111 Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly. 2 Great are the works of the Lord; They are studied by all who delight in them. 3 Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever. 4 He has made His wonders to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and compassionate. 5 He has given ood to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever. 6 He has made known to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness. 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.
Sometimes like Jonah, we are so low that we have to learn that there is no level or place that we can be that HE cannot hear and heal us.
To My America and All
Psalm 109:22
22For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.
A great many parts of our world are hurting at this time... My prayers and condolences go out to all who have lost loves ones or have sick ones at this time.
Due to the coronavirus, most of our hearts are filled with concern. This time is like no other that I have experienced in its wide-spread scope. But, there have been times that have affected me just as badly, and from those times I learned, like the words of the song verse below, that:
I heard some good news today on CNN about the coronavirus. A 90-year-old woman survived Covid-19! And a person who had diabetes survived it, as well. Only when it is time... but it is praying time in the meantime. Put some time in! Be blessed.
A Prayer-baby walking by a faith that was built up by the process of being knocked to my knees,
You do not have to wait until you deem yourself worthy to pray because the Bible says in Romans, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of GOD," and Jesus said, "There is none good but GOD." (Matthew 19:17, KJV) Be blessed.
We have a lot to cover this morning, so I will get right to it.
Y'all know me well enough to know that I used to be a crybaby. That was the way I was when my daddy left us when I was a little bitty girl, not even school age. But, Y'all know, too, that I learned about prayer through my Momma, a preacher's daughter. I became a fierce child of prayer and, as a woman grown, still am. The road that I have traveled has been at time arduous and long, but I made it. No, I did not make it through any power of my own. I made it by the grace of GOD. I learned that HE has lovingkindness that the world cannot surpass nor understand, and HE extended that lovingkindness to me. HE let me know what it was to pray an earnest prayer and get an answer. HE hid me under the shadow of HIS wings as HE trained me to lean on HIM. And, yes, it is a lesson that I learned very well. That is why, today, as an adult, I take all of my problems to HIM in prayer. And as have most of you, been praying about the Coronavirus. So here is what I learned upon coming awake in the wee hours of the morning:
Texas 'mom and pop' business flooded with orders for helmet ventilators amid coronavirus crisis
Sea-Long Medical Systems has drawn huge interest from hospitals and foreign countries seeking alternatives in treating COVID-19 patients amid a ventilator shortage.
By Lisa Cavazuti, Cynthia McFadden and Rich Schapiro
One month ago, Chris Austin was running a little-known mom-and-pop business in Texas that fielded a few dozen orders a week for his helmet-style ventilation devices.
He had five employees and a handful of volunteers from the family's church who would pitch in at the workshop behind their home in the small town of Waxahachie.
Then the coronavirus epidemic hit.
Austin's company, Sea-Long Medical Systems Inc., is getting thousands of orders every day, from America's top hospitals to countries as far flung as the United Arab Emirates. Researchers say the device, which costs less than $200, could help hospitals free up ventilators for only the most critically ill coronavirus patients.
"'Overwhelmed' doesn't scratch the surface," Austin told NBC News.
Sea-Long Medical Systems helmets resemble crude spacesuit helmets, with transparent hoods sealed at the neck and two tubes extending from the base.Sea-Long Medical Systems
The demand for the Sea-Long helmet underscores the dire shortage of ventilators in the U.S. and around the globe fueled by a surge in hospital patients suffering from COVID-19.
In the last few weeks, hospitals have been flooded with patients experiencing respiratory problems so severe they need the help of a machine to help them breathe.
Governors have made impassioned pleas for more equipment. Companies like General Motors and Ford have redesigned their assembly lines to produce the lifesaving devices. And hospital executives are scrambling to snap up any equipment that might help ease the escalating crisis playing out inside their facilities.
The Sea-Long device doesn't look the part of a lifesaving medical device. It resembles a crude spacesuit helmet, with a transparent hood sealed at the neck and two tubes extending from its base. The helmet was originally designed to supply oxygen to patients receiving treatment in hyperbaric chambers.
