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Kathy Schoonover-Shoffner, Director of NCF, shares how staying in the Word allows nurse to be discern opportunities, share the gospel with patients, and face the challenges of each day with hope.
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Host
Lara Kay Kaiser
Lara is an Associate Director of Student Ministries for InterVarsity's Nurses Christian Fellowship. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and two cats. After graduating from Michigan State University in 2012, she came on staff with InterVarsity as a campus minister and then area director in southeast Michigan before joining the NCF team. Her hobbies include indoor rock climbing, volleyball, crocheting, and hanging out at the beach.
Guest
Kathy Schoonover - Shoffner, PhD, RN
I serve as the Director of InterVarsity's Nurses Christian Fellowship/USA and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Christian Nursing. I am married with three adult children and live with my husband and cat in Wichita, Kansas. Bible study is my lifeline; I participate in a weekly, in-depth study that offers accountability and guidance into the Word of God. I love playing the piano, assisting with worship, and exercise at the local YMCA. Education BSN -- University of Texas, Arlington, Texas (1979) MSN -- Oral Roberts University Anna Vaughn School of Nursing (1982, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Critical Care Nursing) PhD, Nursing -- University of Kansas (1995; minor in Communication Studies with emphasis in Organizational Communication)
What is Following Jesus in Nursing?
Educators, nurses, and students, Nurses Christian Fellowship is here for you as you follow Jesus in nursing! It’s a struggle to stay spiritually grounded with a heavy and stressful workload. What does it look like to be cared for by Jesus in a job full of daily challenges where you can also be surrounded by all kinds of trauma? Maybe you’ve wondered how to offer spiritual care to patients or how to face an ethical challenge. We will be hearing inspiring stories from nurses and students and getting sound, faithful advice from experts on these topics and more.
This podcast is produced by InterVarsity’s Nurses Christian Fellowship and hosted by Lara Kay Kaiser, Associate Director of NCF Student Ministries. Join us as we share new episodes with you each month!
Welcome to following Jesus in Nursing, a podcast for nurses and students produced by InterVarsity's Nurses Christian Fellowship. I'm your host, Lara K. Kiser, and together, we'll be inspired by our guest stories, tackle big questions with experts in the field, and walk together in following Jesus at the intersection of faith and nursing.
Kathy:Nurses have the most intimate, sacred moments with people, and we can make a difference. And what an amazing, high calling it is to be a nurse. I'm like, wow! And to just never ever forget that, that we walk on sacred holy ground, and we are with people, and God uses us.
Lara:Welcome, everybody. Our ministry team has been praying and dreaming for this. You've been requesting it. So here we are with our very first episode of following Jesus in Nursing. This podcast is produced by Nurses Christian Fellowship, which we call NCF. And whether you're a member or not, whether you're a nurse, a student, a nurse educator, or someone who cares about nurses, welcome. I am so grateful and honored that you're here, and thank you for being part of our community. I've been thinking about this podcast as a form of discipleship for the in between. We know that as nurses and students, your schedules don't always allow you to participate in groups or church meetings that gather at a regular time. So whether you're on night shift, a clinical rotation, or working twelves on weekends, we hope this will be a gift to you, for those in between spaces on your drive in between work and home, transitions in between an old job and a new one, or between school and your first nursing job.
Lara:We hope you'll feel seen, heard, celebrated, and encouraged in following Jesus in nursing. This is such a hard job, and we at NCF are cheering you on and praying for you often. Nurses, you show up for everyone else, and we want to be here for you. Before we get into our first guest interview, I just wanted to briefly introduce myself. My name is Lara K. Kiser.
Lara:My husband, Andy, and I live in Jacksonville, Florida. But I've lived most of my life in Southeast Michigan, which I've been told is rather obvious from my accent. I've been working for InterVarsity or I've been part of InterVarsity since 2008. First as a student at Michigan State University and then as a campus staff and an area director, and for the last year as associate director for NCF student ministry. Although I have a lot of ministry experience, you may have noticed that I am not a nurse nor did I go to nursing school.
