don't carry it all

Almost three months in.  Can you believe it?

I'm glad this week is over.  Departures, unhelpable patients, stress, policies, blah blah blah.  Instead of listing specifics, I think I will just leave it at that.  Years from now, if I read this, I'm know I'm not going to want to remember the reasons that made my week cruddy.  And by then I will surely have forgotten.  So that being said, let's get the forgetting process on with.

As for the positive things that happened this week:

• I received a great care package in the mail! (Thank you, you know who!)
• With the departure of my peri-op nurse Lorraine came my new nurse Karen.  She's from Australia and will be with us for 4 weeks.  
• Additionally, the eye team welcomed Dr. Glenn Strauss and his wife Kim.  Dr. Strauss basically developed/mastered the cataract surgery that we use here on the ship, called MSICS (pronounced like M-6).  He is able to do them with incredible speed and accuracy, allowing us to operate on more and more patients than previous weeks.  
• While the Strausses are here, Kim will be taking over my role as Peri-Operative Coordinator as I will be filling in for my teammate Shannon during her vacation.  This will give me a nice three week break from normal duties as I become the scheduling coordinator.  
• I made a really good cake (pineapple, coconut, and banana) and even better cream cheese icing. 
• I received another entry in my Mix CD contest, this time from my buddy Dam Mallya.  While it is too soon to tell, he is currently in the running for the Best Cover Art.  And the music is pretty great too.  Thanks Dam!

Last Sunday at our worship service, we sang the old hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."  The first stanza is:

What a friend we have in Jesus, 
all our sins and griefs to bear! 
What a privilege to carry 
everything to God in prayer! 
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear, 
all because we do not carry 
everything to God in prayer. 

I really felt the Lord speaking to me this week through the lines "O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."  Basically, as humans we carry all this crap with us all the time.  Work issues, relationship issues, financial concerns, stress, worries, etc.  And oh how this causes us pain and disquiet.  But in these instances, we totally bring the pain onto our own selves!  As the verse suggests, all we need to do is just give it over to the Lord.  Commit it to the Lord and he will bear our struggles with/for us.  Exodus 14:14 says "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Thanks Carolyn!)  I find this verse and song so comforting after a week like this one.  

In closing, I want to just highlight two blogs by friends of mine back in the states.  The first is called "Psalm 143:8" and is written by my friend Katie.  Kit, as she is also known, is on staff with Young Life, a Christian outreach ministry for highschoolers, in Chesapeake, VA (near Virginia Beach).  Her blog documents her amazing journey of pursuing kids for Christ.  Her most recent post, "Sing Oh Barren Woman," is so beautifully and honestly written and Kit's personality and passion for what she does is so evident in it.  If you know her, you know she is an incredible individual--I encourage you to check out her blog at www.toyouiliftmysoul.blogspot.com.  The other blog of note is called "Postcard Pen Pal" and is written by my friend Kari.  I met Kari through the Young Life circles when I worked at Rockbridge and she is another truly unique and inspiring person.  Her blog is a registry of postcards that she receives: some old, some new, some from friends, from herself, from family.  It is an awesome way to document all that goes in her life and a way to keep memories from escaping.  It's fun to see who pops up on the blog and where the postcards are coming from.  Oh and did I mention that I just think it is really cool?  Check it out at www.postcardpenpal.blogspot.com.  

Thank you all for continued support, prayers, readership, and love.