But doctors in Italy, where a version of the helmet has long been used to treat people experiencing breathing problems, found it to be effective in helping some COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Bhakti Patel, who has been studying the devices for four years, said they hold promise as an early intervention that could spare respiratory patients the need to be put on the more traditional — and costly and invasive — ventilators.
"I would love for there to be a silver bullet for this pandemic," said Patel, a pulmonologist at the University of Chicago. "My best hope is that the way it changes the game is that maybe it shaves off the number of patients who need a ventilator — even if it's 1 out of 3 or 1 out of 5."
"If that is the case," Patel added, "that would be a game changer when we're seeing this tidal wave of patients who need a ventilator."
Patel led a first-of-its-kind study in 2016 that tested the Sea-Long helmet against an oxygen mask for a group of 83 intensive care patients suffering from acute respiratory distress. The researchers found that the helmet led to superior outcomes: Patients using them required ventilation 18.2 percent of the time, compared to 61.5 percent for the masks, and had a better 90-day survival rate, according to the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The trial was stopped early because the helmets proved more effective than the masks, resulting in a smaller sample size than originally intended. But Patel believes the device could lead to a sea change in intensive care units that have long relied on traditional ventilators. Those devices require doctors to fully sedate patients and insert a tube into their windpipes, a process that can cause pneumonia and other problems when used for extended periods of time.
"If we take away the ventilator — which comes with this package of sedating people, making them not move, making them sort of not have memory of what's happening — perhaps we could spare some patients some long-term complications," Patel said.
At $162 apiece, the Sea-Long helmet costs a tiny fraction of the five-figure ventilators.
The original devices were made to run through ventilators. But working with Patel and her mentor, Dr. John Kress, Sea-Long has modified the helmets so they can be hooked up to a hospital's regular oxygen supply, keeping the ventilators free for those who need them most. They have also made another significant modification, adding a viral filter to prevent possible COVID-19 exposure to others.
This week, the team at the University of Chicago Medical Center used the helmet on one coronavirus patient and has gotten encouraging results, Kress said. The facility has received 20 of an expected 100 helmets and is planning to use them on additional patients, the doctors said.
Chris Austin, fourth left, says his team has been working around the clock for the past several weeks.NBC News
Other companies make similar ventilator helmets, but Sea-Long's is the only helmet available in the U.S. that meets requirements of the Food and Drug Administration and has been validated in a clinical study for acute respiratory syndrome. No studies have yet been done, however, examining the effectiveness of the devices in treating COVID-19 patients.
Austin's team has been working around the clock for the past several weeks. The workforce has at least doubled to more than 10 people, Austin said, and volunteers have been showing up in droves.
"We have people showing up that we don't even know that say: 'We're here to help. What can we do?'" Austin said. "They don't ask for anything. They don't expect anything. They just say, 'Whatever you want me to do, we'll do it.'"
"It just about brings tears to my eyes," Austin added.
The attention has led to some other acts of extraordinary generosity.
Austin said he recently got a surprised call from Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides offering to help him produce more devices.
"Chris, I saw what you do, and we want to help," Whitesides said, according to Austin. "Whatever it takes."
Austin told him he needed more machines to manufacture the devices but didn't have the cash to pay for them. Later that day, Austin got a call from his New Jersey-based supplier.
"Somebody just paid your bill," Austin said he was told. "They'll be shipping tomorrow."
With the four additional machines, Sea-Long expects to produce thousands of helmets a week. The goal is to produce 50,000 per week.
"This is the classic sort of American story," Patel said. "It's the little engine that could."
Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak
James Vanderploeg, Virgin Galactic's chief medical officer, said the company is working with Sea-Long "to help them expand their capacity, helping with recruiting additional people and getting equipment in place and helping with the logistics and so forth — anything we can do to help them expand their throughput." Virgin Galactic is also modeling potential prototypes for its own design of helmets used for ventilation, Vanderploeg said.