Lara:So I would really love y'all's input on this podcast to make sure that we're meeting your needs well. If there's a topic or a speaker you'd like to hear from, please let us know. You can email us at ncf@intervarsity.org or DM us on Instagram at Jesusnursepod. And now let's get into our first interview. Well, I am thrilled to have our first guest here today.
Lara:Kathy Schoonover-Schoffner is our Director of Nurses Christian Fellowship and editor-in-chief of our Journal of Christian Nursing. So she is my boss's boss. I met her at my interview to start working for NCF, and my first impression of Kathy was just, wow. This woman is absolutely incredible and impressive, yet so down to earth. And she oversees this multifaceted ministry, has many degrees, and she's a professional nurse. And I just immediately wish that I could live down the street from her, and we could just meet up for coffee and I could spend hours listening to her stories and reflections of following Jesus in nursing and life over the years. Kathy, although we are not just down the street from each other, and I don't know about you, but I don't have coffee in front of me, I am still deeply grateful for this time that we have together today. So welcome, and thank you so much for joining me.
Kathy:Thanks, Laura. And I do have coffee.
Lara:Oh, good.
Kathy:I mean, it's early enough in the morning. So I'm Kathy. I am married, have 3 grown adopted children, live in Wichita, Kansas, and have a good life here. My husband and I go and work out every day, like, six days a week at the YMCA.
Lara:Oh, wow.
Kathy:And it's a fun fact: I probably do, I don't know, 250, 300 bicep curls a week. Just trying to stay in shape. I always joke around. I struggle with my weight, so I tell people I'm the most in shape fat lady in the city of Wichita.
Kathy:But, anyway, here I am in shape and overweight. I have been a nurse for a little over 40 years. I, fell in love with nursing when I was in high school. It was kind of an accident. I was working at a hospital as a housekeeper, and I watched what the nurses did. And I just loved seeing them come alongside people who were in pain, who needed help. I used to get blankets for people and do all these things, and then I thought I wanted to be a nurse's aide and help them. And that intimate nurse patient moment and interaction just sold me for life on being a nurse because that's what we get to do. So I love that. I love that in nursing.
Kathy:I did not have Nurses Christian Fellowship in my undergrad, but in my grad school, they had it, and then I fell in love with NCF.
Lara:That's wonderful. And where where was that for your grad school?
Kathy:So my master's was from Oral Roberts University, and they had NCF, and we studied the Bible. And I had been a Christian all my life, but not studied the Bible and looked at it as how it applied to nursing. So that was very helpful to me. Finished there, got married, and really didn't think much more about NCF until I was asked to serve at a conference as a Bible study leader and prayer minister. We used to do these huge conferences with other organizations.
Kathy:And it was called Jesus Christ, the hope of nursing.
Lara:Oh, I love that.
Kathy:Yeah. It was great. Went to this conference. There were, like, over 600 nurses there, and the Holy Spirit moved. And it was incredible.
Kathy:And then I realized that God was calling me to be involved with NCF. And, actually, when I was working on my doctorate, I started writing articles for the Journal of Christian Nursing because I could share my faith and my perspectives. And I wrote an article about being a servant leader. And they asked me to be the editor of JCN.
Lara:That must have been a great article.
Kathy:It must have been. Right? And so they asked me to be to be the editor, and I was terrified. But I was studying Numbers where the Israelites were going into the promised land, and God would provide for them.
Kathy:And the Lord promised me he would provide, and that was 20 years ago. And then, about 8 years ago, the Lord called again and asked me to become the National Director. Not something I planned on, But, interestingly, I was studying the same Scripture passages, Numbers 11 and 12. And at this point, the Israelites were afraid to go in the promised land, and they said, wW're grasshoppers. We're grasshoppers.
Kathy:They thought we're grasshoppers, and we are grasshoppers. And I was studying this, and the Lord impressed on me. NCF is not a grasshopper. And I thought, okay. Maybe we matter to God.
