How to Help Someone Who is Having a Seizure

While Rudy and I were watching the NCAA championship game at Duke, a student had a seizure. Luckily Duke Med students were close and knew what to do. All I could do was stare and be frightened at what I was seeing. HOWEVER, I was good for something; I helped get the address of the location. But as far as helping the individual, I was unsure!

Here are steps for your info in what to do to help a person having a seizure:

1. Know the circumstances under which you should call for emergency medical services.
2. Become familiar with different kinds of seizures.
3. Ease the person to the floor so they don't fall.
4. Make sure the person is breathing.
5. Protect the head with a pillow, cushion, jacket, or any soft object
6. Move furniture and other obstacles out of the way
7. Check for any kind of ID card or medical jewelry.
8. Loosen any constrictive clothing unless they're jerking too much (ties, belts, shirt collars).
9. Get privacy -- urge people to move on and stop staring; close the door.
10. Monitor the person's condition until they regain consciousness.
11. Put the person in the recovery position.
12. Write down any details as soon as you get the chance.

http://www.wikihow.com/Help-Someone-Who-Is-Having-a-Seizure

The thorn in my flesh

Last night I stayed up quite late talking to my husband about life. He asked me a question – “if you could have one wish, what it would be?” I thought about it and replied, “I guess it would be to re-live my childhood and have a normal one.” I briefed over my childhood with him, as I have done many times before, and gave a quick explanation as to what I “wished” I had and what I have to live with for the rest of my life.

Because of my experience growing up, I now live with, what Rudy titled it last night, a “thorn in my flesh.” Rudy was talking about Paul and the torment he faced -- “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” 2 Corinthians 12:7. I know that affliction came to Paul from or by a messenger of Satan. Just as God allowed Satan to torment Job (Job 1:1-12), God allowed Satan to torment Paul for God’s own good purposes and always within God’s perfect will. I fully get that but man… what a struggle it is-- to be tormented everyday! Seems like the purpose of the thorn in the flesh is to keep us humble and seek God; to always be in tune with the spirit of conviction. But we can see that Paul learned from this experience the lesson that dominates his writings: divine power is best displayed against the backdrop of human weakness (2 Corinthians 4:7) so that God alone is praised (2 Corinthians 10:17).

But what of the helmet of Salvation from the Armor of God? God has promised us brings us hope. God does not lie. Our hope is based on Him. A Christian with the helmet of the hope of salvation will not get confused with the fleeing pleasures of sin. Oh… but I do… the torment exist and breeds in my mind. But I know that God's armor brings victory because it is far more than a protective covering. It is the very life of Jesus Christ Himself. "Put on the armor of light," wrote Paul in his letter to the Romans, "...clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 13:12-14) When you do, He becomes your hiding place and shelter in the storm. Hidden in Him, I can count on His victory, for He not only covers me as a shield, He also fills me with His life. AMEN!

I know that it is impossible to change the past and wishing to do so can prolong the “healing” process. But what I do know is that I can always fall back to God and His pure and holy word; keeping myself open to Him. After all, he knows my name. He knows my every thought. He see’s each tear that falls and he hears me when I call. So… as imperfect as I am; tormented by my experiences, I know that I am not stuck in a place I cannot get out of, where no one can hear me. I have God, His word, my family and the body of Christ that can and will be there for me if I should become overwhelmed by my torn.

For now, I will try this armor thing on and hopefully it’s not too big for me. If so… I guess I’ll have to grow in it! (wink wink)

Human Trafficking

Before you read my blog, please read the website article below. Please note that the content in the article is very disturbing and caution is advised. I will disclose my reason for posting it in my blog.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5445704/

Sad right? Well… this blog is to help you become aware of the worldwide epidemic of human trafficking and how you can contribute to the awareness which can ultimately aid in its ending. By definition, human trafficking is the commerce and trade in the movement or migration of people, legal and illegal for the purposes of slavery, prostitution, forced labor and servitude. The 5 year old “adopted” African boy was “trafficked” through the adoption system for the purposes of sexual slavery. This problem is overwhelming on a monumental scale and the percentages of the victims are not accurate because the crime can be difficult to detect in the forefront.