Major U.S. medical centers are now stocking up on the helmets, including Massachusetts General Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Austin said he's also received orders from Canada, Mexico and several countries in Europe, including hard-hit Italy.
A Mass General spokesperson said the hospital has ordered five Sea-Long helmets but has not yet received them.
A Penn Health spokesperson confirmed that the hospital has ordered the devices.
With so much of the world in need and so many orders coming in at once, Austin has faced a difficult question: Whom to prioritize?
"We really look at where is the need," Austin said. "We know New York has a stronger need. We know Boston. We know Chicago. ... But we also know that we have to get what we can to Italy."
For now, the company is shipping only a limited number helmets per order, "because we still can't afford the volume of a huge order," he said.
Amid the worsening pandemic, Sea-Long isn't planning to raise the price in part because it doesn't want to limit who has access to the devices.
"This probably sounds sappy," Austin said, "but we think of what if that was our son or daughter or grandfather sitting there in that bed gasping for air and we have to explain to him: 'I'm sorry. We don't have anything for you.'"
Lisa Cavazuti
Lisa Cavazuti is an associate producer for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Cynthia McFadden
Cynthia McFadden is the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News.
Rich Schapiro
Rich Schapiro is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Christine Romo and Brenda Breslauer contributed.
Strategy going forward, as I see it:
Social distancing continued
Testing once a week required to catch up on amount of testing not done on the front end, and too, need to know where we are numerically and what is being shown in our numbers - number and type of recovered undocumented cases, etc.
Continue mass reproduction of masks, gowns, gloves, regular ventilators, and ventilator helmets
Bring together the greatest think tanks in the U.S. and tell them, everybody put your brain on it. It does better if they are brought together collectively, but streaming can work as well. If you had enough masks, etc. then they could be brought together. (We almost need a spacesuit for each of the thinktank members, don't we? I wish.)
Most importantly, everybody pray to GOD and do not leave out the thanksgiving and praise. Put your heart into it. (Psalm 105:1-5)
To those thinking, "Well, maybe we can take a break and ease up with the advent of the warm weather..." No sir and no ma'am! You cannot afford to lose the chance to gain ground on this pandemic, no siree. Just you remember the warm months may be your way to get in front of this thing because we are hitting it with a 1,2,3, until the KnockoutPunch! And never forget WHO is making winning possible, GOD, our FATHER.
Well, for what it is worth, that is my take on our situation, folks. Now, I will go find a bite to eat. Be blessed.
And then to be called back to, from whence you came
And then stand in judgment for the things
You have done for or against HIS name
Whether day or night, that time is coming, just the same.
But, just as GOD set you a specific time to be born
HE has set the time limit of your sojourn
So, the thing to do is to do all of the good you can
During your sojourn as a mortal man
And while certain rituals, in normal times
Accompany the process of dying
Your method of departure is not up to you
Nor is the choice of people who
Might be assembled around your bed
When you do breathe your last
For that scenario's already been made fast.
I heard on the news today about the possibility of having
To be alone, due to social distancing
When you do breathe your last
And that sad thought seemed to linger
Until I thought it over and put my finger
On the irrevocable fact that I know
That I take GOD with me everywhere I go
And if circumstances decree that I leave
This world in a manner that looks as If I am all alone
I just want to remind everybody that I
Put GOD on speed dial a long time ago
And just like HE brought me here with no help from me
My FATHER will usher me into eternity
When this old body goes back to the clay
And I, to Abraham's bosom, am on my way.
So, what I am telling you is this fact
Get and keep your house in order
And live, love, and be true to all who
Get the chance to know you
And know without a doubt that a plan
That GOD made never fails, no matter what occurs
And rest upon the fact that the seeds you've sown
Will be the crop that comes up when you get home.
In essence, get things right, keep them right
And have a sense of peace
That will be with you until GOD sends
For you and gives your soul release.
