10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
11 I, I am the LORD,
and besides me there is no savior.
12 I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and I am God.
13 Also henceforth I am he;
there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?”
Isaiah 40:10-13
Thursday, April 29, 2010
One day at a time
"The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived--not always looked forward to as though the 'real' living were around the corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow." Elisabeth Elliot
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Grace for THIS day.
“God has not promised to give us the grace to face all of the desperate situations that we might imagine finding ourselves in. He has promised to sustain us only in the ones that he actually brings us into. He therefore doesn’t promise that we will be able to imagine how we could go through the fire for his sake, but he does promise that if he leads us through the fire, he will give us sufficient grace at that time. Like manna, grace is not something that can be stored up for later use: each day receives its own supply” Iain Duguid
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Enjoy every moment
Encouraged today in my current rotation to remember the Lord's faithfulness in the last... from one month ago during my geriatrics rotation in Mt. Pleasant, SC
February 23, 2010
I had a revelation at work today. I realized for the first time why the medical field is such a unique challenge!!! Its because there is never an end to the work which needs to be finished!! Instead of working on various projects with deadlines and end dates (like in school, swimming, etc), everyday I work with people whose problems are dynamic and ever changing. As soon as you get close to "finishing" a project, a new one pops up! I'm learning that if you're going to last in this field very long you have to be intentional to celebrate small victories along the way with your patients. In such a day to day work environment, I have to make TODAY my project to be completed and CELEBRATE victory in the small things like a patient's smile.
I'm learning that I miss the element of having a large project to work on till its completion, and even the element of procrastination and adrenaline rush that usually goes with it! Instead, I need to learn to channel this excitement and energy into my patients TODAY. It seems like the paper work is never ending. Today I worked 8 hours continuously. I was so incredibly productive and was able to take care of over 10 patients, all their charting and at least 30 others through documentation and phone calls. At the end of the day I thought to myself, "wow I have worked so hard today and accomplished alot in Christ's strength!" only to realize that the fax machine was already FULL of MORE PAPER WORK to be completed!! While I felt discouraged in this moment, the Lord used it to teach me a very powerful lesson.
Isn't it the same with the most important aspects of life? We live in a society that glorifies hard work, projects and deadlines. But the reality is that the crucial elements of life are like my patients, day to day relationships which are dynamic and continuous. There is only one deadline in life that is of significance: death. The Lord says that our days are numbered before one even came to be, He knows when we are born and He knows when we will expire; we however do not know this for ourselves or anyone else! We are deluded and dangerously distracted in this world by thousands of other insignificant deadlines and "priorities" while we are often blind to the great eternal deadline which we and everyone in the world must all face with certainty. Procrastination does not pay for this one! Dead = Deadline!
Anything of worth or significance in this life is like my patients. At our final deadline when we stand before Christ, we will give an account our lives and relationships with others: mainly our relationship with the Lord, the body, and the lost.
Our relationship with the Lord is the most important and is SO dynamic though He is constant. We are ever being changed from glory to glory through the sanctifying work of His Spirit! This relationship never reaches a climax or end. After we overcome a stronghold of sin in our lives, there is always a new one for the Lord to reveal, or maybe even an old one in a new circumstance! What a joy to have CONTINUOUS areas to grow in and work on. It is a JOY to have more work because this means I am still alive and able to glorify Him on earth (just like my patients! if there is more work to do that means they are still ALIVE and have TIME before their final deadline!!!). And what an encouragement when someone comes along side me to encourage me in this journey with Christ; to help me when I am down, to encourage me when I am weak, to correct me when I am living destructively, to affirm me when I am growing and doing well in previous areas of struggle. Should I not be doing the same with my patients!?
Joshua is the most significant relationship I have with another believer. What a joy it is to walk through life with this precious brother and best friend! And what a JOURNEY it is! No two days are alike! We are constantly having new experiences and new seasons of life as I continue to move every 5 weeks and as Joshua finishes his term in India. Hormones definitely add to the complexity and zest of our relationship--sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse!!! Though I am often difficult to love because of my sin, Joshua continues to pursue my heart passionately in a way I don't deserve. He is able to look past my sin and delight in me the way Christ does. Joshua is able to do this in a special way as we approach marriage; he realizes that I am bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, a helper suitable for him personally and uniquely. He delights and cherishes me as beautiful creation of the living and true God. I am made in His image. Should I not also approach my patients with the same delight!? Are they not also made in the image of the only true God? For our Lord is GREAT and does MARVELOUS DEEDS, He alone is God. And with this He is Creator God of my patients. O for grace to see them as the intricate and intentional handiwork of the risen Christ.
