The Medic Dad Chronicles

  Grace Isn't a Free Pass One of the most common misunderstandings about Christianity is the idea that because we're saved by grace, sin doesn't really matter anymore. I'll admit, that's something I've thought about before. If God forgives my sins... If His grace is bigger than my failures... Then why shouldn't I just live however I want? The answer is actually pretty simple. Because that's not what grace does. Before I became serious about my walk with Christ, I knew when I was doing something wrong. I knew drinking too much was wrong. I knew looking at pornography was wrong. I knew the crappy things I said were wrong. I knew there were things in my life that needed to change. But I did them anyway. Looking back, I wasn't trying to honor God. I was trying to satisfy myself. The difference today isn't that I'm perfect. Far from it. The difference is that when I sin, it bothers me. Not because I'm afraid God will stop loving me. But becaus...

  Why Do I Still Struggle? One of the biggest lies I've ever believed as a Christian is that if I were really growing in my faith, I wouldn't struggle with sin anymore. Maybe you've felt that way too. You give your life to Christ. You genuinely want to follow Him. You know your sins have been forgiven. And then... You lose your temper. You catch yourself worrying instead of trusting God. Your intrusive thoughts creep back in. You say something you wish you could take back. You find yourself fighting the same battle you've fought a hundred times before. After a while, it's easy to start asking yourself,  "Shouldn't I be doing better than this?" I've asked that question more times than I can count. There have been seasons where I wondered if I was failing God because I still struggled with the same weaknesses. I thought maybe mature Christians didn't wrestle with these things anymore. Then I started paying closer attention to what Paul wrote. Not...

You Can't Earn What's Already Free I don't think most Christians wake up in the morning and say,  "Today I'm going to try to earn God's love." But I think a lot of us live that way without even realizing it. I know I have. As I've shared before, I tend to see my failures pretty clearly.  I know I don't spend enough time in God's Word. I know my prayer life isn't what it should be. I know when I lose my temper. I know when my attitude isn't where it belongs. Those things bother me because I genuinely want to follow Christ well. The problem is that, somewhere along the way, I started measuring my relationship with God by how well I thought I was doing. If I had a really good week reading my Bible, I felt close to Him. If I skipped a few days, I felt like I had disappointed Him. If I handled a difficult situation well, I thought I was growing. If I lost my patience, I felt like I'd failed Him again. Maybe you've felt that too. The ...

  More Than I Ever Realized The more I have read through the Bible, the more I realize there are some words that seem small... until you really stop and study them. Grace is one of those words. If you had asked me a few years ago what grace meant, I probably would've said something like, "It's when God gives us something we don't deserve." That's a pretty simple way of putting it, but I think that's about as far as my understanding went. For a long time, I thought grace was mostly about salvation. God saved me by His grace because I couldn't save myself. End of story. But the more I've read Scripture, the more I've realized that's only the beginning. Somewhere along the way, I started living like I had to prove myself to God. If I had a good week reading my Bible, I felt close to Him. If I prayed more than usual, I felt like I was doing better. If I stumbled, skipped time in His Word, or found myself struggling with the same old sins again,...

  Just Ask Here’s something I’ve learned over the years, and it’s advice I still follow myself. When you have one of those calls that sticks with you — the ones that make you replay it in your head or wonder if there was something else you should’ve done — ask. I’ll walk up to the doctor or a nurse who took over my patient, someone I trust and respect, and I’ll ask them straight up: "What could I have done better? Was there anything else I could have done?" That’s it. No excuses. No defending myself. Just asking. I’ve been doing this job for almost 25 years, and I still do it. Not because I think I’m bad at what I do, but because I want to be better at it. This job doesn’t leave much room for ego, and it definitely doesn’t reward people who think they already know everything. Sometimes the answer is, "You did exactly what you should have done." Sometimes it’s,  "Here's something you might try next time." Either way, you walk away a little sharper. The ...

The Three Lifelines When I was a Field Training Officer working with new employees and new medics, there was one thing I drilled into them early on: you have three lifelines. When things start going sideways, these are what keep you grounded, focused, and moving in the right direction. They exist for a reason. Use them. Lifeline #1: The Protocol Book The protocol book is your foundation. It lays out our guidelines for patient care and ambulance operations. It isn’t meant to live in the glove box or to be opened only when someone is being tested. You should flip through it every couple of weeks to keep things fresh. Not because you don’t know your job, but because repetition builds familiarity. You start to know where things are. You know which section to go to. And when your brain is overloaded, and the pressure is on, that matters. When you’re in the heat of battle, the last thing you want to do is hunt through a book you barely know. Familiarity buys you time and confidence. Lifeline...

  Calm Is Contagious I’ve worked with people who get super hyper on scenes. Everything is loud, fast, frantic, and chaotic. They think moving faster means they’re doing better, but all it really does is spread confusion. The calmest person on scene is usually the one in charge—or at least should be. As the lead medic, your role isn’t to do everything yourself. You’re more like a conductor. You’re there to direct, delegate, and keep things moving in the right order. That means knowing what everyone’s capabilities are and making sure people are doing what they were asked to do—and doing it correctly. Chaos doesn’t help patients. Calm does. Confidence plays a big role in that, but real confidence doesn’t come from ego. It comes from preparation. Confidence comes from knowing your protocols, understanding your medications, and being comfortable with your skills. Early on, that confidence is built through reading and training. A lot of it. As you gain experience, that experience starts ...

  The Answer Is Yes Earlier today, Angie was watching a TV show and something in it apparently got her thinking. Out of nowhere, I received a text from her with three questions: “Am I there for you enough? Am I what you need in a wife? Am I a good wife?” My immediate response was that I should be the one asking her those questions, not the other way around. I told her she was all of those things. But I've been thinking about those questions ever since. I'm much better at putting things into writing than I am at saying things out loud, and I realized that three quick answers really don't tell her everything I want her to know. So before I answer those questions, I need to give a little history. After more than two decades together, my answers aren't based on one moment or one thing Angie has done. They're based on the life we've built together. Angie and I went to the same church before we ever really knew each other. I had seen her there. She was tan, pretty, fr...

  The needle Every now and then I think about a needle. Not because of the pain. Not because of the infection. Not even because it nearly put me in the hospital. I think about it because that needle changed the direction of my life. When I graduated high school, I was seventeen years old and moved away almost immediately. I had plans. None of them involved the military. I was supposed to go to work for a guy who ran a large hay operation. By the time I got there, he had already filled all his positions. Instead, he helped me get a job milking cows. I lost that job, and that led to another dairy. That led to another type of dairy job. Then one day, while helping the calf crew, I climbed into a pickup truck and felt a sharp pain in my ankle. A used needle had poked through a bucket and stuck me directly in the ankle. What followed was weeks of pain, doctors, antibiotics, and a lot of uncertainty. I nearly ended up in the hospital. Then, after finally recovering and returning to work,...

I'll Do Anything There was a period in my life when I was constantly looking for a way to make more money. Not because I was chasing some dream of getting rich, we were $75k in debt, and I wanted to get out of that. I was trying to take care of my family.  I looked at side hustles. I looked at second jobs. I looked at completely different careers. I applied to Frito-Lay to work the night shift, stocking shelves and trucks. I looked into junk hauling. I looked into truck driving. I looked into delivering travel trailers. I earned an OSHA certification because I thought maybe I could get into a safety position. I applied for safety jobs. I spent countless hours searching for something that might help us get ahead. Looking back, it probably sounds desperate. Maybe it was. But there was a reason. When you are responsible for a family, your pride changes. There are things you won't do when you're only responsible for yourself. When it's your wife and kids depending on you, t...