Before today, it had not crossed my mind that my blog was in serious neglect. I bet it’s feeling lonely at the moment. But no longer, for I am now bringing all my readers an update.
First off, before delving into the past, let’s begin with the present. Today is a mile-marker in my life. Halfway to the next year of my life. Yep, it’s my half-birthday. And, yes, I did celebrate with brownies and ice cream. Haha! My family always taught me to find small things to celebrate, and I have definitely taken that message and embraced it wholeheartedly. Now, on to the happenings of my life.
Of course, much of my time these last few months have been spent working long hours at the lovely St. John’s ER. Especially since one of our techs was out for weeks recovering from surgery and another tech had to quit because she began grad school. Although it is easy to view my work as just another job, I am constantly reminding myself that what I do is important. It can be discouraging when we are confronted minute-by-minute with people’s hurts, demands, and general unpleasantness. Medicine can seem like any other customer service business at times. But if we really question what we’re all about it breaks down to something like this: We save people from dying and try to improve their quality/quantity of life; the underlying presumption being that life is worth saving and improving, that life is valuable. And it is. I’m just glad I can approach it from a Christian worldview or I’m not sure it would be worth trying to approach at all.
While work has taken up much of my time lately, I have also been able to add a few news activities into my life recently. For one, zumba. Now, if you’ve never been introduced to zumba, you are missing out. Around the middle of July, I started attending classes at our Discovery Center. Zumba is a wonderful concept of using dance and choreographed steps and motions to comprise a workout session. We dance to a variety of songs with motions used to emphasize particular areas such as cardio, flexibility, and toning. I’m kind of addicted to going to the classes…haha :) Usually, I only attend once a week, but lately I’ve done a lot of zumba. It’s a way for me to meet up with my school friends and catch up or hang out with my roommate on our random nights off of work together.
I’ve also recently begun volunteering with Healthcare Ministries which is part of AGWM (Assemblies of God World Missions). When I went on my spring break missions trip to India it was through this organization. After some persuasion from a friend, I decided I wanted to get involved with the behind-the-scenes work and learn who the people were that made all the details flow smoothly. It’s been a great opportunity to meet people, stay informed about the world of medical missions, and learn what has to happen in order for trips to be successful. Most of my work has been with logistics – working on spreadsheets for flights, researching country facts/culture/history to send out to team members, copying documents and licenses of the med professionals to send to the host countries, and helping with filing. I’m hoping to branch out eventually to working other departments as well, but so far I feel like I’ve learned so much just in the one.
Recently, my sister and I attended the women’s conference at James River Assembly – Designed for Life (DFL). The amazing speakers shared from their experiences and expertise, and we were moved to embrace not only ourselves, but also other people. The line-up included: John and Debbie Lindell, John and Helen Burns, Nancy Alcorn (of Mercy Ministries), and Charlotte Gambill. Throughout the three days of the conference, we learned, were challenged, relaxed, and had fun being girls :) This event was definitely a highlight of the summer/fall…first, anticipating the event; then enjoying the event; now, reflecting on the event. It’s always wonderful to be encouraged in the faith, and that’s what DFL is all about. To see highlights from this year, click here.
First off, before delving into the past, let’s begin with the present. Today is a mile-marker in my life. Halfway to the next year of my life. Yep, it’s my half-birthday. And, yes, I did celebrate with brownies and ice cream. Haha! My family always taught me to find small things to celebrate, and I have definitely taken that message and embraced it wholeheartedly. Now, on to the happenings of my life.
Of course, much of my time these last few months have been spent working long hours at the lovely St. John’s ER. Especially since one of our techs was out for weeks recovering from surgery and another tech had to quit because she began grad school. Although it is easy to view my work as just another job, I am constantly reminding myself that what I do is important. It can be discouraging when we are confronted minute-by-minute with people’s hurts, demands, and general unpleasantness. Medicine can seem like any other customer service business at times. But if we really question what we’re all about it breaks down to something like this: We save people from dying and try to improve their quality/quantity of life; the underlying presumption being that life is worth saving and improving, that life is valuable. And it is. I’m just glad I can approach it from a Christian worldview or I’m not sure it would be worth trying to approach at all.
While work has taken up much of my time lately, I have also been able to add a few news activities into my life recently. For one, zumba. Now, if you’ve never been introduced to zumba, you are missing out. Around the middle of July, I started attending classes at our Discovery Center. Zumba is a wonderful concept of using dance and choreographed steps and motions to comprise a workout session. We dance to a variety of songs with motions used to emphasize particular areas such as cardio, flexibility, and toning. I’m kind of addicted to going to the classes…haha :) Usually, I only attend once a week, but lately I’ve done a lot of zumba. It’s a way for me to meet up with my school friends and catch up or hang out with my roommate on our random nights off of work together.
I’ve also recently begun volunteering with Healthcare Ministries which is part of AGWM (Assemblies of God World Missions). When I went on my spring break missions trip to India it was through this organization. After some persuasion from a friend, I decided I wanted to get involved with the behind-the-scenes work and learn who the people were that made all the details flow smoothly. It’s been a great opportunity to meet people, stay informed about the world of medical missions, and learn what has to happen in order for trips to be successful. Most of my work has been with logistics – working on spreadsheets for flights, researching country facts/culture/history to send out to team members, copying documents and licenses of the med professionals to send to the host countries, and helping with filing. I’m hoping to branch out eventually to working other departments as well, but so far I feel like I’ve learned so much just in the one.
Recently, my sister and I attended the women’s conference at James River Assembly – Designed for Life (DFL). The amazing speakers shared from their experiences and expertise, and we were moved to embrace not only ourselves, but also other people. The line-up included: John and Debbie Lindell, John and Helen Burns, Nancy Alcorn (of Mercy Ministries), and Charlotte Gambill. Throughout the three days of the conference, we learned, were challenged, relaxed, and had fun being girls :) This event was definitely a highlight of the summer/fall…first, anticipating the event; then enjoying the event; now, reflecting on the event. It’s always wonderful to be encouraged in the faith, and that’s what DFL is all about. To see highlights from this year, click here.
The last thing I’ll related is this past weekend. I attended my first Evangel University Homecoming as an alumna. Although I’ve graduated, I still have so many friends who are currently students that it almost doesn’t feel like I’ve completely left. Since I live in the same town, I really wanted to attend the festivities. The only dilemma? Work. So, with some shuffling around of the schedule and some awesome co-workers who traded me shifts, I was able to make it to everything I wanted to attend. Those events included: EU’s Got Talent, the Sci/Tech Reception, Concert Choir, and the Homecoming game (we won!). I will always be grateful for the education, direction, and friendships I received while attending this university. It really was like going home…so many memories. Can’t help thinking where I’ll be by my fifth-year reunion. Who knows?
So, that’s the update. If you’ve stuck through to the end, congratulations. I will attempt to do better with keeping up with postings in the future. For now, enjoy what you got.
