praying distracted

things i have tried lately to focus prayer (and that have variously helped and not helped at all):

1) concentrating on the Arabic
2) trying to run Arabic and the English translation at the same time in my mind
3) purposefully setting aside my stethoscope and pager before starting and, with them, this world (well, mostly-- i answer the pager if it goes off just in case someone's sick, then i start over)
4) trying to clear my mind before starting and, to be honest, several times during as well
5) pausing when i notice my mind wandering
6) trying to be mindful of God during the day whenever i remember to
7) and offering my sincerity and my effort when i feel like my concentration is just not measuring up

sisters, what do you try?

faith

so i've been afraid of my next rotation for months now. the thing is, i have to go to these places in the hospital that have strict dress codes of their own. when i was on labor and delivery a couple of months ago, i got unceremoniously tossed out of the operating room (i'd ducked in to ask a question and had thrown on a surgical gown and a surgical hat over my scrubs and scarf). the circulating nurse was puzzled-- "just take off your scarf and wear a surgical hat; your hair is still covered." i took a couple of trips to the main OR, but no luck-- i couldn't find anything that would keep my neck covered.

so i've been dreading this rotation, as i have to pop in and out of the OR several times a day and a few more at night. avoiding the OR is just not going to happen and ripping off my scarf in the hall because i can't think of a better way is just felt wrong wrong wrong and i sank my head to the ground and begged for help.

today is switch day, the day we all finish up our work and scurry around the hospital to find our counterparts on the new service to figure out where to go and what to do first thing tomorrow morning. so as i was heading upstairs to the call rooms for dohr i ran into the nurse practitioner for my new service and bared my troubled soul to her big, warm heart. turns out not only does she understand that i need to cover my arms and my figure and that my neck and ears are an issue (and she has a slew of practical suggestions) but she also knows that my new professor is muslim and wears a scarf, too, and probably has even better ideas than we are coming up with in the stairwell. so she comes down to the NICU with me and introduces me to my new boss, who proceeds to show me how she ties her scarf so it won't fall forward and how she handles the NICU's new sleeveless policy. and then i go take signout from my predecessor (also muslim, by the way) and this hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach gently disappears.