pencils and smiles

 

Last year, apart from my job at the GAP in Woodburn (where I am still working), I worked as a tutor for middle school students at Waldo Middle School in Salem in a program that took place after their normal school hours. I wanted to be able to tutor again this year, but starting nursing school threw some of my wishes out the window...which is ok because I believe God is directing my life and it is also a good reminder that some things are only meant to be a part of my life for a time. BUT!! I prayed throughout summertime and felt led to still work for the tutoring company, but as a substitute (because I love kids!). This would allow me more flexibility to say yes or no and would give me a teensy bit more cash once in a while (yay!). Anyway, my point is that this week I was given my first opportunity to sub! It was quite a drive away, but I was asked to sub at an elementary school in the Portland area Tuesday and today. And even though I am exhausted from not only subbing but from other events going on in my life, I had a blast.

Each one of these 6 kids I supervised (3 boys and 3 girls) were adorable and incredibly unique. Some of them were shy and some were nonstop hyper, but they grew dear to my heart. I am always amazed at how quickly my heart seems to attach to kids when I spend quality time with them, and so knowing I probably wouldn't see them again was hard for me, but their little faces are permanently branded on my heart. Hopefully I will see some of them in heaven, Lord willing, but for now I must content myself with thinking of their little brains working so hard on their studies as their pencils furiously erase a hasty and false answer or as they laugh at the boy in our group who fell out of his chair when he couldn't sit still any longer from boredom.

One day I hope to have my own sweet yet crazy children. I can't wait to delight in them. But for now I am happy to delight in other people's children. And in this case, I think of their cute faces hard at work concentrating on their papers, their little hands grasping wooden pencils like their life depended on it, and their precious smiles warming my heart whenever I catch them goofing off.

how interesting!! (part 2)

A few weeks ago I wrote a post that had some interesting facts in it that I have learned since starting nursing school. Here is round 2:

1) humor stimulates the immune system
2) by the time children reach the age of 3, the brain is 90% of its adult size, and the emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and social foundations are in place for the rest of life
3) your lungs grow until 8 years of age
4) grapefruit juice inhibits metabolism of many drugs causing drug toxicity within 30 minutes of ingestion (in other words, don't drink your medications/vitamins with grapefruit juice! yikes!)
5) incontinence is not a normal part of aging (phew!)

As always, if you have a specific question about any topic I might come across as a nurse, let me know and I will try to find the answer for you. Have a blessed Sunday!

Snow

As I was looking out my window this morning watching it snow, I couldn't help but think how snow can be an illustration of God's will in each of our lives. This is in no way a perfect illustration, but I believe it is one that can be helpful to remember. As everyone in Salem and the surrounding area knows, it snowed last night. This came as a surprise to many people, including myself. I heard it might snow, but I didn't really believe it would. Some people were excited. Some were angry that it would interfere with their plans. But all anyone could do was go to sleep last night and then wake up today and see what happened and go from there. Isn't that sometimes what happens when God's will for our lives surprises, startles, or brings change?

First of all, whether or not we want snow on a given day, the fact of the matter is that it either will or will not snow depending on what God planned. We cannot influence if it snows or not. All we can do is respond to it. Some people prepare for snow. They buy snow tires, get their ice scraper out, or wake up early in case they'll need extra time in the morning to get to wherever they planned on going. And yet other people just continue with life as normal and only act if snow does in fact happen. But it does change how we respond to life whether we were prepared for it or not. Some people get angry when it snows if it interferes with plans or dreams, some embrace it right away, and some take a little time to get used to it. This is so similar to how we respond to God's will in our lives. We grumble and whine and think "why me?" or "why now?", or we embrace the change that has taken place and move forward recognizing that whether we see the change as good or bad, it was what God meant for us at the time.

Personally, I am going through some hard life changes that I never expected I would have to face. Many things led to where I am currently and I have felt somewhat unprepared to deal with it, but I must remember that just as it will stop snowing eventually (even if the snow leads to some changes in the road surface or pushes some of my plans back), my life will again reach some state of normalcy and will continue on.

Snow is a beautiful thing. It is a blessing from God. My hope is to view His will for my life in the same way.