Blog - Kitchen Table Devotions

Be Quiet, Siri – I Will Not Return to the Route

by Rita Macdonald

Yesterday after lunch, I was seeing a patient not far from my home, so I had a general idea of where I was going. I still went ahead and plugged the address into my phone though, because I'd need the details once I got closer. I began driving down Metro Parkway, and Siri told me to stay there for two miles and then turn on Garfield, but that's not nearly as pretty a drive, especially this time of year, as driving down Millar Road. So I went out of my way and turned and chose the winding two lane road where trees whose colors are changing line the street. Siri would not stop telling me to "Return to the route. Return to the route. Return to the route." In fact, I'm convinced she got louder, the further away I drove from the route she thought I ought to take. So I yelled at her. I ... View Post

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Spiritual Castor Oil

by Rita Macdonald

After an extensive knee surgery back in May of this year, I've been slowly trying to get back to "normal," but I'm not really quite sure yet what that new normal looks like yet. My limp is finally gone, and that's good! And I've been going to the local park that is alongside the St. Clair Lake and walking my old route. Sometimes I have to cut it short, but other times I can walk the entirety of the park with just a couple of stops. And as far as I'm concerned, that's okay. Just two months ago I couldn't even make it up the stairs, or carry my dinner to the table because I was using crutches. It's okay. I'm making progress. Years ago, I used to actually go running at this very same park, but those days are over. And back in 1986 through about 1991, I used to actually run for an ... View Post

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Blurry Vision

by Rita Macdonald

You're going to be tempted to think I'm rather slow at picking things up when I tell you this, and while it's true that sometimes I can be, especially when it comes to board games, this particular time, I promise you I think this was purposeful on the part of the Lord. He wanted to teach me something. He always wants to teach me something. One morning about a month ago, I woke up, stretched, rubbed my eyes, and grabbed my morning devotional book. I always try to read today's message before I get out of bed. This particular morning, though, it was sooo very blurry, but only with my right eye. I got out of bed, washed my glasses, got back in bed, put them back on to read, and they were still blurry. I examined them looking for any scratches, but I didn't see any. (But really, how ... View Post

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Bye bye, Medical Intensive Care Unit

by Rita Macdonald

When I left my unit, and walked out of the hospital back in May, I really believed I'd have surgery and come back soon. I never anticipated an entire summer spent at home recovering from an extensive surgery on my knee, and coming to embrace the fact that I should probably look for a job less physically demanding than ICU. It wasn't until about a month ago that I started really looking seriously at other job opportunities, and when this one landed in my lap, I simply couldn't turn it down. But it was not a decision that came easy, and that's because I love you peeps. I have such mixed emotions. I love, love, love the end-of-life aspect of working in ICU, and so accepting a position as a home hospice nurse was not a difficult decision when I used my head, but when it came to my ... View Post

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Dear Bride

by Rita Macdonald

Recently a friend of mine posed a question on social media, asking for advice on being a mother-in-law to her soon-to-be son-in-law. I really, really appreciated her humility in doing so because what it revealed to all who read it, was that she was thinking of the new couple instead of herself. She wants to be good to him, and to them as a new married couple. So she was seeking advice from those who've walked in the shoes she is getting read to slip on. I loved that! A few years ago I sat outside having lunch with someone who often has wisdom worth not only remembering, but writing down. She shared with me that early in her marriage, she often spent a couple of days per week with her mother, and it just never occurred to her to invite her mother-in-law over to join ... View Post

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Taco Soup Versus Burrito, by Sue Ulbrich

by Rita Macdonald

INGREDIENTS: 1 pound ground beef (or sirloin) 1 package of taco seasoning mix 1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix One 16-ounce can of stewed tomatoes One 16-ounce can of Mexican flavored stewed tomatoes One 16-ounce can of pinto beans One 16-ounce can of chilli hot beans One 16-ounce drained can of corn DIRECTIONS: Brown the beef, rinse & drain. Add everything all together. Presto! Sue brought me a big bowl of this while I was recovering from knee surgery. It was one of my favorite meals! I froze some of it, and another night thawed it out and wrapped it up like a burrito with sour cream! Deliciosa! ... View Post

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Servanthood in the Midst of COVID

by Rita Macdonald

From the beginning of March of this year until early May when COVID-19 reared its ugly head in the pandemic of 2020, I drove back and forth to work in the busy Medical ICU of Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan day after day. Quarantined for a couple of weeks prior to the rest of the state of Michigan, my days off were often spent at home coordinating drop offs for masks, hats, and other PPE that so many friends and folks I hadn't even come to know yet, volunteered to provide. My drives home from work often involved stopping at people's homes to pick up bags of supplies on porches. Frequently I'd come home to warm, home-cooked meals on the porch, brownies, and cookies. Once there was even an entire homemade coffee cake that was absolutely scrumptious. Friends sent pictures of ... View Post

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Ram’s Horn Wisdom

by Rita Macdonald

My friend and I stopped in for a carryout lunch yesterday at the Hills City Grill in Troy, Michigan. Familiar faces greeted us at the door. This is the famous old "Ram's Horn" of Troy, where for decades everyone in the neighborhood met, and all of the customers knew each other. The name of the restaurant may have changed, but the atmosphere never did - thank God! You know those people in your life who, you can go a year without seeing, and when you do see each other it's as if it were just yesterday? That's Lisa, and Debbie, and the others..... These days, I'm a Registered Nurse in a busy ICU. But had it not been for those waitressing years during high school, goofing around with Lisa and Donna when we weren't busy waiting tables, I wouldn't have the skills I do now to carry ... View Post

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