SOUTH KOREA ARRIVAL

wisdom:  the ability to see life from God's perspective and have character to act accordingly.

Lord, give me wisdom.

this morning i was assigned 4 patients.  one of them, john...who's somewhat mentally disabled, has been trached and vented (on a breathing machine not able to speak or swallow) for the last five weeks.  he has multiple infections, so everytime you go into his room you have to gown and glove up... even to give him morphine every four hours or to reposition him every two hours.  just a lotta hard work... and today john said some of his first words working with the speech therapist... he looked at my eyes and and slowly slured out tthhhaannnk yooooo.  it meant the world to me. my second patient had several pints of blood and other digestive things being suctioned out of his system all day and was scheduled for exploratory surgery tonight at 8pm.  there had to be 20 family members in and out and many had questions and worries and fears.  this guy was told by the surgeon that he had a 50/50 chance to make it.  i sent him to surgery just before i clocked out and held my eyes shut as i  prayed trying to imagine what this family was going through. my third and fourth patients i sent home.  the young one invited me out for drinks...which you just have to ignore, and the older one explained to me how lovely and beautiful his wife was who passed away over a decade ago. before the day ended, i had an unexpected visitor who was a granddaughter of the 100 year old lady i took care of last week.  i really connected with this family but was so sad to read her obituary in the paper this monday.  amazing that God brought this granddaughter back up to our floor because i got to stand and cry with her over her loss and got to hug her and tell her how courageous and what a fighter her dear grandmother was. you could definitely say that this is exactly where the Lord wants me...and i'm blessed to watch Him confirm it everyday of my life!

Unless you try to do something beyond what you've already mastered, you'll never grow.

When I ran the Chicago Half Marathon with some friends a few weeks ago, I knew I had to give credit to the One who gave me victory... And what was amazing was that when I wore this verse on my back, about 20 runners came alongside and said things like, "Amen sister, that's right..." or "I believe our God is big enough..."  One lady even ran with me for a mile or so and told me her entire testimony of where God has brought her!

It has been quite a journey to live at home these last couple of months and work full time as a nurse.  I have loved traveling this road, but it hasn't been what I expected.  Many of the amazing people in my life are now long-distant friends... and God has answered a lot of prayer by connecting me up with awesome people locally through a few different worship services that meet weekly... and getting plugged in at work---which I have had so much fun doing   It astounds me how much we need consistent fellowship in our lives...