Always say a prayer

I recently had the opportunity to meet with a Christian doctor. I asked him "how do you keep God first in everything you do? How do you find time to keep your Christianity first, and your work second".

His answer was one of the most simple, yet thought provoking things I've ever heard. I've already started to add this practice to my daily regimen, and it will be simply like breathing to do it in med school. So the pearl of wisdom for those of you out there, like me, struggling with the fear that "Christian doctor" may someday become "doctor that is Christian":

Always say a prayer. What do you do before you see every patient? Every time you go to the bathroom? Every time you sneeze? And extensively before entering an operating room?

You wash your hands. No matter the trauma, no matter what is going on or how quickly you have to see a patient. Whether you scrub or squirt the foam in your hands and rub them together, this act cannot be taken out of your routine to save time. You MUST wash your hands.

And you MUST pray. Every time I wash my hands, I say a prayer. For the patient I'm about to see, for guidance and God's grace to help me make the decisions He wants me to make, for His work to be done through my hands. Even more simply, maybe just that you'll make it through the next hour, the next moment, the next crisis.

What an amazingly simply idea. And what an amazing use for those few precious moments that can't ever be compromised.

So if you ever are sharing a scrub area with me and you notice I'm quiet, realize it's not about you. It's not about me. It's about Him. It's my time with God to be sure I stay grounded and remember the reason I started this journey.

He brought me to it, He'll get me through it. Always wash your hands, and ALWAYS say a prayer.