Kathy:We're important. And the next day, the vice president over our area called me and said, Would you consider being the National Director of Nurses Christian Fellowship? And I thought that was the message from the Lord. You are not a grasshopper. NCF is not a grasshopper. I'm calling you to lead this ministry. And so I've been the director now. This is my 8th year. It's a great ministry to work for.
Lara:Indeed. So tell us a little bit about what is your favorite part of NCF?
Kathy:That's really hard. I love the journal of Christian Nursing. I've been the editor working on it for 20 years. And to see how God brings the articles and the scholarship and and yet we can publish research, and then we can publish Bible studies and offer on the ground where the rubber meets the road encouragement for nurses. But then I love meeting with nursing students and going to nursing schools.
Lara:You just got back from a trip of doing that.
Lara:Is there a highlight or two from your trip to Virginia?
Kathy:Well, I was in Virginia and got to meet nursing students. We were planting, working on planting new NCF groups at several schools and just talking to the nursing students. And, you know, they're so stressed out and just being able to encourage them and offer them NCF. NCF can be a safe place where you can come and get support. You can pray together.
Kathy:We have these Bible studies. They're free. You can download them. We did a retreat for nursing students in Richmond, Virginia, and the students there were just so wanting so much to be the best nurses they could, to learn to make a difference in patients' lives. One student works at the student health center at her university, and she's involved in doing testing on people that come in.
Kathy:And so she does pregnancy tests for college girls, women, young women, and how much she wanted to help them and support them. And so she wants to be a midwife. And we just talked. I just talked with her, and her vision to make a difference in women's lives was so exciting. But then they're so stressed out, and to be able to sit there and listen to them and listen to their dreams and pray for them and talk to them.
Kathy:The theme of the retreat was Rejuvenate. And I love that. They loved the times of rest and getting in the Word and just hearing one another and seeing how God rejuvenates people throughout history and that they too could be rejuvenated and they can make it with Jesus. I loved that. I loved that.
Kathy:Students are so much fun. So it's hard for me to know what is it. You know? That's my favorite thing because it they're all just amazing. When you can go and talk to people and make a difference, and encourage them, and hear what God's doing in their lives. Or if they're discouraged, you can give them a word of encouragement. That's my favorite thing in the whole world.
Lara:And you are such an encourager, Kathy. I really appreciate that about you and about your leadership. Thanks for sharing some some specifics of what NCF looks like for student ministry, for the Journal of Christian Nursing. It sounds like you've worked in a number of contacts with a lot of different types of nurses, and and now you visit and speak with nurses and students across the country. When you look at the field of nursing as a whole, I'd imagine that there's some things that are pretty encouraging for you and maybe some things that you find, you know, concerning. So what are some of those encouragements and concerns, and how do you see Jesus speaking into those those spaces in nursing?
Kathy:Well, there were nurses at this retreat as well. But when I talk to nurses, talk to students, the nursing is a calling for them. It's a sacred calling, and we haven't lost that. And so they want to know that they're called to be there with people in their most difficult moments, in their teaching moments, having a baby, whatever. They know that's what they're called to do, and having been a nurse for over 40 years and seeing that's still what God's calling nurses to, just like he called me--what an encouragement.
Kathy:And to know that nurses want to serve, they want to do well. They want to alleviate pain. They want to help people with their health. What concerns me is the pressures, the nursing shortage. So there's staffing crises, and and nurses have to take care of too many patients, and can they give their best? During COVID 19, I just read a statistic put out by the National Council of State Boards of Nurses. Over 100,000 nurses left nursing practice during COVID, and they expect that about one-fifth of nurses are gonna leave in the coming years. And so how do we replace that? How you know? You know I've worked as a staff nurse in multiple clinical areas, critical care to psychiatry. I know that Jesus, in his Word and in my quiet time with him, he guided my practice. He led me. He helped me. He gave me wisdom. He was there with me every step of the way, and I know that he can do that for nurses. Working at the bedside, nurses and administration, I've been there.
