Never Say Never

Clichéd though it may sound, please never say never. I know that sounds like a Justin Bieber' s song but it’s true; it really is. There were three things I said over and over again that I would never do. Number one, to work overseas. Number two, be active again in SFC activities. Number three, join a beauty contest. I guess you pretty much have an idea how I fared with the first two — thank God it is way too late for the last one to ever happen for me.Haha! If you asked me after I graduated college how I pictured my life to be 5 years down the road I would not have described anything remotely close to what it is as I know it, now. Well, what can I say? Life truly is what happens while we are busy making plans.

Let’s backtrack a little here. I’m sure I have mentioned enough times in my past blogs how involved I am in the community I grew up with, Kids/ Youth/ Single's for Christ to the extent of going for Full time/ Missionary work after graduation. It was a long tough journey. When I decided to leave PI, I thought of leaving my service in SFC as well. 

So. Here I am. This is where I am now. I am a Nurse. Mother Teresa once said “We do not always have to do great things, but we can always choose to do small things with great love.”  I think of that often, actually, especially in my line of work. My job can get overwhelming — there is no room for mistake, we work under the pressure of dealing with life and death. Given the nature of work in the hospital, it meant practically moving your mental clock for the erstwhile untouchable holidays and for all intents and purposes. 

The life of a nurse is more of a vocation. It’s a life of hard work and sacrifice. Every single day, there is a sea of people that we deal with. We try to get the patient’s trust and present a semblance of efficiency that will help turn the panic into confidence. We try to control the number of people who accompany the sick and knowing how to deal with tempers that flare up are additional skills required. My oh my! We give so much of ourselves, our energies and and our time, all in the name of making the world a better place.

I must not forget to say, after weeks when I came here in Dubai, it was not a conscious effort to look for household. Well. What do you know. Nothing is ever truly certain in this world. Structures are there to guide us, but we cannot put blinders on, be stubborn, and insist on following a rigid path towards how we would want life to play out. The world may give us different labels, but  happiness comes in taking on every challenge, surrendering to every opportunity to make a difference, one day at a time. We are but channels of God’s mercy and goodness. It is never about us, it is always about Him.

Service gives meaning and purpose to life. Imagine if you live for yourself and yourself alone. Your world will be so small. You will be miserable. But step out of yourself and life becomes instantly beautiful. Instantly. Can you believe that? And that is essentially why we all are here. As children of God we know in our heart of hearts that we all must do our work in His garden. 

by Ahriss  Andes, SFC UAE

In the Middle East, a large percentage of our members in the community are in the health sector, we praise the Lord for their sacrifices :) and we honor them because no matter how difficult the schedule can be, once their heart is committed to serve, there is always a way to say 'Yes Lord!'