Would you know what to do for my grandygirl?

In light of my dear grand baby and the fact that you might be the difference between me seeing her grow up, this is now your daily Public Service Announcement:

I was reminded this week of why we need to stay educated when it comes to basic life support and knowing how to do CPR. Most of us have heard the basics, but it was concerning to me to hear how much the media pushes "Hands Only CPR", and completely failed to mention that DOES NOT apply to children. Not once do the training videos I looked at, the news broadcasts I saw, mention the fact that AHA newer guidelines on chest compressions as priority did they remind the viewer that this is NOT true for infant/child CPR.

It is likely that someday you will encounter a moment where you could make a difference for someone- you could save their life, just by knowing CPR. And especially for children. (American Heart Association defines child as anyone under 8 years old, or is the size of an average 8 year old) If you wait for someone else to show up, the paramedics to arrive, that little person could be lost.

Statistically, CPR is needed on adults because of cardiac arrest. So when their heart starts "misbehaving", they have about 4 minutes of oxygenated blood circulating in their bodies. So compressions alone, effective deep pumps, can make all the difference.

The concern is that for babies and children, over 90% of the time they need CPR because they are in "respiratory arrest". Either choking, allergic reaction, whatever- but it is rarely their young, healthy little heart that stops. So in reality, by the time that child goes down non-responsive- they have already lost 2 minutes of oxygenated blood, and now their heart is going to go into arrrest.

It is IMPERATIVE that the FIRST thing you do for a child is START CPR. Don't wait and run for the phone. Don't leave them to find help. Don't start crying and jump around screaming. (I am not trying to be heartless, I am dead serious.)

The FIRST THING you do for a child who is down and not breathing, is START CPR. Please. Educate yourself in what to do, and make a difference. In cardiac arrest, after CPR there is a long recovery needed at the hospital. People don't bounce back from the heart crumping out. But in respiratory arrest, which is what happens when someone drowns, chokes, etc- they literally get the CPR they need, and they get up and walk away. It really is just like that. And you can do it with a little education. You can save a life.

Here's a link that explains the difference between child and adult CPR.
 Why CPR matters for children
Thanks for listening to my soap box, now go do something about what your heart is saying before something distracts you. Do it.
I am giving the members of my family a CPR class for Christmas (won't they be excited. )

Links for local classes:
http://www.cprlifeline.com/
http://nwrtc.org/

 ( And remember, if you try to dislodge the choking item and it doesn't come out and the child goes unconscious- START CPR.)

"A little bird told me..."

(You turn your back for a minute...and she's off adventuring!)

November has come crashing in and I can't remember where the last two months have gone. With changes at work, new things to learn, family to love and life to live it's a miracle the animals are still alive and the house isn't totally trashed. Each day just keeps reminding me that every minute needs to be cherished. It all changes so fast.

I was at IHOP the other day...by myself... eating pancakes... and bacon. I don't like IHOP. I actually think it's pretty gross. But it's a place my kids really liked, and I was missing them and being sentimental. Having "grown up kids" is kind of lame sometimes. They have things like college and jobs and their own families which makes them less available to me. What's up with that?

(Bumble Bee B-B!)

Anyways...sitting at IHOP, eating my pancakes gave me a great opportunity to be random and let my mind wander. I heard a sermon that prompted to read Ecclesiastes 10. Great text, really cheerful and encouraging. It says things like "As dead flies give perfume a bad smell so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."
 Or even more fun: "Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are."

Some of my favorite passages are in Ecclesiastes simply because of how sarcastic it can be. Let's really take it out of context for a minute. Look what verse 19 says and run with it:
 "A feast is made for laughter,
    wine makes life merry,
    and money is the answer for everything."

Woohoo! Did the Bible just tell me to eat everything I want, drink like a sailor and all I have to do is have lots of money to be happy? YESSS.(No, it did NOT say that.)

Like I said, great lunchtime reading for you. In reality and read in CONTEXT, those chapters just kept bringing back the fact that- I have been a "fool" more times than I would like to remember. 
We all have I would say. 
I have made unwise choices (verses 2-3), I've said things I wanted to take back because of "foolish lips" (verse 12), and I have hurt people with those fool hardy choices. In verse 13 it says that our foolish words:
"At the beginning (are folly); at the end they are wicked madness..."

(Who knew Willie from Duck Dynasty would come visit Brielle for Halloween? She wasn't a fan of him. ;)

How tragic when I think about what "wicked madness" my foolishness has caused. Steve and I often say we spent the first half of our lives being ridiculous, we wonder what we will do with the second half. Terrifying thought.