Below are highlights according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics from the Human Trafficking Reporting System (HTRS) from January 1, 2007, to September 30, 2008: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cshti08.htm

• 1,229 alleged incidents of human trafficking were reported to the task forces from January 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008
• Most (83%) of the reported incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking. Labor trafficking accounted for 12% of incidents, and other or unknown forms of human trafficking made up 5%
• Information on the number of suspects was available for 475 alleged human trafficking incidents. Among these, task forces reported 871 known suspects and arrest data on 216 suspects.
  

This problem exists on both an international and domestic scale. From my understanding, the way that it works on a domestic level is surrounded mostly by runaway teens and immigrates that come to the US. Predators lure immigrates to the US by offering them promising career opportunities such as housekeeping, waitressing or babysitting. As the victim appeals to the offer, they are transferred to a location in the US, aka hot spots, and introduced to the world slavery. Runaways are easy targets for predators to manipulate. Since they lack love and affection at home, they are susceptible to believing anyone that gives them attention. This allows the predator to take advantage of the victim as they are nice and persuasive to them. Once the predator has the victims in their control, the victim is trafficked throughout the state(s) forced prostitution or slavery.

It might seem impossible to track the predators/criminal and locates victims/survivors. It is insinuated that if the victim is not found w/I 48 hours of being trafficked, they will most likely never be found. Please do not lose faith or hope for the rescue of these innocent woman and children! The way that you can help is by being observant in your community. Below are easy actions you can do that might save lives of these types of victims:

Be observant in your community and look for these signs:

• Strange noises (i.e. screaming, yells, etc) coming from nearby house
• Many men coming in and out of a home
• Different women or children being rushed into the home.
• If you or anyone might be experiencing these symptom w/I your/their community, please contact 911 and report it.
  

Hotline:
If you think you have come in contact with a victim of human trafficking, call the Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline at 1.888.3737.888. This hotline will help you determine if you have encountered victims of human trafficking, will identify local resources available in your community to help victims, and will help you coordinate with local social service organizations to help protect and serve victims so they can begin the process of restoring their lives. For more information on human trafficking visit www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking.

References:
Below is a list of movie or gatherings that can give you a deeper insight into human trafficking:

Cargo: Lost Innocence, movie, documentary - http://www.cargoinnocencelost.com/home.html

Trade, movie - http://www.tradethemovie.com/

Taken, movie - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taken_(film)

Conference - http://www.prostitutionconference.com/

Websites -
http://www.bsccoalition.org/index.html
http://www.captivedaughters.org/index.htm
http://lahumantrafficking.org/
http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/
http://www.sagesf.org/

Sea of Glass

Enjoy this poem I wrote :)

I stand on the edge of a known sea cliff

Overlooking the celestial view of sea before me

The night creeps in

And I am standing here, once again

I stand on the edge of this place

My toes feel the sheer breeze that begins to linger on my face

No warmth ever stays at this place

I passed the sign which read “DO NOT ENTER HERE”

I know it’s because it’s not what it appears

Crystal midnight blue majestic waves

But underneath the site lays a valley of graves

Floating like silk dancing in the wind

Curiosity is its beat friend

At the edge is where we can chose to leap

Leap into this deep blue sea

They told me it would make me feel free

No worries…

Only the pleasure of the sea’s company

The moonlight shines against moving waves

Choppy rhythms, my eyes are locks

Holding me back is this mountain of rocks

This wind, it draws me in

Singing something sweet, alluring me to take this leap

Is it the trill, the moment, this timeless second?

Forget it!

I’ll do it! I jump being lead by my hand

Doing so, I then realize this is the Sea of Glass