See Something More

"I have some news! The outside temperature is officially 54 degrees!” Rachael gave the daily weather announcement just like every other morning, but this particular morning her voice rang with excitement. I happily threw the t-shirt that I just pulled out back into my drawer and exchanged it for a warmer fall top with a jacket. I peeked out the window and could almost tell that the air was cooler. Two little leaves in the tree outside the window had turned bright yellow, and they glistened in the morning sun. As I stepped outside to walk to my 8:00 class, I inhaled a deep breath of crisp air and could feel autumn in my chest. Oh how I love the season of fall! Soon, the leaves will be turning into their full and deep shades of warm color. Girls will start wearing their colorful scarves to class. Red, orange, and yellow tones will color the department stores, and pumpkins will arrive on all the Searcy porches. I notice a complete change in the atmosphere when fall arrives. Peopl

The bright orange tubing matched my favorite color perfectly. The little earpieces fit into my ears just right. The shiny silver bell sparkled in the light. No greasy fingerprints, no scratches, no stains...there it was in all its perfection - my very own stethoscope! I took it out of the box and wrapped it around my neck. I felt a surge of pride as I thought to myself, now I am becoming a real nurse! I ran excitedly around the dorm room showing all my friends my new prize, asking them if I could listen to their hearts and lungs. With a huge smile on my face, I plugged the stethoscope into my ears, cleared my throat, took a deep breath, and listened intently so I could show off my new skill. Nothing. I heard nothing. Disappointed and frustrated, I turned the stethoscope over in my hands, thinking that by examining it I could make it work. All the while, I was thinking, how in the world do you work this thing? My pride in my nursing abilities went down the tube in that instant. Su

I spent the weekend in Africa. Well, not really, but almost! Harding is sponsoring this year's World Mission Workshop , which will be located at Harding's global village. A global village is a simulation of the lifestyles of other cultures, and as you walk through the village you will find authentic African huts, Asian houses on stilts, slums, refugee tents, latrines, gardens, and markets. Much needs to be done in order to prepare for the workshop, so I went to the global village this weekend with a group of other students to work. My team drove out to "Africa," where we grabbed some shovels, took off our shoes, and learned how to mud an African hut. Up until this weekend, I did not realize that "mud" could be a verb, but now I definitely understand not only the definition but the process of mudding! Using shovels, we turned up the hard, dry dirt and added water to it until it became squishy and soft. The best way to mix the mud was with your feet, so I to

One of my favorite things about God's Word is that you can read a part that you have read a million times before and discover something new and exciting that you have never seen before! Just this week, I read Isaiah 53, which is one of the famous Old Testament prophesies about Jesus. You may have heard some of its verses before: "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities," or "by His wounds we are healed." When I read this chapter this week, I caught a verse that may be less famous, but just as powerful. "And the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand." ( Isaiah 53:10) When I think about Jesus, I realize that He is the perfect example of someone who let the will of God prosper in His hand. Jesus reached out to God's will, but He didn't just hold onto it, He opened His hands and let it prosper. He didn't just seek God's will and find it, He then reached out to humanity with God's will by having c

It's a good thing that I want to be a nurse and not an optometrist because I discovered today that I would make a lousy eye doctor. In one of my nursing classes today, we learned how to examine the eye. After the lecture and demonstration, we were given an opthalmascope and the opportunity to practice on one another. My poor lab partner. "All I see is black!...How are you supposed to hold this thing anyway?...Am I hurting you?" I asked her. She sat there patiently while I flashed a light directly into her eye for ten minutes trying to get a glimpse of her retina. After switching sides and trying again for ten minutes, my eyes became so tired that I couldn't even keep one eye open to look through the opthalmascope. "This is hopeless." I gave in to the fact that I would never be a nurse for an eye doctor, and I apologized to my lab partner who was blinking profusely. After giving my eyes a rest, my teacher gave me some instruction and convinced me to try one

I never thought I would find myself here. The gymnasium was packed with people, all huddled together according to the colors on their jerseys. The buzz of everyone's voices bounced off the gym floor and created an excited hum. My eyes scanned the room for pink and green, and when I spotted them in the corner, I walked over to their huddle with a bounce in my step and a smile on my face. A year ago, I vowed to never join a social club, but here I was, mixing and mingling with the ladies of Chi Omega Pi, hoping to find some new friends. Whenever people would ask me, "What makes you want to join a club?" I would begin by saying, "Well...It's kind of a long story..." A year ago, I saw clubs as huge cliques. I didn't want to be indentified by the colors I wore, and I thought the whole organization was silly. But my summer in Nicaragua changed the way I view things. Because everything I experienced there was an opportunity to be a light for Christ, I have

God knew just what I needed when I showed up at Mrs. Lisa's Bible study tonight. Honestly, I went out of habit. Since I have been attending and enjoying Mrs. Lisa's home Bible study for quite some time, I got in the car and drove to her house without really thinking about it. It's Wednesday night, and that's just what I do. However, when I got there, the Lord was waiting to meet me right where I was spiritually. I am embarrassed to say that I walked through the door not expecting to have a significant spiritual experience, but I am overjoyed to say that I left that same door with a new heart. It reminded me that I should always expect God to do great things, so my eyes should always be open to see something more . The devotional tonight brought tears to my eyes, broke my heart, and renewed my passion all at the same time. And when I think about it, the message was so simple. The speaker talked about how unconditional God's love is, yet how conditional our love is

Last night as I was working on my scrapbook from my summer in Nicaragua, I was also reading my journal as it corresponded with the memories in the pictures. The fun part about re-reading my journal is uncovering some of the memories that I had slipped from my memory. One of those memories popped up last night and brought a smile to my face. June 14 was my first day to ever experience a medical mission clinic. Medical missions are my passion, so as we loaded the bus that morning to drive to our site, I was squirming in my seat with excitement. Little did I know that approximately five hundred patients would be waiting outside the gate for us when we arrived. Because the clinical space was so small and the medical brigade was outfitted with all the professionals and equippment that they needed, I did not personally get to help with anything medical all day long. At first, I was frustrated that I didn't get to take blood pressure or learn how to give a shot. I was disappointed that