Kathy:I think Jesus is saying, I'm with you. I'm with you to help you because that's what Yahweh means. God is with us to help us. And, you know, I'm trusting him, praying that he calls more nurses to be nurse educators so we can raise up the next generation of nursing students and just keep calling nurses and instilling in us that deep sense of his compassion. I think when we stay in the Word, you know, he gives us what we need.
Kathy:And the fellowship, NCF is so great about fellowship. So you can get together with other nurses and talk about, if this was hard, pray for me. Well, how did you get through this? So we can support and advise and encourage one another. And students do that really well in school. Like, oh, I'm dying on this test. How'd you do? And they can they can love each other. I think Jesus is speaking that I'm with you to help you, and just trust me. Hang on. I'm gonna get you through this next step.
Lara:Yeah. Absolutely. That's so good. I was talking with a student leader who graduated this past May, and she was sharing that she was not doing well in one of her classes and started questioning her faith, her calling into nursing. And her student group, NCF student group, was what got her through that season. I mean, they just really came around her, encouraged her, helped her study, helped her stay focused on Jesus even in the midst of that challenge. So, yeah, I've seen that play out.
Kathy:Yeah. Last semester, a parent called me. His student was failing. He said, Is there anything NCF can do to help? Turns out that school had an NCF group. I sent the student to the faculty adviser who was able to intervene and help her. And I thought, who knew NCF could help students who are struggling like that? So, yes, Jesus uses this ministry.
Lara:Absolutely. Absolutely. So our vision in NCF is to see nurses and students know and follow Jesus in nursing. Could you unpack that a little bit for us? What does that look like, and what are some of the needs that NCF meets? We've started talking about some of them, but any others that you'd like to share?
Kathy:Well, I do know that when people meet Jesus, their life is transformed and that we can care for others because Jesus cares for us. And so our vision to see students, to see nurses know and follow Jesus. So how do we share the good news? How do we get it out there? It's both the meeting Jesus, the knowing Jesus, and the following Jesus. And so we strongly believe we have a mission to establish, support, promote these biblically grounded communities where students or nurses come together, and they study God's Word, and they see how it applies to their faith and their nursing practice.
Kathy:Just like when God said to me, you're not a grasshopper. NCF is not a grasshopper. Well, if I hadn't been studying the book of Numbers, I wouldn't have heard that. And that changed my life and my perspective and gave me the confidence to become the director of NCF. At the retreat I was at, we looked at Ezekiel 37 and the dry bones and how that represented Israel, and they were kind of in Babylonian captivity. And when God called the dry bones to come to life, just the steps of faithfulness that Ezekiel took. And I could see it popping into these students' heads. I was asking them questions about how many bones in the body and what does bone marrow do. And we sort of made it anatomy and physiology lesson. But it did just it hit them that this is the God who restores us to life.
Kathy:And so these dead dry bones became a living army, and so Jesus can take us. He can take his Word, and where we have dry bones, he can heal that. He can fix it. And so these biblically grounded communities where we have fellowship and we see his Word and what God does in and through his people over time is amazing. And then we want people to be able to effectively share that faith in Jesus Christ, what they know and who they know and why it matters and how it makes a difference in their life.
Kathy:So the biblically grounded communities, effective faith sharing. And then we wanna provide resources that help nurses give good care but help care for nurses. And so we want to provide really good solid Bible studies. So we just recently produced a Bible study called Nursing with Strength that Endures, and it's a 4-part Bible study. And it's based on Colossians 111 where Paul was talking to the Colossian church about you know, it isn't strength that's where you grit your teeth. It's the glory strength that God gives. This is from the message he prayed for the Colossians. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul, not the grim strength of gritting your teeth, but the glory strength that God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy. So we built out a whole Bible study based on what is this endurance. What is this glory strength that God gives? And how does it spill over into joy? So we try to produce those kinds of resources that will help nurses connect with Jesus and give them insight into how Jesus wants to help them.
Lara:That's great. And I love our Bible study resources. Students have told me over and over again how much they love and appreciate them. And I love even the example that you shared with the dry bones, kinda turning it into an anatomy lesson. It's just so fun to connect Scripture with what nurses are thinking about and doing.
