awwww man

I recently(like 2 hours ago) dropped the book I was reading in the bathtub when I was relaxing. How sad? It's drying now, well kind of.

I just wanted to mention by the way, that the girl mentioned in the previous post (Andrea Neal was her name) left her medical form from the ambulance in my car...with all her info on it. :) I might be able to get in touch with her...hmmm, ya never know... :)

READ BELOW, I JUST POSTED IT!

Hope for the hopeless

So I was in Wilmington for my cousin's wedding this past week-end. It was a blast to say the least, from kickball with the wedding party(most of us) on Thursday, to giggling at night with new friends, to the beauty of a God-centered marriage on the actual day. BUT... I have a story...

Thursday night after kickball, we dispersed to our destinations with a couple of pit stops in between. For my sister and I, it was starbucks(I wanted to do some reading, she needed to work on the powerpoint for the rehearsal dinner) and for our sister-in-law(SIL) it was Ross...or so we thought. I picked up the phone to let my SIL in her car behind us (about 4 cars back) know to turn left at the next light. We were turning right as she started saying someone got in a wreck. To spare all the details, it was not a pretty sight so I went ahead and turned as planned into the shopping center and parked across from the wreck. Only to find out the girl who slammed into another girl was "stuck" in her car. After I saw nobody but one lady was heading her way, I just got out and approached her as well. We managed to get her out of the car(which is not what you should do medically but the other lady who was a retired nurse insisted we move her because the car was "going to blow up") and carried her to the shoulder of the busiest road in Wilminton(college road).

To spare you from even more details, I'll fast forward to the part where my heart got way involved. After doing my nursing assessment while holding this girl who was pretty hurt on the side of the road, and after her not going in the ambulance to the hospital, I was so sad for her as she explained her situation in a "im in shock and despair" sort of way. She ended up sitting with me in my car(with the heat full blast) and I was praying this whole time mind you, for strength to take the opportunity to share God's love, wisdom, and to hold my tears back as she was not crying herself. You see...

After a few questions and more details I won't go into, I found out she used to be a surg tech, she hurt her leg previously in February and does not have medical insurance, and she found out her mom has breast cancer THAT VERY DAY. All I managed to do for her in the short time we had in my car was listen, tell her how sorry I was, and pray a prayer of hope(I decided that's more so what it was). I cannot imagine her situation, how hopeless she must feel, but I know the God in whom I trust and serve is mighty to save and gives hope to the hopeless...so that's where I turned. I wish I could say she gave her life to the Lord in the midst of her physical and emotional pain, but that probably wasn't the time...if nothing else, the Lord sure used the situation to give me a heart check and remember no matter the circumstances, I know that as a child of God, I have hope.

"and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Romans 5:5

"He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again." 2 Corinthians 1:10

I don't have a clever title for this post. :)

I didn't put a title because I have so many topics I want to talk about since it's been awhile. So here we go!...

Lately, I've been working a lot, a whole lot. Or maybe it seems that way because it's my only obligation right now...I pretty much work and then hang out with people of all kinds...all the time.

My job is great. I am so grateful to be a labor and delivery nurse...what a privilege. I mean who doesn't want to be at the first birthday ever? :) I don't really know how people used to give birth without a nurse around...gotta have a great husband I guess. ha. I'm about to transition to the "high risk" labor and delivery unit and I am scared outta my mind considering the dangerousness of the drugs I will be administering. But I will learn and it will be alright.

So I hang out with people a lot as I mentioned before, it has almost taken the place of how much I read but I'm trying to get back there because I learn so much from books. Which brings me to my next point. I'm reading this book by K.P. Yohannan called "The Road to Reality," and I won't give a book review right now but there are two sweet sentences that have jumped out at me as the Lord has used this book already to convict me and challenge me to die to myself and my fleshly desires.

This first quote is the author defending the truth about what Christianity in the western world is like today and a response to a believer who would say something like, "Christians aren't perfect, they're just forgiven" or "lets be careful not to put people on guilt trips or teach legalism." Now I am guilty as charged with thinking that sometimes, because I am prone to get grace confused with tolerance very easily. But Yohannan's response was this...and its good...

"We have to question a Christianity that has so distorted the gospel of grace that a simple call to obedience is mistaken for legalism."

How 'bout them apples?

I always appreciate new insight on issues such as grace and legalism like I said before because I swing to both extremes from time to time. Anyway, I feel like I have indulged in hedonism lately, finding pleasure in pleasure itself rather than Christ. Whether it be fun or food or internet, or people, nothing is more satisfying than Christ and the peace He floods my heart with. May I keep learning how to die to my flesh and take up my Cross and follow Christ, however rocky or smooth the road may be.

I'll stop here before I wanna tell the story about how someone offended me the other day and it was all I could do to not feel immediately judged when I said what college I went to...random, I know. But it happened...k that's all. :)