopelessness cover us. There are many things that make us lose joy.

  • An unbalanced schedule: the nurse knows a lot about this, we overload our schedule and then frustration comes when we do not comply with everything.
  • Selfishness: when we want to only receive the benefits of our profession and not deliver the added value to our work, such as love and mercy. Knowledge sometimes puffs up, but love builds and as a result fills us with joy.
  • Unused talents: Sometimes we do not use all our talents, our gifts, abilities and fall into a routine.We must use all that God has given us to enrich our work and thus find the job satisfaction we so crave.
  • Unconfessed sin: inside we know that we have unresolved things, such as not accepting a partner, feeling upset with our supervisor, jealousy, anger, strife, and others. We need to confess to the Lord and help us look at the another with the eyes of Christ.
  • Unresolved conflict: like negativity, gossip, bad humor, bitterness.
  • A malnourished spirit: we can only face all these things that rob us of joy, strengthening our spirit with the Word of God and with prayer.

In Psalm 51:12 the psalmist asks for the restoration of joy. “Return to me the joy of your salvation and noble spirit sustain me.”   When you become aware that you have lost your joy, remember that nothing is comparable to what God has done for you.

“And the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15: 13.

Lic. Martha Fernández Moyano, Argentina NCFI IB

Member of Prayer & Care committee of NCFI

 

NCFI Cares: Tangible Joy!

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Tangible Joy!

As we enjoy the advent hope and joy of the Christmas season, let’s keep in mind those who may be feeling isolated and alone. This is especially true for patients in a hospital, residents in care facilities, and/or anyone separated from their family and traditions. It is hard to find the Christmas spirit when people are grieving the death of a loved one, battling a chronic illness, or overwhelmed by distressing physical symptoms.

As health care providers we are each person’s connection to not only the joy of the season, but also the living heart of God. This holiday season reach out in tangible caring ways to bring the love of Christmas to someone in your nursing care. Maybe it is a small Christmas tree to decorate their hospital room, warm gloves and coat for a patient in your clinic, or spending time to reminisce with the older adult about their Christmas pasts.

These are just a few ideas and I am sure there are other tangible caring ways to connect with patients/families/residents during the holiday season. Please share your ideas or ways you bring the tangible joy Christmas to patients at NCFI Facebook

Merry Christmas from NCFI!

Luke 2:11 “Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.”

 

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What does cinnamon candy & cheese slices have in common?

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One thing about memories is you can’t control when they will pop into your mind. This is especially true for memories of our departed loved ones. A recent example illustrates this point. I love all kinds of cinnamon candy and the hotter the better.  I recently discovered that my husband loves them too, as he was eating two and three cinnamon breath mints at a time. WOW! That’s even too hot for me!

We were reminiscing about the different cinnamon candy and treats that were available when we were in high school—remember the cinnamon toothpicks! As we chatted about the hottest cinnamon candy and comparing the intensities of Jolly Ranchers to cinnamon bears, red hots and hot tamales, I remembered a funny event involving Debbie and I.

About 18 or so years ago my husband and I, with our two daughters drove back to Wyoming to visit my sister. We had pulled an all-nighter, peddle-to-the ground road trip driving straight through from California. We arrived at Debbie’s house at about 4 am and immediately crashed into bed.cinnamon jolly ranchers

When I woke up a few hours later, I went looking for my purse. I found it by the front door,where upon my exhausted arrival I had dropped it. Next to my purse was Debbie’s purse similar in style. Upon closer inspection both purses contained a bag of cinnamon Jolly Ranchers.  It was hilarious! Living so far apart and not being able to “spend time”together we were both amazed by our similar tastes in styles and snacks!

As I was learning about my husband’s love for cinnamon candy, this heart-warming memory surfaced. How sisters separated by years and miles, were seemingly genetically engineered to love cinnamon Jolly Ranchers. Even now, the memory brings a smile to my face.

The sliced cheese is an even older story that my mom loves to tell. When Debbie was about 2 years old, she loved those individually wrapped American cheese slices. Maybe love is not a strong enough word—she craved those little slices. One day, she walked over to the neighbors, politely knocked on their door and asked for a slice of cheese.  My mother had visited the neighbor in the past who had kindly given my sister a slice of cheese. Well, in a 2 year old’s mind, why not go back for more!

Both of these sweet memories of my sister came into my heart and mind this week; and I feel blessed. The main reason these are joyful memories is I am at a good place in my grief, so that missing her stirs happy moments. Thank you, Lord!