Lara:And it's just such a unique space because as someone who doesn't have a nursing background, I've never thought about connecting that passage with an anatomy lesson, but you can see it from a different angle in a nursing community. It's very unique and very special. I think, these NCF spaces. So nurses are busy people. Nursing students are busy people. Many nurses kind of work odd hours or have work on weekends, add in family, other responsibilities. It can be really hard to establish regular rhythms around prayer and Bible reading.
Lara:Could you tell us a little bit more about your philosophy around staying spiritually grounded in Christ as a busy nurse?
Kathy:I can't recommend more highly that we have to be in the Word every day. You know, I think about we know we have to eat every day. We know we have to sleep every day. I've been exercising pretty much since I went to Oral Roberts because we had to do aerobics points in order to stay in the school and stay physically fit.
Kathy:And I just started exercising, and I realized how much better I felt. And so I know that's something I have to do, and I build it into my life. And that's the same thing with God's Word and spirituality. I have to have a daily quiet time. And, for me, I have apps on my phone. I have the Bible on my phone in about 10 different translations, I think. I love reading the Bible in different translations because it gives different nuances and insights in the passage. There are apps you can download for Bible studies. One's called Word Go, and I love it. And it's just chunkable, easy, you know, get in there, do it, and do your Bible study.
Kathy:And I have my phone with me all the time, and it's just a way to make time for God for me. I do it first thing in the morning, get up, get my coffee, sit there with God, and I always say, Jesus, what do you wanna say to me today? And I just start working on my Bible study. I think if we aren't grounded in some kind of daily spiritual practice, it's gonna be really hard to keep giving out and giving out and giving out. And when, you know, that new admission comes right when you're getting off shift or a code happens or a patient dies or someone gets upset and they're yelling at you, you know, where are you gonna be grounded? How are you gonna have support to deal with that, to live with that? And if you've been with Jesus, you know, and during the day and through the day, then you're gonna have the ability to take a deep breath and, say, Jesus, okay. Help me now and be with me, and you'll have more wisdom about what to do.
Lara:That's so well said. And I sometimes give in to that instant gratification mindset where I want to feel great. Like, oh, I read the Scripture in the morning, and then I just feel great all day. And that's not always that's not always quite what happens. Sometimes I read it. I'm like, oh, that was kind of boring today or, oh, that was, you know, good. We'll see. And then it's crazy to me. Oh, maybe a few days later or a week later, someone will talk to me about a question related to that same Scripture that I had read a few days before.
Lara:So it's just amazing that investing in that consistent time in the Word, even when it doesn't feel like it's, you know, making a difference in the moment, sometimes pays off in the long run, or it just shows up in surprising ways where God brings that back around or, you know, speaks through it in the situations that come up in the workplace or, you know, in life.
Kathy:Indeed. And I think Jesus said, you know, the Holy Spirit would come and teach us all things and make known to us Jesus himself and God the father. And so ask the Holy Spirit, what do you wanna show me today? What do you want to do? And someday, she'll do your Bible study.
Kathy:And like you said, it's like, okay. That was nice. I did it. And other days, you know, something will pop out of it and just, oh, wow. And, then you're in a situation where you can actually draw on that and use that. It's pretty cool.
Lara:Yes. Those moments are amazing too where you're just like, I'm sure I've read this part of the Bible before, but it feels brand new to me today.
Kathy:It does. Indeed. It does.
Lara:Well, I know spiritually caring for patients is a big part of your practice. Would you share a couple of stories about that with us?
Kathy:So my last area of clinical practice was in, behavioral health and psychiatry, and I would always pray every and I need to pray this now, especially as I enter meetings and meet with people because I'm not at the bedside. Although I love bedside nursing. I would always pray, God, give me the patience you want me to have today. What is it you want me to do? And, I can remember so many situations. I worked part time because I was still working for NCF. And they would give me the most difficult patients partly because I had a higher degree, and they said, Well, you've got the PhD. You deal with this patient. For me to test, I was there, and it would give other people a break. And so I would take the tough patients. And, I remember a young man who was refusing to eat, and he kept getting on the floor and rocking on the floor, and nobody knew what to do with him.