Finally there is the lost. Any friendship I have ever known with a lost person has been a challenge. The Lord taught me back in college that it is so easy to think of them as projects. In my sinful mind I used to think of them this way with a goal and agenda in mind, their conversion. And yes, in some ways this is a goal! My deep desire should be for their joy in Christ!!! But the project or transforming work is not mine to complete. Only Christ can intervene and change hearts! Anyone who is in ministry will tell you that the ground is hard and the way is narrow. Pouring into the lives of sinners is no easy task. It can only be done by the supernatural prodding and sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. (though I have not had this experience yet, I am sure that all this will apply when we have children who are lost! Children are a LIFE LONG COMMITMENT!!! Oh my! Lord I pray even now that our children would hear the Gospel and see Christ as beautiful and satisfying! May Christ be the treasure of our family!). We do not naturally love the unlovable. We do not naturally long to spend time with people who are desperately sick, weak, needy, wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). Yet this is what we were. And still are in many ways due to indwelling sin! O Lord forgive me for my pride in dealing with others when I too am so undesirable!!! Yet you pursued me with an effectual grace which was irresistible. You pursued and won my heart though I had wondered far away from your loving arms, the arms that made the universe. May I also pursue my patients zealously with passion and deep love which is rooted in the person of Christ! Though my old people are needy, complex, demented, smelly, and deaf, may I pursue them as a soul which still has precious moments to live before a final deadline. Though my moments with them are few, may I somehow share a glimpse of the reality of Christ. My I shine so brightly as a daughter of the King. Like a beautiful diamond, may the light of Christ brilliantly radiate through me to pierce through physical and spiritual blindness. May I learn from my patients who are wise saints with keen perception of eternity as they approach a nearing encounter with their long awaited Savior. May I beckon those who have wasted their entire lives on the things of the world that do not satisfy. May they be drawn one step closer to the true Satisfier of souls. The Living Water. The Bread of Life.
O that Christ would change my heart. May I know the brevity of these passing breaths and the vastness of eternity following our unrelenting, ever-nearing deadline. Until Christ returns the task is great. The work unending. The laborers few. O that the Lord would raise up laborers for His harvest field in all the world. May He raise up soldiers for His mighty army amongst the unreached peoples of the world. Their deadline is sure yet they know not of it. O my soul, may you be burdened greatly for the souls of the perishing who sit in darkness as their blind hearts and expectant ears wait eagerly to hear the precious name Jesus. There truly is no sweeter name.
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
February 23, 2010
I had a revelation at work today. I realized for the first time why the medical field is such a unique challenge!!! Its because there is never an end to the work which needs to be finished!! Instead of working on various projects with deadlines and end dates (like in school, swimming, etc), everyday I work with people whose problems are dynamic and ever changing. As soon as you get close to "finishing" a project, a new one pops up! I'm learning that if you're going to last in this field very long you have to be intentional to celebrate small victories along the way with your patients. In such a day to day work environment, I have to make TODAY my project to be completed and CELEBRATE victory in the small things like a patient's smile.
I'm learning that I miss the element of having a large project to work on till its completion, and even the element of procrastination and adrenaline rush that usually goes with it! Instead, I need to learn to channel this excitement and energy into my patients TODAY. It seems like the paper work is never ending. Today I worked 8 hours continuously. I was so incredibly productive and was able to take care of over 10 patients, all their charting and at least 30 others through documentation and phone calls. At the end of the day I thought to myself, "wow I have worked so hard today and accomplished alot in Christ's strength!" only to realize that the fax machine was already FULL of MORE PAPER WORK to be completed!! While I felt discouraged in this moment, the Lord used it to teach me a very powerful lesson.
Isn't it the same with the most important aspects of life? We live in a society that glorifies hard work, projects and deadlines. But the reality is that the crucial elements of life are like my patients, day to day relationships which are dynamic and continuous. There is only one deadline in life that is of significance: death. The Lord says that our days are numbered before one even came to be, He knows when we are born and He knows when we will expire; we however do not know this for ourselves or anyone else! We are deluded and dangerously distracted in this world by thousands of other insignificant deadlines and "priorities" while we are often blind to the great eternal deadline which we and everyone in the world must all face with certainty. Procrastination does not pay for this one! Dead = Deadline!
Anything of worth or significance in this life is like my patients. At our final deadline when we stand before Christ, we will give an account our lives and relationships with others: mainly our relationship with the Lord, the body, and the lost.
Our relationship with the Lord is the most important and is SO dynamic though He is constant. We are ever being changed from glory to glory through the sanctifying work of His Spirit! This relationship never reaches a climax or end. After we overcome a stronghold of sin in our lives, there is always a new one for the Lord to reveal, or maybe even an old one in a new circumstance! What a joy to have CONTINUOUS areas to grow in and work on. It is a JOY to have more work because this means I am still alive and able to glorify Him on earth (just like my patients! if there is more work to do that means they are still ALIVE and have TIME before their final deadline!!!). And what an encouragement when someone comes along side me to encourage me in this journey with Christ; to help me when I am down, to encourage me when I am weak, to correct me when I am living destructively, to affirm me when I am growing and doing well in previous areas of struggle. Should I not be doing the same with my patients!?
