A New Day
06/07/12 05:26
I have been donating blood and blood components for over three decades. It is one of the places of true volunteerism that is available to those who are blessed with good health. Donating blood is giving part of your self as a free gift. Your body replenishes the blood that you have donated and there is no harm. As with any medical procedure, it isn’t completely risk-free. It is, however, very safe. Blood donation centers make it convenient and they pamper their donors.
Three or four times a year, I am able to make a “triple play.” I can donate platelets, plasma and a unit of whole blood all in the same trip to the center. There is a machine that removes the platelets and plasma and replaces the other blood components while adding a little fluid. I’m not a quick donor, so it takes a little over an hour for me to make that donation.
I was set for the triple play yesterday. After a couple of hours at the office, preparing the bulletin, completing some correspondence and catching up on some desk work, I headed to the donation center. After a brief screening, I was in the chair and hooked up to the machine. Part way through the donation, however, the machine began to alarm that my draw pressure was too low. A donor specialist noticed a small area a swelling near the needle site. The donation had to be halted before I had given enough to help anyone. It is one of the things that occasionally occurs to someone who has donated many times. The scar tissue in my elbow makes it more difficult to insert the needle. The phlebotomist is very careful to insert the needle into the vein working around the scar tissue. Sometimes it isn’t quite right and a very small amount of fluid leaks out around the vein.
It wasn’t anybody’s fault. It didn’t cause me any pain. I had a heat pack on my arm for a few minutes and I have a very small bruise there this morning. But the hour and a half I spent at the donor center didn’t benefit anyone. And it cost the center time and resources without any return.
It was just one of those days.
My working day ended with a late afternoon meeting in Keystone. A colleague is going to officiate at a wedding for a couple with whom I have done all of the premarriage work. I have to be out of town on their wedding day, but I wanted to work with the couple as I have known the groom since he was an elementary student. So we arranged a meeting at the venue where they will be married with the couple, my colleague and myself so that I could introduce them and hand off the wedding. I decided to take a short cut through the hills on a gravel road and when I got to the pavement I saw I had a message. Returning my message, I discovered that there was a crisis to which I would normally respond. I had to make a quick decision. Since I can’t be two places at once, I had to choose one and find someone to cover for me on the other. I didn’t have all of the phone numbers with me to change the meeting to which I was headed and it had been a difficult bit of juggling to arrange the meeting in the first place. I made a call to make sure that the other situation was being handled and went on about my day. It was good to meet with the couple and my colleague.
But I ended the day with a bad case of “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.” As I headed home for a late supper I was feeling guilty and a bit frustrated at a day when I had the best of intentions, but the intentions just didn’t translate into much good for others. I know those days happen to everyone. I know that what I needed to do was to go home, go to bed and start fresh the next day. I know all of those things in my head. I was feeling guilty, however, about shifting responsibility for handling the crisis to another person. I don’t like to do that.
The evening was a blessing however. The dark clouds yielded rain on our dry land. I went to sleep with the sound of thunder in the distance, but nice rain falling outside my window. I don’t have an accurate rain gauge, but based on the water in the birdbath this morning, I’m guessing we got nearly a half-inch. That is a wonderful blessing. We can’t duplicate those results on the lawn and garden with our hoses.
There is a mist rising off of the moist ground this morning – actual fog in the hills. It is wonderful and the world smells fresh and clean after the rain. Despite the mistakes and failings of yesterday, we have been given a new day. There is a morning prayer that we used to sing at camp:
I was set for the triple play yesterday. After a couple of hours at the office, preparing the bulletin, completing some correspondence and catching up on some desk work, I headed to the donation center. After a brief screening, I was in the chair and hooked up to the machine. Part way through the donation, however, the machine began to alarm that my draw pressure was too low. A donor specialist noticed a small area a swelling near the needle site. The donation had to be halted before I had given enough to help anyone. It is one of the things that occasionally occurs to someone who has donated many times. The scar tissue in my elbow makes it more difficult to insert the needle. The phlebotomist is very careful to insert the needle into the vein working around the scar tissue. Sometimes it isn’t quite right and a very small amount of fluid leaks out around the vein.
It wasn’t anybody’s fault. It didn’t cause me any pain. I had a heat pack on my arm for a few minutes and I have a very small bruise there this morning. But the hour and a half I spent at the donor center didn’t benefit anyone. And it cost the center time and resources without any return.
It was just one of those days.
But I ended the day with a bad case of “should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.” As I headed home for a late supper I was feeling guilty and a bit frustrated at a day when I had the best of intentions, but the intentions just didn’t translate into much good for others. I know those days happen to everyone. I know that what I needed to do was to go home, go to bed and start fresh the next day. I know all of those things in my head. I was feeling guilty, however, about shifting responsibility for handling the crisis to another person. I don’t like to do that.
The evening was a blessing however. The dark clouds yielded rain on our dry land. I went to sleep with the sound of thunder in the distance, but nice rain falling outside my window. I don’t have an accurate rain gauge, but based on the water in the birdbath this morning, I’m guessing we got nearly a half-inch. That is a wonderful blessing. We can’t duplicate those results on the lawn and garden with our hoses.
There is a mist rising off of the moist ground this morning – actual fog in the hills. It is wonderful and the world smells fresh and clean after the rain. Despite the mistakes and failings of yesterday, we have been given a new day. There is a morning prayer that we used to sing at camp:
God has created a new day
Silver and green and gold
Live that the sunset may find us
Worthy God’s gifts to hold.
The new day is silver and green and gold this morning. It is fresh and the forecast calls for clouds, which may keep it from getting too hot. A break from the hot and dry days is good for the firefighters, good for the gardeners, and good for our spirits. I can head into the office and make a few phone calls and send a few e-mails to check on the details of last evening and see where I can chip in to help. A good night’s sleep has given me fresh energy for the day that lies ahead.
God doesn’t judge human performance the way that we judge ourselves. God isn’t interested in “measurable outcomes.” God looks upon our hearts and calls us to fresh relationship each day. There is forgiveness for the past and hope for the future in our relationship with God.
And I woke up this morning to a damp world with a song on my heart:
God has created a new day
Silver and green and gold
Live that the sunset may find us
Worthy God’s gifts to hold.
Life is good.