30 Days of gratitude: Day 23

Appreciation for the Medical Teams and First Responders

We never know when an emergency will take place. We never know when you might fall ill, need a first responders or other public service folks that help take care of us. We often forget that these individuals work long hours to care for individuals they’ve never met before. Our first responders, medical professionals, and other public servants, often sacrifice holidays and other special occasions to serve their community.

As who has worked in a hospital as a chaplain resident, I have seen how much of a thankless job it is for medical professionals and other first responders. They are often ridiculed, screamed at, or talked down to because the answers that family wants they may not be able to provide. The desired outcome of their patients may not be something they have control over.

For our firefighters and police officers, they are automatically judged or labeled a certain way because of a few bad apples that are in any type of group. Their lives are at risk every day whether they run into a burning building or chase down dangerous criminal. Yet instead of offering gratitude for ways, the large majority of them protect our communities, we make their lives and their jobs even harder.

Would you be able to do their job? Would you be able to handle the pressure that comes with being a public servant? Let’s hold them in our prayers and be grateful for those that have decided to commit their life to serving others.