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.

funny how things work out.

i met sarah cornett summer of 2008 during the short month and a half i worked as a counselor at camp glisson. we shared a witty sense of humor and love of the Lord and quickly became friends. here is a lovely throwback so you can picture this:


during my short weeks there, sarah and i shared a lot of laughs, campers that tested our patience, and ultimately growth in our friendship. i was so sad to leave halfway through the summer. i felt as if leaving all the great people i had made at camp left me with unfinished relationships, seeing as i am horrible at keeping in touch with long distance friends.

i finished my last two years in auburn, doing a mostly bad job at keeping up with a few friends from camp. i didn't know where graduation and a new job would take me, but as the summer months creeped by, athens, ga looked like more and more of a possibility of where i would end up.

with no real prospects of where i would live and if i would even end up getting the job, i visited jonathan for his birthday in september. i met up with sarah at the wesley that night and during our brief catch-up i told her about my interview while she told me that she was living by herself and hating it, totally open to a new living situation.

after a couple (stressful) weeks of trusting the Lord to handle the details, we signed a lease on an adorable and affordable duplex and we are happy to finally be roomies! leaving glisson i felt as if me and sarah had true potential to be great friends, and now i know the Lord has given me an awesome living situation and a lifelong friend. what a blessing.

my graceful entry into the real world.

you guys know me. i am anything but graceful. and that's how the past couple weeks have been. kind of a clumsy start.

as i was sitting eating a candlelight dinner in the dark alone in my apartment on wednesday night, all i could do was smile to myself. i had just arrived home after a 14 hour shift with to realize the power was out, adding to already a long list of problems in our new home. no internet, no gas, and now no power, and i still needed to eat and shower before going to sleep and waking up to do it all over again.

things never quite go according to planned. but the Lord is always here watching, protecting, helping us be thankful for the blessings we don't always realize.

so when i return to my dark home exhausted and hungry and my mother has texted me the spanish georgia power number instead of the english one, i have to remember all of the things He has provided for me over the past six months. great relationships, great experiences, and finally the provision of the perfect job after long months of searching. thank you, Lord.

update:

• i am writing this post in the comfort of my new home, meaning we have internet!
  
• i was able to bake a cake and cook some mac and cheese this week, yay for a working oven and stove!
• just got done with my first full week on the floor. interesting patients that tested my patience. ha!
  
• thanks to mom and dad for the gift of a new dehumidifier. joy.
  
• i almost tripped into a doctor today on the floor. a graceful entrance, indeed.
  

on the next installment of "love in action": meet roomie sarah!