pictures!

Joshua, what a precious child :) can't believe how much he's grown!

baby Caleb :)

Ian and Merritt, the sweet little boys I babysit once a week :) these boys bring me so much joy!

Anna, beautiful sister

Alisa, another beautiful sister

some things:
1. I got a new camera for Christmas and it's amazing!
2. I'm so thankful to be able to babysit precious kids that I love.
3. time at home with my family this Christmas was awesome.
4. my new years resolutions are to exercise 3-4 days a week and go to work 3 full shifts for 2 weeks in a row (the second will require some patients to appear on my unit)
5. today, Copper is totally exhausted from playing with the Worsham's dog Wallace and I love it!
6. I'm actually really excited about going to work tonight after being off so much lately.
7. I love to read. sometimes I forget that but it's true.
8. I'm so thankful for my community here, it's truly amazing how the Lord has provided for me.
9. I'm pondering buying a house and my dad thinks I should.
10. I should be sleeping right now instead of blogging.

'tis the season

today was a great day! Ellen and I slept late and then woke up and ate pancakes, then we went to Barnes and Noble and read for a few hours with coffee and tea, of course...then we ate Panera for dinner and went to the grocery store...then I went to my work Christmas party where I ate great food and hung out with great people! now I'm watching a movie with Ellen...life doesn't get much better :) the only sad part is that I think I'm getting a cold...guess I took care of one too many kids with one too many bugs...

around the world

we're doing a bake sale and a raffle at the hospital to raise money so that we can buy Christmas presents and such for 2 of our families that can't afford it...i decided i would make an "Around the World" basket...nichole and i planned to go to world market tomorrow to get stuff. then, i looked in my room. i found 2 bookmarks from Guatemala, a purse from Zambia, a picture frame from Paris, 2 necklaces, a bookmark, and a good luck charm from China, and Masala simmer sauce to represent India. my friend Jenny's bringing me German candy. that's a pretty sweet basket already and i haven't even made it to world market yet. ha!

being a change agent

sometimes i wonder if i say everything i should. or if i say more than i should. or if anyone even cares.

today I went to several mini-conferences about family-centered rounds. in pediatrics, we're starting a new way of doing rounds, meeting at the bedside with the nurse, family, and patient present for the entirety of the rounding all the while allowing the nurse, the patient, and the family to have a voice throughout. amazing. i can't wait to see this implemented with my patients. it's going to change the quality of my nursing care for the better. today i was reminded that i love being a part of a team and i love talking about ways to do the things that we do better, more efficiently, and with more love and consideration for our patients. i feel like it's God answering my frequent prayer that He would let me glimpse some of His redemption within the context of health care. there's so much brokenness but every once in a while, we do something right. i met with residents, interns, attendings, NP's, social workers, faculty MD's, and med students today and each of us agreed that the care of our patients would improve if we implemented this type of rounding into our norm. can we do it? i think so. but someone has to bite the bullet and take the risk of being the first to try. change is hard but it's worth the struggle if what emerges is a system that empowers our patients and families, allows every member of the team to have a voice, streamlines the efficiency of our jobs, and ultimately leads to better overall care and outcomes for the kids we love. i so hope today wasn't wasted.

Thankful.

Last night as I was driving back from visiting one of my sweet pseudo-families on their farm, thinking about what I would do if I got put on call today and didn't have to work, I was overwhelmed with the reality of the amazing fellowship that the Lord has blessed me with. There are several families that I dearly love who I'm positive would welcome me whole-heartedly into their Thanksgiving day. There aren't words for how great it is to be loved so well...I'm positive it's God's way of showing me what His love is like on a smaller scale but one that is quite effective at pointing me to Jesus and reminding me that I have much to be grateful for. So, today I got put on call, much to my surprise and I'm here at the Hodges' just hanging out. I wish I could put into words how much I love them and how thankful I am for them but it overwhelms me to even try so I'll just settle for saying that I'm thankful that I can crash their Thanksgiving and feel completely at home.

There's something to be said for this day where you're supposed to remember everything that God has given you and thank Him for it. Although, I think it should be every day, I was praying this morning that the Lord would give me a spirit of gratefulness today especially and I'm humbled at the peace that He is to my heart..and the unbelievable number of things that He has blessed me with...that could never be summed up on this little blog..

"Oh praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead"

Soli Deo Gloria

Sometimes I wonder if people know what I mean by my blog title...just in case you don't, I'll tell you :) I also just realized that I have no idea who "you" is referring to cause I have no idea who actually reads this, if anyone..

Piper says that "brokenhearted joy" should be the defining reality of a believer's life this side of heaven.

He wrote in World magazine, "But our joy is a brokenhearted joy because Christ is worthy of so much better obedience than we Christians render. Our joy is a brokenhearted joy because so many people around the world have not heard the good news that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). And our joy is a brokenhearted joy because human culture—in every society—dishonors Christ, glories in its shame, and is bent on self-destruction."

I just found this quote and it really resonates tonight after going to small group with the core group starting the church plant that I'm a part of...We talked about community and how we can be plugged into the community and really knowing and loving people in Morrisville...“The salt of the earth does not mock rotting meat. Where it can, it saves and seasons. And where it can't, it weeps. And the light of the world does not withdraw, saying ‘good riddance’ to godless darkness. It labors to illuminate. But not dominate. . . . We don't own culture, and we don't rule it. We serve it with brokenhearted joy.”...The more I think about the reality of this church plant and the caliber of people that I'm in this with, I'm just extremely humbled and just plain excited about seeing what God has already done and is going to do in and through us! to Him be the glory!

It was nice to catch up on life today a little...Copper got a bath, I ran some errands, did laundry, stocked the cabinets, worked on the budget, got my hair cut...lots of random stuff that did not get done before I left for the beach :)

ok, I should stop writing and go to bed..

at the beach

so, I've been challenged inadvertently by a new friend to blog way more often than I do. By reading my blog, you'd have no idea how much I actually love to express myself in words and share my life with people. maybe I prefer to do it face-to-face but with the amount of time I spend on the computer, I should be at least doing something that I know is therapeutic and helpful rather than wasteful.

Right now, I'm at the beach with my pseudo-family..aka my best friend's family that has adopted me into theirs and lets me come on the family beach trip every year :) it's wonderful..and such a blessing to be known and loved by them. Shan asked me this morning if I was relaxed yet and I just couldn't answer honestly with a yes..I'm getting there but there's just so much on my mind and on my heart that I haven't gotten to process over the past month of working, hanging out, and just plain being busy..Don't get me wrong, I love my life, sometimes I just forget that I still need a break every once in a while..usually I don't realize that I need one until someone forces me to take one and then I'm overwhelmed with a sense of how much I needed it.

So far on this trip, I've been overwhelmed by the Lord's love for me. I've gotten sweet time with Jesus to just be near Him and think about His truth and beg Him to allow it to transform and affect me to the core of who I am...I've been listening to Mark Driscoll who never fails to challenge me and encourage me and help me know more of Jesus...He has a series on Proverbs and it's awesome so far..In the second sermon, he talks about pursuing out deepest desires rather than being so easily satisfied by things that aren't really what we want in our hearts..He quotes C.S. Lewis (a favorite) when he talks about our desires being far too small, we are far too easily pleased..when I think about the things that I ask and expect of the Lord, I am ashamed often of the lack of faith that I have in Him to do mighty things that I can't even imagine..I want to learn to ask for BIG things and expect Him to blow me away!

I have more thoughts but we're headed to dinner so I'm taking a break..