cool things in athens: part I

this tree owns itself.




pretty neat, right?

as i watched the guy behind the counter skillfully make my pizza last night at your pie, it got me thinking. we all have trades. we all have things we are good at and things we take pride in.

these things are so integral to who we are and give us a drive and purpose behind our lives daily.

even though i feel i am making so many mistakes, my sweet boyfriend gently reminded me yesterday: "I know that it has been frustrating sometimes with trying to do things and messing up. But thats what happens to everyone. No one is perfect.......I know you are called to becoming a nurse and God is smiling at you because of it. Notice I said Becoming. It will take a little time and I bet you have already learned so much since you've started."

I am in a state of becoming.

what is your trade? what do you take pride in? what are you still aspiring to become?

trial and (mostly) error

the 12 hour shift takes me through just about every emotion.

sleepy. awake. hungry. excited. exhausted. driven. frustrated. silly. emotional. confused. proud. talkative. knowledgeable. just plain dumb.

orienting means i'm in a constant state of learning. making mistakes and fixing them. i'm a student again. and at times, i'm just plain frustrated that i can't do it by myself yet. it's then that i resort to waitress nurse ellen and just bring people orange juice (bc it's the only thing i won't screw up).

then i give 10 meds, use some awesome critical thinking skills, and crack a funny joke, and i'm on top of the nursing world again.

i know this is what i'm supposed to be doing. there's an energy i feel at the end of the day that tells me i'm gonna get it right and it's gonna be awesome.

in other news, i boldy and awkwardly attempted to make friends at work by asking another new graduate nurse if she wanted to come to our party this weekend. she looked a little scared, so we'll see how that goes.

recent snapshots

the debut of bearren the sterile bear (get it?) at marsha's for halloween

gracie has buckteeth, hilarious



mom gave me her old coffeemaker for coffee with a vintage feel

just livin' the dream.

Luke 6:27-36

This week, I said something to a patient in simple conversation that I ended up thinking more about later.

I had taken care of an older woman for three days, and during that time she had been understanding, kind, and pleasant to deal with.

"Thank you so much, you are so kind to do this for me with your busy schedule," she said after she asked me to help her make some little adjustments in her room.

"No problem, it's very easy to do things for people who are sweet to me," I replied.

Duh, Ellen. But this is not what Jesus is asking of me. "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Luke 6: 46-48).

What He asks is a higher calling, the call to be perfect. The call to have the same understanding, compassion and helpfulness with this patient's oh-so irritating neighbor. Not just a change in actions but a true change in heart. This is the hard part for me: to not just pretend to love others, but truly love them.

Ugh. I'll keep trying.