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    A Forced Pause: Living Under God's Intensive Care
    A Forced Pause: Living Under God's Intensive Care
    A Forced Pause: Living Under God's Intensive Care
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    A Forced Pause: Living Under God's Intensive Care

    By Christy Burns

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    About this ebook

    A collection of vignettes written to offer hope in the form of a Bible verse, a brief devotional thought, and a prayer - a promise of encouragement to give you strength for each new day. A perfect give for those dealing with a long-term illness, either as a patient or a caregiver.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateFeb 1, 2012
    ISBN9781449737337
    A Forced Pause: Living Under God's Intensive Care
    Author

    Christy Burns

    Christy Burns works in Administrative Services at Timothy Lutheran Ministries in Blue Springs, Missouri. She also serves as the middle school music teacher for Timothy Lutheran School. Her husband, Kent, is the Minister of Worship Arts, and Christy enjoys partnering with him in a variety of music productions and in worship services as a singer and keyboardist.   Christy has been a featured speaker at a variety of women’s retreats, speaking on such topics as ICU: I Need Hope; The Fruit of the Spirit; Love Never Fails—Signs of Love; Bloom Where You Are Planted; Profound Simplicity; Spiritual Disciplines; What Is Worship; and Why Should I Pray.   Kent and Christy have three sons: T.J., Alex, and Nathan, and reside in Blue Springs, Missouri.

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      Book preview

      A Forced Pause - Christy Burns

      Contents

      Endorsements

      Foreword

      Preface

      Acknowledgements

      Introduction

      Time Line

      He Has a Name!

      Let the Words of My Mouth

      Expressing Our Need

      The Body of Christ

      Don’t Leave Me!

      I See You (ICU)

      This Is the Day

      My Promised Land

      What Time Is It?

      The Weariness in Waiting

      Lay It on the Altar

      Stand Firm!

      The Damage Done

      Nightmares

      I’m So Hungry!

      Praying for a Miracle

      How Many?

      Behind Tired Eyes

      God Isn’t Fair

      Be Ready!

      Magnify the Lord

      Memories

      A Nurse God Can Use

      Lord of the Dance

      Joy to the World

      Laid Bare

      Romans Doxology

      Tears in a Bottle

      The Faith of a Child

      Why Can’t There Be Rain

      Without the Clouds?

      Hello, Caregiver

      Stripes

      Epilogue

      About the Author

      Bibliography

      Endorsements

      Christy has the incredible gift of putting into words, emotions many of us find difficult to express. In doing so, she makes it possible for us, in times of crisis, to verbalize our thoughts and share our fears with God and those He has put into our lives as caregivers.

      Lana Hille, RN, BSN

      Director of Administration and Congregational Care

      Emmanuel Lutheran Church

      Ft. Wayne, Indiana

      Doctors and nurses sometimes reach a limit in the care they can provide for severely ill patients. In these instances, all we can do is Be still and know that [He] is God (Psalm 46:10). Christy was still and sought comfort from HIM and began writing. A Forced Pause will let you see how the Mighty Physician worked through the storm endured by Kent and Christy. Read and feel His presence.

      Kaye Mayer, RN

      Carondelet Home Health Care

      Kansas City, Missouri

      Poignant, passionate and powerful—Christy Burns has captured the heart of every person who spends countless hours in the hospital waiting room while a loved one struggles to survive. Her devotions bring God’s comfort to all who wait.

      Nancy Nowiszewski

      Director of Care Ministry

      Timothy Lutheran Ministries

      Blue Springs, Missouri

      To my husband Kent—my forever partner in this

      Journey of Faith

      To T.J., Alex, and Nathan—Always remember you

      are called according to His purpose.

      And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called, according to His purpose.

      Romans 8:28

      Courage is not the absence of fear—

      It is the presence of God.

      Foreword

      For many years I have entered ICU waiting rooms where families gather in hushed conversation as the life of their loved one is threatened by illness or injury. The eyes of people speak loudly. As I look into the eyes of each one in the room, I usually see the common theme of anxiety and uncertainty. The room begs for hope and compassion.

      It has always been a humble privilege to enter, not just the waiting room, but the hearts of the people there, and to share the hope and compassion of Jesus found in God’s Word. Many times, when I leave, I wish I had something to give the families that would speak honestly, insightfully, and deeply to the emotional roller coaster I knew they would be riding for days, weeks, and possibly months to come—something from a fellow Christian who had been on that rollercoaster—A Forced Pause meets that need in a powerful way.

      A Forced Pause speaks tenderly yet honestly to the anguish, the pain, the questions and the fear that hang like a dark cloud over the heads of family members in the waiting room. They have come together because of circumstances totally beyond their control—a forced pause in the normal routine of their day-to-day lives. I spent hours with the Burns family in this setting as a pastor and a spiritual guide. Never have I sensed the hand of God holding so firmly a family in crisis as I witnessed during the long weeks and months that engulfed the Burns family. Out of this crucible of anguish and prayer, God moved the heart of Christy Burns to write down her personal reflections.

      As I read the reflections in this book, I am drawn back to those days and I relive some of the agony of the heart that I often encountered. But it is not the agony that lingers in my memory; instead, it is the hope—the sheer strength of hope that God brought to Christy and her family in those dark days. It was a humble privilege to be there with the Burns family, sometimes just holding a hand, sometimes listening, sometimes embracing in the midst of tears. But there was never a time when Christy turned away from God in despair. Instead, she looked all the more intently to Him. In the end, she came to see and experience that through faith in Christ, we are living under God’s intensive care.

      The forced pause that gripped the Burns family was filled with all the ingredients that can lead people to despair, even anger and bitterness toward God. This book doesn’t hide the anguish of the soul, but it points the soul to the promise that our lives are never beyond the reach of God’s loving grasp. Christy’s thoughts remind us all that God entered our earthly pain and suffering long ago when He sent His Son, Jesus, in flesh and blood to be our Savior. He still comes! He sits with us in the waiting room. He still brings peace to hearts trembling with anxiety and anguish. Above all, He brings hope—and hope endures forever. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

      In one of my favorite devotionals of the book, Christy recalls how impersonal it can become at times in the hospital. Sir, it’s time for… B-9 is on the vent… The patient shows signs of… Christy wanted to scream and say, Stop! He has a name! But the Word of God reminded Christy and all of us of this promise: Fear not, I have called you by name, you are Mine. (Isaiah 43:1b)

      To all who read this book, there is never a time when we are outside of God’s love—we are always living under God’s intensive care.

      Francis M. Lieb, Pastor

      Timothy Lutheran Ministries

      Blue Springs, Missouri

      Preface

      There is an incredible opportunity for ministry to be found in an Intensive Care Unit waiting room. Two groups of people dwell there. Strangers before their arrival, they live together for weeks or even months at a time, sharing chairs for beds and stacks of magazines for pillows. These are the Hopeful and the Hopeless. A serious illness creates quite a leveling field. Income level, past experience, degree of education—none of these things matter when a loved one’s life hangs in the balance. Everyone is desperate for the same thing—hope. Those who have it are desperate to share it and those who don’t have it will do anything to find it.

      There are those who carry with them physical pain and uncertainty as a part of every day. Stripped of their dignity, their privacy, and their independence, they are forced to tolerate invasive procedures and endless hours of waiting for answers concerning their future, often being identified only by their illness or Social Security number.

      And there are those who care for them-souls who are in need of encouragement, but who are often too isolated or weary to access it.

      The following devotions are written for people such as these. Designed to be relevant to those dealing with a serious illness, either as the patient or the caregiver, these short vignettes contain a Scripture passage, a brief reflection, and a prayer

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