Kathy:And he wouldn't drink, so I went in the room and I asked him if he was okay and what was going on. I had reviewed his chart, and he was Muslim. And I said, Are you praying, you know, to God? And yes. And then I asked him about getting him something to eat.
Kathy:No. No. No. And I said, Do you have to eat halal? He said, yes.
Kathy:Yes. And he was terrified that everything we're feeding him would go against his beliefs. And so I decided, like a good nurse, I would figure out what he needed to eat, and I would get it for him. Well, this is a freestanding psych hospital, and they don't wanna do anything extra. And I was gonna go with him down to the cafeteria, and the charge nurse said, we don't have time for that. You can't do that. And so I switched with somebody so I could go with him in that particular night. There was absolutely nothing he could eat. Like they had green beans, but it had bacon in it. And, you know, he was terrified to eat anything.
Kathy:And so finally, I called the physician, and I said, Can I get a physician's order, a doctor's order for this guy to be able to eat halal? And I was sad I had to do that. Nurses should be able to order that. But we got a dietitian over, and we were able to guarantee him. And I'll never forget, late that night, the man had opened up to me. He was talking to me about his family, about his fears. He had bipolar disorder and just started asking me his questions and relationships. And then he said to me because I had made a way for him to do what he needed to do to eat, to get better. And he looked at me and he said, Are you a follower of Jesus? And I said I said, Yes, I am. And he said to me, I think your Jesus sent you to me today. And I thought, wow. What better way to bring the Gospel to people than for them to realize that Jesus sent you to them? I mean, I could tell you a million stories like that of just, you know, being in the right place at the right time and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and realizing I needed to help this man to support his faith tradition. So he had an encounter with Jesus because I was there.
Lara:Wow. And that's so interesting to me that you were supporting him in his Muslim faith in a way. You were honoring his beliefs where he was at spiritually, you know, his desire to eat halal, his desire to pray in the way that he prays. And through supporting that, that a path for you to share, you know, to share the Gospel and the love of Christ, you through that situation. That's so beautiful. I like that.
Kathy:Nurses can do that in so many ways with people who have no faith, lost faith, used you know, are faithful, different religions, because we we need to love them like God loves them.
Lara:Yes. You saw you saw him as a whole person.
Kathy:Yeah. Yeah.
Lara:Well, if you've got other stories, would would you tell us one more?
Kathy:I had a patient who was in for drug and alcohol. Probably multiple times he had come in to be detoxed, and he had refused to come out of his room. So on a psych unit, people come out. They don't stay in their bed because they're physically able to, and so there's kind of this milieu on the unit. And he refused to come out of his room, and his room was dark.
Kathy:And, at the time, he didn't have a roommate. And so the nurses were very angry with him, and I came on late. And they said, you need to take this guy and get him to do something. And so I went to his room. I took the vital signs, you know, blood pressure cuff and the thermometer and all that.
Kathy:I went down to his room, and, his room was dark. And I asked him if I could check his blood pressure, and I said, Are you okay? And, he said, What the hell do you think? And I said, Well, I know it's pretty hard. Is there something I can do for you? And took his vital signs, and I asked if he'd like some Jell O or some juice or something like that. And, he asked me, why did you come to me? Everyone else said I had to go out. And I said, well, I just want to get to know you and meet you and, you know, see if there is something I could do. And through the course of the evening, he talked to me about how he was so hopeless, and there was nothing that would ever change.
Kathy:And I said, wWll, what have you done in the past for help? Or I asked him, do you have a faith background? And because we had started this nurse patient relationship and I had extended kind of the olive branch of caring, you know, like, okay. I'm gonna help you. He had nausea, so I gave him a shot of Phenergan.
Kathy:And and then he said to me, God doesn't care about me. And he used some expletives with that. And I said you know, I asked him why he thought that. And you need to understand, these are short interactions over a period of hours. You know? So, like, I spent hours in this thing. I think nurses can give spiritual care if we just integrate it into what we're doing moment by moment. And he said, well, God doesn't give a hoot about me. And I asked him how he thought that, and then I prayed, and I just thought the man had told me he'd gone to church as a kid. He he brought up God.
