Encouragement and Prayer

Tonight just before I went to work a friend texted me his prayer for me. It read, "Lord Jesus, please be with Ashley tonight. Keep her busy and bring lots of babies into the world tonight [I don't think my friend is worried about overpopulation]. Lead Ashley to pray over each of them. In Jesus' Name, amen."

I'm so thankful to have friends who pray for me. What a blessing to know that they love me enough to mention me before God Almighty and ask for special protection or blessing or wisdom! How God must love it when His children bring each other to Him.

I have prayed for babies as I take care of them in the nursery but haven't prayed for any labor patients yet. I get busy and focused on not missing anything important in a job I'm pretty new at. I always pray over each shift, for wisom and a sharp mind, and that I won't kill anyone. Seriously. And then I get busy working with laboring moms and trust that God is guiding. But it would be good to keep on praying. God's gonna guide either way, but it's good for me to be constantly remembering that He's with me, and to listen to Him in the midst of the stress that my busy job can bring. Ephesians 6:18 says to keep on praying in the Spirit, at all times with all kinds of prayers. I was blessed to read the text my friend sent me, but was quickly thinking of how the night might go after reading it, not thinking any more about it...

My first assignment was a first time mom who had been induced and was pushing. She had already been pushing for over 2 hours and was exhausted and ready to try a vacuum delivery when I came into her room to introduce myself and assume her care. I remembered this couple from yesterday morning when she was in very early labor, walking the halls to try to get her labor going better. I think this couple probably memorized the order of the pictures on the walls for as many laps as they made. The doctor arrived and we began to set up for a vacuum delivery. In my mind I know that this could be hard on her baby. Her baby could be born very stressed out, not breathing or having unstable blood sugars or other wacky vital signs. Vacuums have saved lives, but they sure put a lot of pressure on the baby's head as the doctor pulls (sometimes with all his might, it appears). I laid my hands on my mom's (my patient's) shoulder and knee or leg as I encouraged her to push with everything she had. It had been a long road for her. It was as if she had been running a marathon for hours, but no one had any idea if the finish line was actually close or not. Her epidural kept her from feeling like she was being shredded open by a meat grinder, or from feeling like she was on fire but it also kept her from being able to push effectively, which probably explains why she'd been pushing for 2+ hours with minimal progress. My hands were on her to encourage her, to impart as much love and energy as could flow through me, and to pray for her. I just automatically prayed for strength and stamina for this mom and for safety and health for her little baby who was about to be born, assisted by a vacuum which can be very stressful to these new little babies. By now the room was full of staff, who stood by in case the baby was born not breathing and needing intubation, or in case a shoulder dystocia occured. I operated the pressure of the vacuum at the doctor's cues, and he pulled like crazy as the mom pushed with all the power she could muster. After three pulls, a beautiful baby was born without further complication. Mom and dad cried as they held the child they could only feel and talk to for so many months through many layers of tissue surrounding his mom's protected womb. They had one cute baby. With one big bump on his head. But it's okay. It will go away.

In the moment that I had prayed for this mom and baby, I hadn't thought about how I had gotten that text earlier and decided that I should pray; I just prayed. But I know that I was encouraged by my friends' text. It planted a very good seed. The seed boar fruit.

How powerful encouragement can be. How good it is to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)! I love being spurred on toward love and good works! And regarding prayer, James wrote that is anyone is in trouble or sick, that the elders of the church should pray over them...and that the prayer offered in faith will make a sick person well. And "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:13-16). So perhaps a couple of prayers were answered tonight, as I prayed for a first time over my laboring mom and baby (as opposed to getting so caught up in the medical part of my job that I don't stop and ask for God's power at that moment), and as the baby was born healthy and is at this moment likely to be snuggling with his mamma, filling her heart with joy.