Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Sleepy...

So I think only other nurses can understand this... I'm always so exhausted after 3 12 hour shifts in a row. And I'm excited because I'll get to take a NAP this afternoon! I love naps... especially on days like today... gray and rainy with the puppy dog at my feet. It's a nice little escape. And I need escape.

I think all people in my stage of life, a year out of college and trying to make a new life. The excitement and thrill of new husband, new place, new job has begun to wear off. And while I'm still excited about some of those things, like Nick for instance, others have become dull. I sit here wondering if we'll ever buy a house. Will I ever stop working weekends? Will I ever feel like a good nurse? I don't know.

Work has been especially hard the past weekend. Being at a Level One trauma center, we see the sickest of the sick. Yesterday was a culmination of emotion. A dad sat at his son's bedside after a car wreck, a year after his wife passed from the same injuries. Two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head. And one 93 year old lady who passed while her 94 year old husband held her hand... I just don't know if I can do it... The Lord has to continue to give me strength, and I'm exhausted... Keep me in your prayers.

But now, Nick and I have 2 days off together and my parents are coming up this weekend with my sister, Cathy. I'm soooooo looking forward to having a break from it all!

And so now, I must retreat to my first little indulgence... nap time.... *sigh*

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Lord Provides

So on the Grandparent front... Grandma Judy is not doing well... She's been in and out of the hospital twice in the past month. First with a heart attack and then with heart failure. She has decided to move in with Nick's parents in Athens. Keep them in your prayers as her health continues to fade and they look for help with 24 hour care.

During all of this, we have seen the Lord work in our lives. As fall semester approaches and with no job for Nick, paying for school has been a main concern. As we prayed, and as I tried not to let worry overcome me (which is hard to do for me), the Lord provided, like He always does. Nick got a scholarship from church and from Southern. Combined, all of fall semester and most of his spring semester has been paid for. On top of that, I found out that UK will pay for all of my fall semester as well. And on top of it all, Nick had an interview at the hospital to be a clerk (not a dream job, but hey, great benefits and similar schedules)! The Lord has also provided me with a Bible study with other nurses and seminary student wives. This has been great since I've been working so many Sundays. The Lord has provided. He is constantly doing a new thing in our lives.

It reminds me of the story in Joshua 3-4. Joshua was leading the people of Israel finally into the Promised Land. The only thing that stood in the way was the flooding Jordan River. Stepping out on faith with the Ark of the Covenant, they priests stepped into the Jordan River, which dried up, allowing for safe passage. While Israel crossed, the Lord told Joshua that a man from each tribe should take up a rock from the dried river bed. Joshua then built an altar to the Lord with those stones, saying that these stones " serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

These actions, these providences, are like the rocks from the river bed as the Lord leads us over the impossible into the Promise Land. These "rocks" will serve as reminders to us of what the Lord has done when we are faced with other challenges. They will also serve as markers to our future children of what the Lord has done. That He is real. That He works in our lives for the better. Let us cling to that truth.