EMT work on Indian Reservation

Brrrrinng, brrrrinng, brrrrinng. The incessant ringing of the phone jarred me out of my sleep. Three in the morning is not my favorite time for the phone to ring, but that is normal here at work. Not that I like it. Dispatch tells us there is an assault victim at a house on Hwy 18 East that needs to be checked out. Assault. I don’t like the sound of that. But it’s quite common here on the reservation. So far most of the time the victims are just a little bruised, but you never know. So off we go, with lights and sirens going strong. We find the right driveway, just a dirt trail that reminds of roads in Papua New Guinea. Partway up the drive, it branches into three trails. We take the middle one. We arrive at a house, but it is completely dark inside. My partner goes to the door only to find out that we are at the wrong house. So now where to? We don’t see any other houses anywhere nearby. We call dispatch again and they tell us that there is a light blinking to the west of where we are. That is where we need to go. I can barely see the light they are referring to, but it is there. We go back out to where the road branched. This time we take the branch to the left.
But now we are really confused. There really isn’t a house out in these parts. We pass a shack, but it’s completely dark. We continue down the road, but a fence not too much farther on blocks it off. So the shack must be it. It doesn’t look like much. It’s pretty small, maybe 15’ by 8’. There is a semblance of windows, but no glass; just old rags covering the holes. Again my partner goes up to the door and this time, we are in the right place. I join my partner and enter the hovel. There is a single bed on the far end of the shack that barely fits width wise. A propane bottle in the corner feeds the little one burner stove used for cooking. The inside of the shack is just as cold as outside, which in mid-March is none to warm in South Dakota. A man is lying on the bed, wrapped in blankets. He says he got beat up a bit. We check him over and find only minor bruising. He doesn’t want to go in to the hospital. His wife wants him to, but we can’t force him. So we ask him to sign a refusal of services form, and then we leave. I wonder how long it will be before we are again called out to this residence.
Many of the people we transport are well known by the ambulance staff. We transport them almost every week. Mostly their complaints are for minor issues, or ones that completely made up. They just want attention, and this is the best way to get it. So many are living with no happiness or joy. They just subsist from day to day. They don’t know any different. They don’t know that life could be different. I only hope and pray that in the short time that I spend with them in the back of the ambulance, they will see something different. I pray that God will give me opportunities to tell of His love for these people.

snowboarding :) what fun!

Lots of people say that snowboarding is more fun than skiing, so today I decided to give it a try. I have always been a skier, and I'm pretty good at it. Good enough not to fall much at least. And I usually make it down the hill in pretty good time. I don't like moguls, but they are doable. Snowboarding on the other hand, has made me pretty sore. I immagine tomorrow my rear and my knee caps are going to be quite colorful :) I definitely took my share of the spills. I haven't fallen that much in all my time skiing put together!!! But wow, it sure was a blast!!! Yeah, the bunny hill got a bit boring, but there was a solution to that. Don't do the bunny hill! Do a bigger one! Get on the chair lift, never mind that you don't really know how you are going to get off without making a scene, and then have some fun falling! But I must say, towards the end of the day, I was starting to catch the idea and have some fun rides down the mountain, WITHOUT falling. And getting off the ski lift? No problem. Just stand up and slide.

Anyhow, that was the fun of the day. Of course, there is always that nagging thought that I should have been studying, but . . . I'm not sorry!

God's Hand

Wow, so it has been awhile since I updated everyone as to what has been going on in my life. I do finally have a job and I have now done two 48 hour shifts, with a combined total of 16 calls and over 1000 miles of riding in the ambulance!! Such an adventure! I was really nervous at first, especially when the first call came in for chest pain. My partner was telling me that if it was a real heart attack, I could be needing to do CPR before reaching the hospital 40 miles away. But it turned out to be someone faking the chest pain with good vitals and none of the body signs of heart attack. Whew! But now I'm getting more confident and learning to ask the right questions and make the right calls. Of course, so far nothing has been very emergent.

