Peace

Upon much reflection of my station in life, I've decided (as Charlotte tells Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice) "I am quite content with my situation." The post undergraduate life has its pluses and minuses but I think there are some decided advantages to this life.

Even though I am taking 5 hours of graduate studies, 5 hours is not 12 or 16. I don't come home every day feeling like there is a big weight named HOMEWORK above my head. The homework is a moderate ammount and doable. (This opinion may become slightly altered once I start doing clinicals.) I have time to take for myself! 30 minutes to read a book or practicing the organ an hour longer makes a big difference in your mental health. I'm at work enough to feel like I know what is going on. I'm not so exhausted that I loathe things like laundry and cooking and dishes. I feel so much more balanced. Life is still busy, but not frenzied.

On the cover of my journal for this year it says this:

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

May this year really be a year of peace.

Sick of being SICK

Well, I thought I'd bested the winter illnesses this year. How upity of me. Last weekend I started getting a little drainage down my throat progressing to a very sore throat. Eventually I was getting so worn out I had to take naps all the time. That was really frustrating because I went to DEEP last weekend, a diversity and leadership retreat for SAU and Oakwood College students, 50 of us all together. All the big mucky-mucks from each school were there, including the President of the Southern Union. I got to meet a lot of new people and do lots of fun things but I didn't get to participate as much as I would have liked, getting the beginnings of the worst sinus infectious illness of my life. I hope my OC roommate isn't sick... The leadership retreat was the kind of thing that would have made my college experience more like academy for me; getting together with other leaders, kids who are really excited about doing stuff for their church. Nursing sorta keeps you from getting involved.

So when I got back, I began several days of getting out of bed, blowing my nose 500 times, going back to bed and sleeping half the day away. I never knew such colorful substances could come out of your nose and eyes in such superfluous quantities. Waking up with your eyes all gooped up has to be the worst sick experience ever. Yesterday was the first day I didn't take a nap in almost a week. I've missed two days of work, but I made myself go to classes because they only meet once a week.

So my lesson for this week has been: Just when you think that there's no possible way you could make it if you got sick... you wouldn't have enough sick days to still go on vacation in May, you couldn't get your homework done, your life might fall apart if you died to the world for a week... You just get sick and everything doesn't matter because you can't think about it. And you wake up 5 days later and realize that it all works out in the end and actually, God probably helped you get sick at this specific time because it fit into your schedule just a bit better right here. Ironic isn't it?

Family Pictures

Over break I scanned some pictures of my parents and I thought I'd share a few just because I think old pictures are so neat. These are from highschool. It's strange to think they've been together this long...