Until then, live for GOD and not for man
By "Doing What You Can, While You Can,"
And telling everybody who will listen
"Give thanks to the LORD for HIS lovingkindness
And for HIS wonders to the sons of men!"
(Based on Psalm 107)
********
As I was reading Psalm 107 today, I saw where I had made some notations in the margin from past years' reading. And one of the things that I noticed was that there were certain verses that I had drawn a circle around the number of the verse and others where I had drawn a triangle around the number of the verse. Upon looking at the verses marked thusly, I realized that all of the verses that had the circles (verses 8, 15, 21, and 31) said the same thing:
Let them give thanks to the LORD for HIS lovingkindness
And for HIS wonders to the sons of men!
And I noticed that the ones marked with a triangle (6, 13, 19, 28) said the same thing:
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
HE saved them out of their distresses.
I got from this reading, that every time GOD's people humbled themselves and called upon GOD in their distress, HE answered them with lovingkindness. There is a lesson in that for us today, folks.
And the last two things I want to mention are verses 32 and 43 of Psalm 107.
When you get an answer to your prayer, praise GOD, thank GOD, and tell your story to all who will listen. (the gist of 32)
You have been told, so pay attention and never think for a minute that it was a coincidence that you just happened to read this post of mine today. Hogwash! There is no such thing as coincidence in life that much I have learned. These fingers pounded these words out for you if it seems as if I am talking directly to you. Yep, you might get in front of the mirror and think, "She can't be talking to me because she doesn't even know me, and we don't run in the same circles!" That might be true, but my prayers and words of inspiration travel all over the world, in and out of boardrooms and staterooms! Don't even try to figure it out; just act. At any rate, that is what I have learned in this life of mine. (the gist of 43 with my take thrown in)
(Sometimes I astound myself with the things that I pen, but I have long since learned to follow as intuitively led.) Wow! This one even grabbed my attention, sort of like a burning bush of sorts?! Go figure...) Be blessed
And remember to pray for the release of this pandemic from our land. We know that it will be done if the LORD wills.
Note - And another thing for you to chew on, I've never been on a yacht, either, but my prayers and books have. Only GOD...
Often, when people perceive a possible threat to a certain status, they will make sure to close ranks to ceratin ones, especially new employees or neighbors. It's like they have to make sure that the new person, "Knows how things go around here..." In other words, you don't make it around here unless I say so and right now, I don't! In order to perceive a person as a threat to your status, you must see something in the person that has the potential to be that threat. Even in the church, I see this happening. It shouldn't, you know. The church is the place for the cultivating and harvesting of souls. THAT should be our main priority.
Well, make no mistake about it, if a said thing is meant to be, it will be. And if it means breaking people and situations for it to happen, then it will be done. Nobody can go against the will of God and win. I do believe that He is over certain people's lives in a special way, like Moses, Abraham, Joseph, David, and Jesus. He is over the lives of countless others, according to His purpose.
Think about this: When you set yourself up to bring about the downfall or holding down of certain vessels, you set yourself up to fight with God. Now, who do you think is going to win. Umph, umph, umph! Folk are continually setting themselves up to box with God, and by doing so, making Him laugh up in Heaven because He knows the end that He has planned for them.
Now, to the person who has been put down so much that you can scarce raise your head. Keep going and keep praying. God will make it right in the end. And woe be to the ones who have made you water your way with tears... And remember, if God has determined that it be so, it will happen. Wait on Him.
When you learn that having faith in God and waiting on Him pays off, your faith will grow and the waiting becomes easier.
On yesterday I told you that there are times in life when you have to hold on to what you already know or have seen God do in the lives of people and in your own life. There is a scripture that comes to mind that reads as follows:
Be still and know that I am God...In the earth. (Psalms 46:10, KJV)
Having my belief shored up by meditation and prayerful studying, I went to worship to praise the Lord God for all that He has done and will do in my life. Yes, indeed, I opened my mouth and sang to the rafters about His goodness in making a way for us all due to the great love that He has for us. And you know what? I left the worship service with spirits that were soaring.
