Yummy wings and M*A*S*H*

This post is for Tim who has been willing to persevere under seemingly impossible circumstances and Dave who accepted my shattered heart and all that goes with it.

Pineapple Chicken Wings

2-1/2 lb. split chicken wings, tips removed
2 cans (8 oz. each) pineapple tidbits in juice, (don’t drain)
1 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce

PREHEAT oven to 400°F.
PLACE wings in greased 13x9-inch pan. Bake 30 min.
DRAIN pineapple, reserving 1/4 cup juice. Mix barbecue sauce, pineapple and reserved juice. Add to chicken; stir to evenly coat chicken.
BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is done and sauce is thickened
Makes: 6 servings


There was a television show that we enjoyed watching which was a spin-off of one of the most successful movies of the 70's...M*A*S*H. This depiction of a field hospital in Korea was a hit because it had a touch of humor, romance and only a small fraction of truth of the difficulties that doctors and nurses face as they care for the wounded. Those of us who have never felt the kind of pain the wounded and the doctors faced only "got" the part about the romance and twisted stories but recently Susan learned the truth about field hospitals and was devastated as she talked to me about them. It brought back old memories and some fresh ones too of how sometimes, as difficult as it is to imagine, those who need the most healing are left alone.

A M*A*S*H hospital is not really equipped to handle the most severely injured. We like to think that the most "hurt" get priority attention but, as Susan pointed out to me, in the movie Pearl Harbor the wounded were sometimes marked by nurses and doctors according to their chances of survival. Those who can be quickly attended to such as stitches or a broken bone get immediate medical care as so they can go back to battle but those with more serious injuries sometimes are left because they may not survive anyway. To spend time with those soldiers would mean those with less severe injuries may become critical. It is a very stressful situation. This is very real to me. Jimmy stepped on a mine in Viet Nam on December 19, just 12 days before his 21st birthday but he was not taken to surgery until December 24 when he was flown to Japan. Sound incredible? There were others... many others that the doctors could take care of quickly... he needed more care than they could give. He needed a more skilled surgeon and would be taken there if he survived. He was a fighter and GOT that medical care and was flown back to the States on his birthday, December 31. It was a time of great celebration. He never was bitter about seeing others come in and go out of the hospital as he lay with minimal care. He told me he later... he desperately wanted to live but was willing to die if he had to. He trusted God's plan for his life and he was fighting for freedom.

We all deal with times of being left in pain while others move on to things that are easier for them to handle and circumstances that require only a "quick fix" so they can return to the battles of life. Sometimes those wounded are ones very close to us.

We all have times that seem so hard and we reach out to those we think can help take that pain away... but like the doctors and nurses of these field hospitals, they put us on the sidelines and tell us to "wait". They have no time or means of healing us now. That does not mean they don't care... they just can't look upon our pain because if they do, they might not be able to take care of the immediate things of life they CAN fix. Like the wounded in the hospital the best thing for me to do is live this day and know that God knows not only my failings but what is best for ME in my pain and YOU in yours. He is the great physician and sometimes we have to wait upon Him and trust that His plan is perfect.

Isaiah 40:31 but they they wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

Love,
Nana