Prep Time

You know how sometimes I say that a post is one I've been thinking about writing for a while? Well, tonight's is one of those ... I've thought about the subject matter off and on for a long time, but over the last couple of weeks, I've had a hard time not thinking about it. And generally, when something gets stuck in my brain ... stuck so deeply and for so long ... it usually means there's a lesson ... a really big lesson that I'm supposed to learn. I'm going to reveal a secret about my writing style, other than the fact that I adore ellipses. It's rare that I work on posts much before the night I post them. I may be thinking about the post for a very long time, but I can count on one hand the number of posts I wrote several days or weeks in advance. Easier to Die was one of those rare posts ... I wrote that post a few months before I finally garnered the courage to actually post it. Another was Not One More Mile, the collaborative post that marked the one-year anniversary of my conference room confession. Most of the time, however, I write from the daily happenings of my life ... I come home from work, walk Ollie and play with Julie, and then I sit on my couch and write my post for the day. Except, of course, for the posts like tonight ... posts that stem from thoughts that have been cooking in my heart and mind for a while until the day comes when I know I'm supposed to put those thoughts into words and share them in my post.

Several years ago, our company won the account of a preoperative skin prep product ... a broad-spectrum antiseptic that kills bacteria on the skin and can be used in a wide range of minor and major medical procedures. Easy for me to say, eh? Here's the definition for all of us non-medical folks ... it's stuff that the doctors and nurses paint on your skin to kill all the germs before they stick you with a needle or slice you with a scalpel. I had little to no previous experience in medical terminology editing, and the first time I saw the long list of scientific references and was instructed as to the strict rules of formatting for said references, I knew that I was in way over my head. I remember thinking that I would never, ever be able to learn all of the information I needed to know in order to be accurate in my editing. It took me several months and lots of extra hours of studying at home, but eventually, I not only learned the terminology and formatting, I discovered that I actually enjoyed the technical nature of my editing work for our client. I learned something else during that time as well ... I'm pretty good at that particular type of editing. But back to the product and my point for tonight's post.

I'll spare you a lengthy recounting of just how much bacteria resides on the first five layers of the skin or of just how dangerous that bacteria can be if it gets inside of your body and into your blood. Just think zombies and that will give you a pretty close mental picture as to the damage that can be done. Our client's preoperative skin prep product kills all of those potentially harmful zombie germs and prevents a possible infection from occurring during surgery. Want to know how? Of course you do. The product uses a scrub and paint method to distribute the antiseptic ... the nurse or doctor first scrubs the skin and then paints it with the prep solution, killing the bacteria in the process. The antiseptic then remains active for 48 hours, killing any renegade zombie germs that may try to invade the patient's body. I know you're wondering if there's a point to me giving you a crash course on preop skin prep. Come on ... you know there's a point ... there's always a point. I had no idea how important a preoperative skin prep product is because I knew nothing about the process that has to take place before a surgical procedure can be performed. The skin has to be scrubbed ... made clean ... and then covered with an antiseptic that will continue to protect the wound and enable it to heal. As important as the surgery itself is, the prepping process is equally important in ensuring that the patient is able to fully recover. I don't think a lot of people want to have surgery just for the heck of having surgery ... I'm willing to bet that most surgeries are the result of illness or pain, and sometimes that illness or pain has been there for a long, long, long time.

Over the last couple of years, I've had some pretty low and dark times and during those times, I've often prayed that God would take the pain away and that He would make my aching soul and troubled mind just ... well ... that He would just make it stop, that He would make the sadness end. I think I've been looking at it all wrong, friends ... I think it's during those low, dark, aching, troubled, painful, lonely times that God is prepping me ... scrubbing me clean ... covering me with the protection of His mercy and grace ... opening me up to the truth of His unconditional love for me. I think He's placed people in my life to help me get ready for the work He is asking me to do ... people to walk with me through the valleys and shine His light before me when I can't see the road I'm called to walk upon ... people to believe in me because they believe in Him.

I think just maybe He's scrubbing me ... painting me ... prepping me. I think just maybe He is indeed, friends ... I think just maybe He is.