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I did not feel like I normally do when I drive to work. Despite my unusual emotions, I was prompted to pray as I always do before going into the hospital each evening. "Lord, I really don't want to be doing this right now," I sighed. My family was back at home, getting ready to go out to dinner with a group of friends. Honestly, I wanted to be there with all of them. "But I feel guilty because I have only been working at this job for a few months. I should still be really excited to go to work, right? But God, right now I just don't want to go." Up until this point, going in to work each time was a new adventure. I couldn't wait to see what kind of patients I would have and what I would learn while caring for them. My throat kind of hurt as I prayed these last words: "...and tonight, I kind of hope we don't have any patients. I'm just tired and don't feel like doing anything." I let out a long breath that I had been holding in f

As I sat on my living room floor in front of the fireplace all snuggled up in a blanket, the words to this famous Christmas song could not have been more perfectly relevant: Oh the weather outside is frightful But the fire is so delightful And since we've no place to go Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow I sipped on a mug of hot cocoa and watched the thick gray winter sky drop ice flakes that coated the roads with a layer to make driving anywhere nearly impossible. We kept a fire going in our fireplace constantly through the ice storm, and I spent every spare moment sitting in front of it. We played games in front of it, watched movies in front of it, and ate dinner in front of it. And it's the real-deal kind of fireplace. It's not the TV screen type that puts out fake heat, nor is it the kind with the perfectly placed (yet entirely fake) yule logs that, like Moses' bush, catch fire but never burn up. No, this is a real fire place with a real fire in it - th

Over the past few months, I have discovered the many perks of being a nurse rather than a nursing student.  For example, I get to take care of real people without doing 20 hours of paperwork on their case. I get to study the things that are relevant in my field without writing papers and taking exams. And then, instead of paying to go to school, I get paid for what I love to do. And let me add to that...the pay is not too bad. When I opened my first check, I think my mouth dropped open and my eyes popped out of my head. I have held a few jobs in my life, but I am pretty sure the number on this first check surpassed all my previous earnings put together. What does a single girl who shares a small apartment and only has two bills - water and electric - do with money like this? Please don't hear me bragging; I am just being honest. I am certainly not the richest girl in the world, but sometimes it feels like it because I have never had money like this. The nurses at work ask me,

"Have you ever had a real Christmas tree before?" I asked my roommate, Rachael. "No. You wanna get one this year?" We looked at each other and smiled as we started scheming. I called my dad a few days later. "Can I borrow a saw?" I asked. "Ummm, yeah. What are you going to do with it?" he asked like every good parent should. "Well, we want to cut down a Christmas tree for our apartment." "Where exactly do you plan on doing that?" he replied. "Any suggestions?" This time the silence was on his end of the line, and I knew exactly what was coming. "You can't do that! It's illegal!" With that idea busted, we decided to support our local famers and visit the Christmas tree farm. My new year's resolution this year will probably be to become friends with someone who owns a large piece of property with pine and fir trees all over it. After selecting the perfect pine and getting it se

"They're here!" Everyone hopped up from the couches and stepped away from the kitchen preparations to fill the entry way with a welcome party. A cold breeze rushed in as the Richters walked through the open front door, but the warmth of excited greetings and hugs was so strong that I hardly noticed. I had been looking forward to this moment ever since I first met the Richter family in Burkina Faso this summer, and now our families were finally getting the chance to meet. There were seventeen of us in all - my family, the Richter family, the Harris family, and Emily (my missions partner and travel buddy in Burkina Faso this summer). My family knows the Harris family from church, but the Harris family is related to the Richters, which I found out when I went to Burkina to visit them and their mission team this summer. It's a small world, and you don't have to go far to find connections in the family of God. We filled the kitchen table and overflowed into the d