Joshua is the most significant relationship I have with another believer. What a joy it is to walk through life with this precious brother and best friend! And what a JOURNEY it is! No two days are alike! We are constantly having new experiences and new seasons of life as I continue to move every 5 weeks and as Joshua finishes his term in India. Hormones definitely add to the complexity and zest of our relationship--sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse!!! Though I am often difficult to love because of my sin, Joshua continues to pursue my heart passionately in a way I don't deserve. He is able to look past my sin and delight in me the way Christ does. Joshua is able to do this in a special way as we approach marriage; he realizes that I am bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, a helper suitable for him personally and uniquely. He delights and cherishes me as beautiful creation of the living and true God. I am made in His image. Should I not also approach my patients with the same delight!? Are they not also made in the image of the only true God? For our Lord is GREAT and does MARVELOUS DEEDS, He alone is God. And with this He is Creator God of my patients. O for grace to see them as the intricate and intentional handiwork of the risen Christ.
Finally there is the lost. Any friendship I have ever known with a lost person has been a challenge. The Lord taught me back in college that it is so easy to think of them as projects. In my sinful mind I used to think of them this way with a goal and agenda in mind, their conversion. And yes, in some ways this is a goal! My deep desire should be for their joy in Christ!!! But the project or transforming work is not mine to complete. Only Christ can intervene and change hearts! Anyone who is in ministry will tell you that the ground is hard and the way is narrow. Pouring into the lives of sinners is no easy task. It can only be done by the supernatural prodding and sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. (though I have not had this experience yet, I am sure that all this will apply when we have children who are lost! Children are a LIFE LONG COMMITMENT!!! Oh my! Lord I pray even now that our children would hear the Gospel and see Christ as beautiful and satisfying! May Christ be the treasure of our family!). We do not naturally love the unlovable. We do not naturally long to spend time with people who are desperately sick, weak, needy, wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (Revelation 3:17). Yet this is what we were. And still are in many ways due to indwelling sin! O Lord forgive me for my pride in dealing with others when I too am so undesirable!!! Yet you pursued me with an effectual grace which was irresistible. You pursued and won my heart though I had wondered far away from your loving arms, the arms that made the universe. May I also pursue my patients zealously with passion and deep love which is rooted in the person of Christ! Though my old people are needy, complex, demented, smelly, and deaf, may I pursue them as a soul which still has precious moments to live before a final deadline. Though my moments with them are few, may I somehow share a glimpse of the reality of Christ. My I shine so brightly as a daughter of the King. Like a beautiful diamond, may the light of Christ brilliantly radiate through me to pierce through physical and spiritual blindness. May I learn from my patients who are wise saints with keen perception of eternity as they approach a nearing encounter with their long awaited Savior. May I beckon those who have wasted their entire lives on the things of the world that do not satisfy. May they be drawn one step closer to the true Satisfier of souls. The Living Water. The Bread of Life.
O that Christ would change my heart. May I know the brevity of these passing breaths and the vastness of eternity following our unrelenting, ever-nearing deadline. Until Christ returns the task is great. The work unending. The laborers few. O that the Lord would raise up laborers for His harvest field in all the world. May He raise up soldiers for His mighty army amongst the unreached peoples of the world. Their deadline is sure yet they know not of it. O my soul, may you be burdened greatly for the souls of the perishing who sit in darkness as their blind hearts and expectant ears wait eagerly to hear the precious name Jesus. There truly is no sweeter name.
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Suprises
Well after 24 hours of traveling I finally made it to Bangalore, India. Joshua completely suprised me and met me there!! I did not expect to see him until next week. It has been such a joy and blessing to reunite after 7 months! I have missed him greatly but the Lord has been so gracious to us in our time apa
rt. Joshua has been taking good care of me, touring me around and helping me to get the things I need for my stay in Bangalore (money, water, food etc). Yet another incredible provision of the Lord! Thank you Joshua!
rt. Joshua has been taking good care of me, touring me around and helping me to get the things I need for my stay in Bangalore (money, water, food etc). Yet another incredible provision of the Lord! Thank you Joshua!Yesterday was a very busy day! I was quite tired most of the day from jet lag. After Joshua toured me around the hospital we met up with the Langley family. I experienced my first autorickshaw ride!! This family has been a blessing to Joshua and I. It was deeply encouraging to hear how the Lord is working in their lives and their community.
I toured the hospital this morning and arranged my schedule. I will be working in pediatrics, obstetrics, and community health. The hospital is unlike anything I have ever seen. I am looking forward to seeing how God changes my life through my time h
ere with these beautiful people.
ere with these beautiful people.
Friday, August 7, 2009
India! SO EXCITED!
I will be leaving for India today and will return on the 27th. I will hopefully be able to give updates and pictures along the way!
Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, ALL THE EARTH! Sing to the Lord, bless His name; TELL of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the NATIONS, His marvelous works among ALL the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary! Psalm 96:1-6
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