Kathy:And so I said, you know, there's actually people in the Bible that did worse things than you've done, and God loved them. And he said, What? And so I just really quickly told him the story of David and Bathsheba, how David murdered Uriah. Like, he had he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then he murdered her husband, and then he married her. And I said, that's pretty crazy.
Kathy:And it kind of opened his eyes, and then I said, and then there was this lady in the New Testament that Jesus went to see her, and she'd had five husbands. And the man she's living with now is not her husband, and yet that's the story The woman at the well in John 4. And I said, Jesus revealed that he was the messiah to her. First person, he told that in his journey to the cross. The Samaritan woman, Samaritans are outcasts, rejects.
Kathy:And he said, gosh. You've been married five times, and she was living with the guy. And he just thought for a moment, and I said, is it possible that God forgives all of us? And so then he said he wanted to know if he could read those stories for himself because, I don't know if he didn't believe me or what, but I think he remembered. I said , you know, David and Goliath, everybody's heard the story of David and Goliath.
Kathy:And so I said, that was the same David. He committed adultery and killed this guy. So we had a chapel, and we kept Bibles in the chapel. And so I went and got in the Bible, and I bookmarked the places in the Bible and took it to him.
Kathy:And it was really late, at night. And then I just said, is it okay if I pray for you? I don't have to pray right now, but I can just keep you in my prayers. And and he said, well, pray now. I wanna hear what you have to say.
Kathy:And I just said I said, Jesus, do you know? I said his name, and I said, he needs you to be his friend. He needs you to support him. Will you help him, Jesus? Because he's in an impossible situation.
Kathy:And I left, and I didn't work for long. He was gone when I came back. But I thought about again, I'm not saying break the rules or you know? But sometimes if we just can can extend grace to our patients and help them and show them kindness, and then they open up. And here was a man where I had an opportunity. He felt so much guilt and so much sin and just how cool it was to say, God forgives really big sins and, you know, to just show him that he'd never occurred to him that God might want to care for him and love him and help him because he was a drunk. And so that was really fun. Really fun. I've been with people when they died when I worked in ICU, I was able to be with them and pray for them as they took their last breath and asked asked them to be with them as they went to heaven or went left this earth. I mean, it's just so sacred. Really cool moments.
Lara:Yeah. Thank you for sharing a couple of those stories. And what stands out to me is, partly just that you showed up. I loved what you said about meeting, especially that second man, just meeting him where he's at. Well, the first one too. I mean, both of them. You met them where they were at. Yeah. I think sometimes we make this evangelism out to be this huge, really hard thing that only pastors can do or theologians or something when really it's just these same skills that nurses are already good at and already equipped to do. Yes.
Lara:Being present, caring, having compassion, listening, active listening, asking questions. So, I love that you're able to integrate that. And like you said, it's quick conversations doing what you're already doing to care for his physical health. Let's say there's nurses who are hearing these stories that you're sharing, and they want to integrate that more into their practice of caring for patients. Any advice that you have for those folks?
Kathy:I think having that quiet time with Jesus where you are familiar with him and and you're familiar with his wWrd, and so, you know, hearing and being able to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and being able to be aware and praying that God gives you the interactions that he has planned for you, the students that you meet with that day, the patients that you will care for that day, the colleagues that you'll interact with that day, and just asking God, you know, what is it you would have me do? You know? And I struggle now when I have so much to do. Like, I wanna take care of me and my work and myself, and I'm just reminded and talking to you that I need to keep my eyes on Jesus and what he wants me to do. I mean, just think about if I'd been, you know, busy nurse and I had to get to all the other patients and I didn't wanna take time and that guy wants the food.