And... later in the day, are you ready for this? By days end, my mouth had been opened in dazed wonder at His goodness! I, I, I could barely fathom the great blessing that He had extended to my family! Long afterward, when I had calmed down sufficiently to think coherently, the mouth of my brain was still gaped open! My last thought on this post this morning is this; "Oh how sweet it is to be loved by the Lord God because He makes a new word and changes the impossible to HIMPOSSIBLE! (No I cannot take credit for the word coinage of Himpossible. I saw that on a Facebook post and decided to use it.) But it is so fitting of the way that the Lord steps in and works for His children, don't you think?
Please enjoy this poem from my book, Chopping My Row:
Sometimes in life we are put through things that we see no way of getting out of. Sometimes it seems that our life is meant to be hard and that that is just the way it is. Have you ever had times that you felt that way? I imagine we all have at one time or another. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words but I am going to use the picture below to talk about what it does not say.
When you look at the picture you see a kitchen counter of a person who likes to cook, don't you? Sure you do. You see the measuring spoons and cups on the wall, the kitchen shears, and the see-through canisters. This kitchen happens to be mine. No, it is not the grandest kitchen ever constructed, but it is mine. It is what I have been given at this juncture in my life and I am thankful.
From looking at the picture you cannot see the little girl that I used to be who yearned for a row of cabinets in her Momma's kitchen. You cannot see the lonely spigot of cold water that hung over an old cast iron enameled sink. You cannot see the single 1by2 board nailed onto the wall that held the sink in place along with the accompanying iron pipes that held up the front of the sink. You cannot see the roaches that scurried from here to there when a person entered the kitchen. You cannot see the bare plank floor whose gray paint had long since peeled with only remnants of it remaining in existence around the edges of the room.
I won't tell you all that you cannot see in the picture, instead, I will tell you what the picture represents to the grateful and hopeful little girl who still lives within me. The see-through canisters remind the little girl of the hand of a beneficent God, Who provided food then and provides it now. The rubber gloves on the counter remind the little girl that she no longer has to wash her dishes in cold water with a bar of Octagon soap that will not lather much. The stand mixer reminds her that all things are mixed together and turn out for good with a beneficent God on your side. The see-through chopper next to the mixer reminds the little girl that through it all, God can, will, and has seen you through!
This Sunday morning, I am going to tell my God how grateful I am, yep, this Sunday morning. Meet you in worship this morning at our Father's throne.
Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care, Alma L. Jones Christian Poet & Author
You are usually filled with zeal the first time that you attempt to do something new though you know it may be a challenge. The reason that it is a challenge is the fact that there are so many variables that you have not dealt with before. You take the first time that you try out a new recipe or the first time that you try to learn a new skill such as Tunisian crochet. You rarely get it right the first time. With the recipe you have to do trial and error several times, each time tweaking a certain ingredient. Often it is adding a little extra this, cutting back on a little of that, omitting a certain ingredient or substituting another ingredient. Yet because you want to master the recipe you keep at it until you get it to your satisfaction.
I mentioned Tunisian crochet in the paragraph above. That is one of the easiest pretty forms of crochet, I think. Oh, but let me tell you. It was not as simple for me at first. What with being sure that I was picking up the correct thread on the end, remembering to skip the first bar, etc. I did more pulling out than I wanted to. Yet, I persevered and am having a blast with it right now. Of course, I have to deal with the yarn wanting to curl, tsk, tsk. But, I like it enough to keep at it. That is the way it is with something that you really want to do.
So
Remember the things that I talked about being good at so that the Lord can get the glory? Well, just like you have to practice to become good at doing secular things, you have to practice in order to become proficient at the things that you do for the Lord. My point is, "Do the best that you can for Him because the rewards will be worth it, you know?"
Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,
Alma L. Jones
Christian Poet & Author
A thought to ponder: Tunisian crochet makes a really warm blanket to snuggle under during the cold season. Have you ever thought about giving some to residents in the nursing homes that have no family to visit them?
