DNGILB: Trust me, I'm a doctor.

So as a response to feeling sad last Christmas, in part for receiving a bunch of "stuff" I didn't need or want, when other less fortunate go without, I thought I should give gifts to the homeless. Before Christmastime, Vanessa and I bought some Arby's gift cards and went to downtown Tulsa to hand them out to people who looked homeless. We hit up three or four people. Introduced ourselves, explained our purpose being Christ's love and granted them the gift card. All were appreciative, one guy even recited all of the beatitudes by memory! We prayed with most of the people. It was good. So when Christmas came around we had six gift bags full of stuff... stalking cap, wool socks, blanket, snacks and treats. One poor fellow hit us up prior to Christmas day, but he seemed like a good person to share God's love with. He seemed very appreciative, I prayed with him and gave him a hug. He said he wanted to get food for his pregnant wife... they had just relocat

So, dear readers... or more likely, "reader" in the singular, Last Christmas I wrote a blog about "why I feel sad at Christmas"... (please reference it if this is news to you). So, this Christmas... "How'd things go?" you ask. Well, it seems that this year I had more to be sad about, but ended up feeling "less sad" than the year previous. What did I have more to be sad about? There were family relational strains, father in the hospital, my wife having health problems even on Christmas eve. I had plenty to be sad about. But there was less gift exchanging to require "faking a smile". There was a little less gluttony. I gave presents to the homeless (this topic needs a blog of its own). There were less expectations, less responsibility... more expectancy, more freedom, more closeness with my wife. Also, we experienced an oasis of acceptance, less expectations, true love and warmth... all during a visit with a family to which

There are times when you choose to believe something that would normally be considered absolutely irrational. It doesn't mean that it is actually irrational, but it surely is not rational. Perhaps there is suprarationality : reason beyond the normal definitions of fact or data-based logic; something that only makes sense if you can see a bigger picture of reality. Maybe that is where faith fits in. -William P. Young (from "the Shack")

Though a hospitalist doesn't do surgery... sometimes surgery won't happen until we call for it. That's where couch medicine comes in! From the comfort of your own home, you can peruse approximately 1000 details about your patient in near real-time. Then, telemedicine style, you can be the coach at the sidelines calling the plays! Unfortunately surgeons are not easily swayed. So you have to be persuasive... sometimes getting other opinions to make your case. In any case, last night a patient I had would have died had I not spent nearly 30 minutes on the phone for a total of 8 calls with a nurse and 4 physicians in order to get my patient in the OR, under the knife of a highly skilled surgeon who threw the touchdown pass for the last second victory over a necrotic bowel!!!! Another life saved!! David

Do you ever stop and try to imagine what Jesus must think about what America has done to Christmas??!! Do you think he is pleased with our consumeristic materialism. With people being stressed out trying to prepare huge meals, fight holiday shopping, feeling the disappointment with returned gifts, or pigging out on foods we very well know is advancing our risk of stroke or heart attack?! ALL THE WHILE IGNORING PEOPLE WHO STRUGGLE JUST TO SURVIVE!!! Do something different. Don't blow hundreds or thousands of dollars entertaining yourselves! Give to those less fortunate, and tell them that Jesus loves them!!! The pastor at our church asked all 6 of his kids if they want Christmas presents or would they rather give more money to those who don't have much. His kids, youngest 4, unanimously voted to have NO PRESENTS, instead giving to the poor!!! What are you teaching your kids? To be Christ-like??? or to be like the rest of the world? Don't jump off the cliff just because t

Somehow, men can always find a way to effectively be a buffoon. I was a buffoon. My wife wanted to make me dinner, not just to have food to eat, but to put a lot of thought and effort into it as a form of love. But I couldn't recognize it. I just saw it as food to eat. So, when she said it would cost $40 I told her not to. I ended up being the disciple that tried to chew out the woman who poured perfume on Jesus at the expense of an entire year's wages. Jesus had it right when he corrected the disciple. Sometimes an act of love is a sacrifice... its the sacrifice that makes it an act of love. If you didn't have to sacrifice to give it... it didn't take much love. One thing I love about my wife, is the love that she has to give me. It is not complex, it does not come with strings attached, there are no escape clauses or stipulations. It is pure. I don't feel that I deserve such love. I feel she deserves someone who is never a buffoon. Who never inadvertently hurts he

Rev 3:15, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold not hot, I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Isaiah 29:13 "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." let the below descriptions of "lukewarm Christians" convict you as they did me. A lukewarm Christian: 1. Craves acceptance from people more than acceptance from God. 2. Rarely shares their faith in Christ. 3. Does whatever it takes to alleviate their guilt. (...going to church once in a while perhaps?) 4. Thinks more about life on earth than eternity in heaven. (I can't wait to buy that new $30,000 car! I'm guilty!!!) 5. Gauge their morality by comparing ot others. (I'm so much holier than those non-christians.) 6. Want to be saved from teh penalty of sin without changing their lives. (i'll just ask for forgiveness, then

I feel sad. why? I feel like something is missing... like part of me isn't able to... be. I feel like something is missing. I feel sad.

The last week of residency for most of my class were electives with little responsibility. Their days were filled with fretting over moving or the exciting prospect of working for themselves and drawing a big paycheck. My last week of residency was time intensive... inpatient medicine, but I wasn't providing health care. My wife had suffered a long time with abdominal pain. It had a mind of its own, it didn't fit any clinical picture. Nothing made it better or worse. She seemed to be a medical mystery. Since her father had ulcerative colitis we thought we should get her checked for this serious disease, largely to put her mind at ease. This was more than a year ago and the colonoscopy wasn't quite normal, but the GI doc didn't quite know what to make of it... "it could be Crohn's? but I don't know." We tried treatments for Crohn's but it didn't seem to do much if anything. There were many a moment in which my sweet wife wondered if sh