It was so amazing to me too, how God worked it out for me to work on the reservation. At first, I thought I would be working for a man named Marvis in the town of Wanblee (110 miles from where I live) where one of the ambulances is stationed. But then he said that Lori, from Kyle (80 miles away), was supposed to hire me on to her ambulance crew stationed there. But she never contacted me. I kept bugging the ambulance service, and finally they passed my application to Dennis, stationed in Lone Man (only 65 miles away), and he was the one who finally hired me on to his crew. I found out this last Thursday that Marvis, who was the originally going to hire me, had been arrested for not paying fines from several years back, and was going to court for trying to sexually assault one of his employees. Praise God I didn't end up working for him! Where I'm at I can trust the men I work with. Neither of them smoke or drink, and one is an ex-cop. So I count my blessings.

AND!!! to make life even more exciting!!!! God has opened the door for me to take the massage therapy course here at Black Hills as a self-study course so I can continue working and volunteering. I just have to do all the book work in my *free* time. So within six months I will be able to sit for my national exam to become a certified massage therapist. I'm soooo excited to see God leading! Its amazing what happens when we seek His kingdom first. Everything else just falls into place :)

So thats whats going on with me :) I would love to hear from you how God is leading in your life as well. If you like adventure, let God take control of your life, 'cause you never know where He will lead!

God bless you all!
Corrie

I FINALLY have a job!

Wow, it took awhile, but I finally have a job down on the ambulance service in Pine Ridge. In fact, my first shift is tonight. I'm kinda nervous, but I'm sure that my memory won't fail me. I will head down there around 11:00pm so that I can get there when my shift starts at midnight. Makes me sleepy just thinking about staying up that late! But I know that God will sustain me. Thankfully, we won't be busy all the time, so I will be able to get some sleep and time for study in as well.

The base where I will be staying for my shift is in the town of Lone Pine, which is just 5 min. north of Oglala (on the reservation). It is a little single-wide mobile home with two bedrooms/two bath. Its actually quite a nice setup, since there are only two people there for each shift. There are beds for us to sleep on, TV to watch (if we want), a table to study at, and a computer we can use (but no internet :()

It makes me so happy to see God working in my life and providing for my needs. He gave me a job that will get me out of my comfort zone, and its only 65 miles away instead of 110 (the station they originally wanted me at was this far away). So starting tonight I will be getting experience in responding to and caring for emergencies and their victims.

New Opportunities

"Hi Corrie, this is Karen. I just wanted to let you know that my mom passed away this afternoon so we no longer will need you to come take care of her in the afternoons." And just like that, I'm jobless again. Now what? I just turned down an amazing firefighting opportunity because of Sabbath issues, and now I don't have the one job that was keeping me going financially. Did I do the right thing? Is God really that particular about the Sabbath? Fighting fires is something that has to be done, no matter the day of the week right? I would be saving land, houses, and very possibly lives. Aren't those things that could be done on Sabbath? But then, also, I would be expected to help in non-emergency situations to clean up after the fire. There would also be scouting for potential fires. Knowing myself, the strain of working long hours and not getting enough sleep would cut down my time spent with God and would cause more problems than it was worth. So I knew the decision to decline that job was sound. But now to start jobhunting.
That all happened Tuesday night. Well, God's timing is impeccable. Wednesday morning at 11:45, while I was up at the Wellness Center helping out in the office, I got a phone call. It was one of the crew supervisors for the Oglala Sioux Tribes Ambulance Service. I had applied with them over a month ago to work as an EMT and hadn't heard anything from them. But they called with a job offer and said that I could probably get the shift I want. Its a 48 hour shift from midnight Tuesday to midnight Thursday every week. This will allow me to still help out at the Black Hills Health and Education Center, be a part of the Hayward Volunteer Fire Dept., and have weekends completely free. God knew exactly what He was doing!!!
Don't we serve an amazing God! And not only did He provide work for me, but He has also provided an amazing business opportunity online. A company that my Dad has been with for the last 3 years is going public sometime this year with internet technology that allows them to offer a MOBILE internet connection that is 7x's faster than DSL, PLUS Voice Over Internet Phone service that can be used anywhere anytime with unlimited calling and blanket coverage of the entire continent! All for only $30/month! Now thats unbeatable! So I'm just gonna let people know about it, 'cause it coming out soon. If you want more info, check out the Wireless Internet link on my sidebar.
So anyhew, thats whats going on in my life at the present. It is such an adventure, when God's ways are followed. He knows exactly what we need and what we want. And as long as we stay connected with Him, He will direct us in such a way as to fulfill all of our hearts desires.
God bless you all!
Corrie

