A Recipe for Happiness

I’ll tell you something.

I’ve been working as a nurse now for 7 months. And I love it. I love meeting and taking care of people. I love figuring out what each individual’s needs are. I love the challenge of learning how to communicate across disciplines. I love the collaboration and teamwork among the staff of my unit.

2 months ago I didn’t love it. In fact, I dreaded it. Sure, it was fine when I was there. But I had such a hard time dragging myself 90 miles south of my home, friends, family, and church to go – work.

What’s changed in the last 2 months?

Something

There’s something in my heart. Can’t quite tell what it is.

It’s a prick and a throb. You know how some pains are superficial and if you just ignore them, they go away?

Big Kid Stuff

I’m an adult now.  Not the kind of adult I thought I was when I turned 18.  I’m a professional, working in a job that requires a degree, paying rent, buying groceries, all that.

Since I don’t get to go to church on Sundays, many people I see during the week ask me how my new job is going.  And since I’m now in a profession where confidentiality is a big deal, I can’t tell many stories etc. like I would like to, to give updates.  But I can give you some highlights.

My Testimony (one of them)

A couple of weeks ago, in our Life of Paul STEPS class, we were talking about the end of Paul’s life and his confession before King Agrippa.  The discussion led to us talking about a well-known verse in Revelation, chapter 12, verse 11:  ”They overcame him [the accuser of our brothers who accuses them before our God day and night] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”  We talked about what a strong statement a testimony of faith can make.  It helps us to remember the things God did and is doing in our lives as well as lets the accuser of our souls know that we believe that what God did is real.  Proclaiming the testimony of God’s faithfulness in our lives is a powerful tools in overcoming the enemy.

Some random Christmas cheer…

First of all… To all my avid readers (I know you’re out there) who have been anxiously awaiting a new and exciting or deep and thoughtful post from me:  Sorry.  If you’ve been keeping close track (or even if you haven’t), you might notice that I haven’t written since August.  School, you know.

Homesick Adventuress

Every so often, it dawns on me that I am a grown-up, that I won’t live at home for too much longer, that God could call me, my grown-up big sister and brother-in-law, my grown-up baby sister, or even my grown-up parents (and the rest of their un-grown children) somewhere else.  In a moment, all my fantasies of adventure, dreams of traveling and walking on foreign soil, and plans to work apostolically in churches are dissolved, and I am overwhelmed with a sudden sense of homesickness—before I or anyone I love has even left home.

I’m still here!

It’s been way too long since I’ve posted. I haven’t forgotten. I’ve been working on things.
Real post coming soon… …

Learning to Fly

Growing up, I always had this sense of adventure.  You wouldn’t know it by the way I didn’t take risks, was very careful, and (I’ll admit it) afraid of heights.  What I mean is, I always embraced change.  I loved seeing what came next–  what adventure, what journey was waiting around the corner.  I loved moving (my parents did not, and I couldn’t understand why).  This is something I got used to, as my parents searched for the family God wanted to join us to.  I loved the transition periods, boxes cluttering houses, the smell of fresh paint, and trying to figure out the best way to arrange my room.  In fact, I think I rearranged my room along with my sister several times a year.  We couldn’t stick with the same ol’ same ol’.  We wanted something new.  Something fresh.

My Newest Adventure (the one that makes my blood pressure spike)

So, here I am.  In St. Louis.  Getting settled in and figuring out where things are.  And getting used to city-driving.

Be free, woman of God

*big sigh… I am sitting here, in my room, with my coffee and breakfast, listening to one of my favorite singers/songwriters/artists, Brooke Fraser.  And marveling, again, at what God can do.  To tell about it, you have to know a little background of what God has done in me over the past several years.  So, here it goes…  …