The great thing about that lonely lunch date at IHOP was that after I got done laughing and crying over the sarcasm and my guilty conscious...it also reminded me that God never leaves us on the "down note" for long. It put into my day the grace God has for all of us. How good is He that he lets us feel the weight of our foolishness, so that it would move us to make live better. To seek and find wisdom through Him. To make amends and to say "I'm sorry". It challenges us to do something- to try, to learn, to grow, to make peace. 
  
Random wanderings...Ecclesiastes made me sorry for the people I have hurt with my foolishness, and sorry for the fact that being "sorry" sometimes isn't good enough. There are some relationships that just won't be fixed. Yet, Romans 12:18 straight up tells us that we are to:
"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

(Love these faces!)

How do we live at peace, when we sin and hurt each other? The grief comes in when I see the foolish deeds I have done, and I can't find a way to make it right.
But even then, God provides a way to heal our hearts in the same verse that pushes us to be peacemakers. God finds a way to be gracious to us. He says "if it is possible, as far as it depends on you..."
That leads to the assumption that He knew there would be times that in spite of your best efforts to reconcile, they just aren't gonna have it. And that's ok.
One pastor explained it like this:
"That means there are times where you're going to have to own your part and the reciprocity won't be there."
And it doesn't really matter. How other respond, how it all turns out...doesn't matter as long as you tried "as far as it depends on you."

So random, but it was nice to have time to just be. To eat a pancake and think about whatever God brought to mind and how it all ties together in this crazy thing called life.

Thank you, Lord, that all we can do is our best. Thank you for your humor, and for telling it like it is. Forgive us for being foolish so often, and help us have soft hearts towards you. Show us if we have wronged someone and need to apologize, or if it's time we forgave that other person who hurt us. Turn us from silly fools into a people who are wise beyond our years because we have hidden your word in our hearts.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

Seasons...

One amazing thing about living in the Northwest...you have a guaranteed reminder every couple of months that life goes on.

Another month of birthdays and parties, of work and family. Times of joy and other times of feeling so toxic I am ashamed of myself.

As we all know, I love pictures. I don't even have to know the people in them, I just love looking at the still capture of a moment. That pause and the opportunity to imagine all the story around that one second of time. My dad still teases me on the fact that with all the video cameras out there, I still would rather spend hours looking at a photo. But I can't help it. I love the moment.

As I looked back on this last month, I realized my inward feelings were reflected in my outward life. Most of the photos I took were blurry, out of focus and full of too much action.

 But as I whined to myself, I realized I was missing the entire point. The whole reason I love pictures and take the insane number that I do...because they give me a glimpse into the lives of people. People made in God's image with his good plan in place for them. I LOVE my people, and I LOVE this life of mine. Blurs and all.

 I sat in my Bible Study and griped to the sweet ladies who put up with me, and as I listened to myself, I realized how selfish I can be. Looking for all the things that should be done great FOR me, I was missing out on being the "great" in someone else's moment. God gives us so much in this life, and a short window of time that we can impact this world for His glory. Sitting around thinking He can't use me because I mess things up is such a waste. Because the truth is, He isn't handicapped by my inadequacy. Really and truly. My weakness is not the "straw that broke the camel's back" for the Creator of the Universe. Bahahaha! What a relief that is!
 
In my Bible Study we are focusing on God's goodness, and I can't stop equating that repeatedly to God's GRACE. If His grace truly is enough for me...why do I want so many other things? Things I can't control or change anyways?

Our study keeps bringing me back to Psalm 36. The beginning of that passage is crazy harsh...but truly shows the root of my dissatisfaction. SIN. I can't bring myself to post the first 4 verses because it can be me far too often. Selfishness, pride, failing to "do good" when I could. So sad. You can read it for yourself here, but in verse 5, REDEMPTION.

It reminds us that "Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,your justice like the great deep." 
We can probably all sing that along with Third Day, but it goes on to say:
"People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house; 
 you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light." Psalm 36:7a-9 

Wow. If we all really believed that. How different would today look?

God's grace and goodness is more than enough for me. Everything necessary is right there...in Him.  Sure, I am going to still have days where I stay buried in bed all day and play Candy Crush until my eyes cross. But Lord, please make those days fewer and farther in between the AMAZING ones where the things of this life dim a bit, and your GRACE grows bigger before our eyes...so that we can shine that light and love to everyone we meet. 
 
"You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." Matthew 5:14

Go shine bright (and not like a diamond, Rihanna) for the peeps in your "house", friend.