God is Good

It struck me today while I was reading Early Writtings how far I still have to go to reach God's ideal for my life. She was saying that in these times in which we live, all of our free time should be spent studying the Word of God, becuase only by it are we going to be able to stand when the trials come. This really steps on my toes, because I have a hard time knowing how to really dig deep in the Bible. I can read it, and I see the many precious promises. But how do you dive in deep? She was also saying that one of the major problems in our time is that many of God's people neglect prayer, especially "secret prayer". That is something else that really steps on my toes. Then she was recounting how in one of her dreams, she saw Jesus but He was frowning upon her and was not pleased. What if He is frowning at me? I am so far below the ideal, and so are most of us, that I wonder who will be able to stand? How do you obtain the clean hands and the pure heart that David talks about in Psalms 24 as being the requirements for ascending the hill of the Lord (entering into His sanctuary)? As I was pondering these thoughts and feeling so overwhelmed by my own unworthiness, it was as if God placed a thought in my heart that brought me hope and peace. "Let me do the work! Just give me permission to change you! You don't have to do anything except surrender. I will finish the work that I have begun in you. I promise!" What an amazing God we serve!!!! Not only does He have a desire to reconcile us back to Himself, but He is willing and able to do whatever it takes to get us there. He will do the work! He has already made the sacrifice and paid the price. We just have to accept it and let Him take over our lives. I don't know about you, but I want Jesus to smile when He looks at me. And when He comes, I want to be one of the faithful. But now is the time to prepare to meet Him. Now is the time to surrender. Now is the time to allow Him to make intercession for me in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. It is past time for all of this. I'm convinced that Christ is coming soon. There is no time for focusing on what to eat, drink, and wear. God will take care of all that. Now is the time for heart searching and prayer.

Anyhow, these are just musings that have been running around in my brain all morning. I just needed to put them in words. I only pray that you will also hear God's Spirit talking to your heart and leading you in His path.

Corrie

And its snowing again!!!

Wow, the Black Hills are beautifull in winter. I can't compare the hills here with the mountains we had in Oregon and Washington, but they sure do beat the flat of Nebraska!!!!! Its snowing again this morning. We have been having beautiful 40 degree days with lots of sunshine, but I guess that is over for a little while. The nice thing around here though is that the cold doesn't just go on and on. It comes and goes, so the snow never really builds up.

Life here is beautiful also. I am having a ton of fun working at the center in the mornings and then taking care of an elderly lady in the afternoons. Evenings are free time for study, reading, crafts, or whatever else I find to do. Tuesday evenings I get to go to the local volunteer fire department and hang out with a bunch of fun people. We play with our equipment or listen and learn from those wish to talk. Fact is, I don't have firefighter training, but they still gave me all the needed equipment and a pager so that when a call comes, I respond with the rest of them. So I will be getting on the job training even before taking classes and getting certified.

Last week Thursday (Jan. 31) I got to go to a rodeo!!!! It was an absolute blast!!! There were so many beautiful horses to see and of course, lots of guys getting thrown around like rag dolls. In the middle of the program there was a special show from a charro, or Mexican cowboy. His horse was an amazing silver white with a long mane and tail. The music started playing, and the horse came out dancing! He danced and pranced for a while before doing several bows to the audience. The rider then showed his skill with the rope by twirling the lariat all over and around both himself and the horse. It was amazing.

I have to say though, Sabbath is my favorite day of the week. Its the one day that people can be convinced to go for a hike out in the hills. This last Sabbath we hiked down into a canyon where there was a beautiful waterfall that had completely frozen over. The falls itself was also frozen. We played out on the ice for a while, than headed upstream on the frozen water for a couple of miles. It was just so amazing being out in nature with friends. After climbing out of the canyon, we hiked the ridge back to where the cars were waiting. I love going on this type of hike, because we were not following any trail. We could just go where we wanted to explore.

And that pretty much brings you up to date on my life just now. God is blessing and I know that I am where He wants me for now.

God bless!

Corrie