Kathy:He's gotta come out of his room. I mean, just think about what if I was more interested in getting my job done, my task myself. Like, you know, Jesus said the new commandment I give you in John 14, to love one another as I have loved you. Well, they had known all their lives. First commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second was love your neighbor as yourself. So we'd always been taught by God for centuries, thousands of years, love your neighbor as yourself. But it was a new command to love like Jesus loved. And so just reminding ourselves, being in that relationship with the Jesus who loves us like he can, And then out of that, can we love like Jesus loves? And just be willing to let him give us that different perspective and make us stop and make us wait and make us take breath and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Lara:Yes. That's the other thing that stood out to me about your stories is you were just prepared with Scripture because it was it was part of who you are. It was part of, you know, what you had already taken in. So you're ready with those Scripture stories that spoke to these people's needs and their desire for for truth, for love. You were ready with Scripture that pointed them towards Christ's love for them. Well, thank you for these stories, Kathy. Any last pieces of advice you'd like to share with nurses, nursing students, or nurse educators?
Kathy:You know, I I love nursing. I never planned on being a nurse. When I was a little girl, I was terrified of needles. If somebody threw up, I threw up, you know, hated blood. But God made the connection for me that nurses have the most intimate, sacred moments with people, and we can make a difference.
Kathy:And what an amazing high calling it is to be a nurse, I'm like, wow. And to just never, ever forget that that we walk on sacred holy ground, and we are with people, and God uses us. And I have seen working as a staff nurse in numerous places, working in nursing administration, being the NCF director, being the journal editor these God moments where God was there. He needed me to be there, and he wanted to do something. And he he made a difference. It made a difference in someone's life. And I think how many people get to do that in their work? You know, I think God uses all of us and all the work we're called to, but nursing is such a sacred, holy, amazing opportunity, and I absolutely love it. I'd encourage you, just don't ever forget that.
Lara:Any ways that listeners can be praying for you in this season?
Kathy:You know, always pray that I need to be in right relationship with God. And I don't you know, obviously, I'm safe, but, like, am I spending time with him? Are there attitudes, areas of my life, where I've been frustrated and I haven't let that go? Or I need to hear his voice. You know? I think what a tragedy it would be if I wasn't hearing the Word for NCF and for this work. And so just continuing to hear from him and to stay in that pure heart relationship with him. And you can always pray for my family. I think many of the listeners, if they know me, know that my husband had a severe traumatic brain injury. And so our lives changed radically, and I have full responsibility for him, for our home, for our finances. And it's it's quite a journey. It creates extra work, but just trying to learn what does it mean to love him and to care for him and to make sure he's safe and encourage him? And trying to be a good wife and be a good leader just so I can be faithful.
Lara:Well, thank you for sharing that. I know our listeners appreciate you, appreciate your leadership and directing of NCF, and we're happy to to pray with and for you for those things. So thank you so much for being on today, and thanks for sharing all of your wisdom and stories. Appreciate you so much, Kathy.
Kathy:Thanks, Laura.
Lara:Over and over again, Kathy emphasized how essential it is to consistently be in God's Word. She was ready for the invitation to become our NCF director because God had already been speaking to her ahead of time through Scripture. She was ready to summarize Bible stories to patients who needed encouragement. And she shared that when we stay in the Word and listen to the Holy Spirit, God gives us what we need and empowers us to love others like Jesus does. So what about you?
Lara:What do your rhythms look like of being in the Word? If you don't have any consistent habit yet, just start small and simple. Start with one verse every morning before you look at your phone. It's not about checking it off your to do list. It's more a matter of receiving the gift and grace that God gives us through his Word. It's a lifeline to cling to a source of hope and a source of encouragement. Like Kathy shared, Jesus is with you to help you.
Lara:Hey. Thanks for joining us for another inspiring episode of Following Jesus in Nursing. We hope you've been encouraged and equipped in integrating your faith with your nursing practice.
Lara:Be sure to check out our show notes for info about connecting with Nurses Christian Fellowship as well as links and resources mentioned in today's episode. And remember, as you go about your work as a nurse, you are not alone. Jesus is right there with you, guiding your steps and using you to bring healing to those in need. Thanks for listening to Following Jesus in Nursing, and may your faith continue to be a light in the world of healthcare.