See Something More

This week I have discovered that nursing school is so much more than studying pathophysiology and learning how to give care. Sometimes, nursing school does more than scratch the surface of knowledge; it draws deep into the well of personal emotion and understanding. With a class in gerontology and a clinical rotation in chronic illness, this semester has forced me to face difficult emotions. Topics such as "end of life care", "hospice", and "aging" have brought forth some thoughts that have not been easy to deal with. But then, actually caring for patients who are experiencing those things has brought it all to life in ways that I cannot express in words. Yet I will do my best. I have asked myself questions that I have never asked honestly before. What are my perceptions of growing old? Why are there chronic and terminal illnesses? Why do we have to go through physical deterioration, and why to some go through mental deterioration? What is the meaning

Jeremiah 31:3-4 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful." In Jeremiah 31:3-4, you can almost hear the tenderness in the Lord's voice as he speaks to Israel. But something about this Scripture is especially gentle and touching, and it is the name by which God calls his people...O Virgin Israel. Before the book of Jeremiah was even scripted, another story was written in the book of Hosea. In that story, God asks Hosea to marry a prostitute. After he married her and had children with her, she ran away and went back into prostitution. In his faithfulness, Hosea bought her back and loved her still. The story is an allegory of how God was faithful to Israel even they chased afters other loves. Again and again, they gave their hearts away to les

This weekend, I attended the 30th annual medical missions conference in Dallas, Texas. Going to classes, visiting booths, networking with missionaries, seeing familiar faces, and meeting new people who are also interested in missions were the highlights of the trip...just to name a few.  I also spent the weekend with my team serving in Tanzania, Africa, this summer. Seven nursing students, two instructors, three doctors, their wives, plus two children will make this trip a blast. I walked away from the conference with new medical knowledge about diabetes, wound care, and dehydration. More importantly, I left with a refreshed spirit towards mission work and a confident heart in the power of God around the world. Perhaps the most important thread throughout the speakers and sessions at the conference was this: it's about so much more than medicine. The reason we do medical missions is not to give shots, perform surgery, or dress wounds. It's really not even about healing

One of my favorite stories is found in 2 Chronicles 20. This is my version of the story, although I encourage you to read it in context for yourself sometime soon. Jehoshaphat, the king of God's people, gets a surprise message one day announcing that a giagntic army is coming to attack him. In the shock of the moment, his response is to go to the Lord. Then God, instead of telling Jehoshaphat to saddle his horses and sharpen his swords, tells the king to do something entirely different and unexpected. He instructs him to not be afraid or discouraged, but to stand his ground and watch what the Lord will do. God tells Jehoshaphat that the battle does not belong to him anyway. It belongs to God. The next day, Jehoshaphat takes his army out to battle, but instead of putting the strongest men or the fastest horses on the front line, he appoints a group of worshippers to lead the way. They actually approach this vast army and go out into battle while praising God. Then God, the her

When I sat down in the classroom, a large sheet of white paper spread across the desk in front of me. I readied my pen for an extensive assignment regarding the nursing process. Instead, my professor handed out colorful markers and instructed us to draw a picture. Really? How funny! I thought to myself. We are in nursing school and we are drawing pictures! "I want you to draw a picture of how you have changed since entering nursing school." I heard lids popping off and markers squeaking across paper. I just sat there quietly, not because I didn't know how I had changed, but because I didn't know how to use a crayola marker to express it. With time ticking away, I eventually started drawing a nurse in the center of my page. Dressed in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck, she represented the preparation I have gained as a nursing student. I feel like a real nurse now more than ever before. Her cartoon smile was way too big for her face, but that is because th

"They all realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful—and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, 'God is back, looking to the needs of his people!' The news of Jesus spread all through the country." Luke 7:16-17 (The Message) This was one of the theme verses from Passion this year that really stood out - especially the last sentence: The news of Jesus spread all through the country. Just across the street from the Georgia Dome where the Passion conference was held is the CNN building. CNN actually did a report and covered our conference, which you can read about and watch here . The news of Jesus spead all through the country. During one of the main sessions at the conference, the Passion band performed the global version of "How Great is Our God" with many different people and many languages all involved. During that time, "How Great is Our God" was trending as t

Imagine 44,000 college-aged students gathered in one place for one purpose: to weave worship and justice together in their lives. Imagine the Georgia Dome erupting with shouts and applause, not for the winning football team or latest pop culture artist, but for the King of the universe. Imagine the sight of 44,000 pairs of hands raised high and hear the sound of 44,000 voices praising Christ in unison, all rising above the noise of the super sound systems and electric guitars. Imagine passionate, authentic Christians coming together to increase their love, devotion, mission, and boldness for Christ. They are there for Him. Each leaves with a deeper relationship with Him, a life fully surrendered to Him, and a heart for the nations of the world in the name of Jesus. This is the Passion conference. Every year in January, the Passion conference is held in Atlanta for college-aged students. In my own words, it is a gigantic gathering of Jesus-lovers who want to be sold-out for Him with

Driving up the steep mountain pass, I gazed out the window, trying to soak up every ounce of scenery even though it passed by at fifty miles an hour. A red barn rested quietly and brilliantly in a field of soft, untouched snow. Steep rock faces and cliffs towered over the road as it snaked its way up the mountain pass. A frozen waterfall tumbled over the mountainside as if time had stopped still. Over Christmas break, my family and I went snow skiing at Wolf Creek in Colorado. We drove up the mountain pass to reach the ski slopes every day, and every day the scenery amazed us. I feel as if I could drive that thirty-minute pass every day and never grow tired of the surrounding beauty. All day long on the ski slopes, we were encompassed by the majesty of vast mountain ranges made of sharp, rugged mountain faces. I kept thinking about how God's Word often portrays creation as praising God. Psalm 96:11-13 says, "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea re