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"What's an EKG?" my sister asked when I told my family that I had learned how to read EKG strips in class yesterday. "You know, its like that screen that shows your heart rate and rhythm." I used my hand to demonstrate the up and down motion that the line makes as it darts across the screen. To be honest, I was absolutely fascinated when our professor explained to the class the meaning of the waves on the EKG strips. I knew nothing beforehand, so I was amazed at the explanation and interpretation of that one simple line. That little dancing line represents the vastly intricate construction of the human heart, including all it's electrical impulses caused by the movement of ions across cell membranes. It involves nodes, conduction, contractions, and timing. It represents the delicate organization and mechanisms of perhaps the most amazing thing God created: the beating human heart. It has been a while since I thought deeply about the heart and how it...

How can I keep from singing your praise? How can I ever say enough? How amazing is your love! As I sang these words by Chris Tomlin tonight, they had a little more meaning than they normally do.  Nursing school is keeping me so busy that I have a much smaller amount of time than I normally have to devote to personal devotion and spiritual disciplines. I am still enjoying moments of "quiet time" daily, but it seems like so little compared to the extended amounts of time that I had during the summer when my schedule was much less full. But God, in His mercy and love, has recognized my hectic schedule. He realizes that I desire to grow spiritually in spite of my crazy life right now, so He has generously given me a little gift to help me along the way: spiritual conversations. I may not have hours upon hours to spend with Him every day, but He knows that, and so He sweetly fills my day with His presence through things as simple as spiritual conversation. I ...

Slipping on my ankle-length skirt and hanging my stethoscope proudly around my neck, I took a quick glance in the mirror before heading out the door. I was going to my club's mixer, which is a social event where girls who are interested in joining our club mix and mingle with the girls who are already members. The theme of this mixer was "when I grow up", and of course every girl was creatively dressed up for the occasion. We had rockstars, princesses, movie stars, and superheros. We had teachers, pro athletes, a farmer, and pregnant women. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I curtsied in my long foreign-looking skirt and enthusiastically stated that I am going to be a missionary nurse. Even since I was really young, I have always answered the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" by saying that I wanted to be a missionary. By the time I was in highschool, I was able to add to that answer that I also wanted to be a nurs...

After a three-mile jog around campus in a pair of hot running shoes, my feet knew just where they wanted to go. On this beautiful Saturday morning, I could smell the beginning of fall in the crisp air as my tired feet walked over to the fountain in the center of campus. I pulled off my socks and gently soaked my feet in the cool water. In no time at all, the sock impressions and redness faded away and my feet became cool and relaxed. Somehow, that simple act refreshed my whole body, and I breathed in deeply and soaked up the warm sun on my face. I smiled to myself and almost felt silly at how much I was enjoying this. Oh, the simple joy of soaking my tired feet in the fountain. It's more than just our feet that get tired. We face busyness and stress that put wear and tear on our entire selves. We battle struggles and temptations that take their toll on our bodies and souls until we feel exhausted. Then there are illnesses, complications, de...

As soon as I heard that the Harding nursing program takes a group of students to Tanzania, Africa, on a summer medical mission trip, I planned to be the first one on the plane. Me, being the planner that I am, decided to make this trip the summer after my junior year of college. Mark it down. Put it on the calendar. Set the alarm. I had this all planned out literally years in advance, before I even started college. Now that the time is actually here, I attended an informational meeting a couple of weeks ago where I learned that I had approximately two weeks to turn in my application and $100 deposit. Suddenly, I only had 14 days to make a huge decision. I had previously been confident about making this decision. After all, I had been planning to do this since way back when, right? But suddenly, I became unsure. I kept thinking to myself,  this is a big time commitment...and it costs a lot of money...and going to Africa this summer means not going bac...

I like to write on my blog at least twice a week, but I have discovered that nursing school is an 8:00 AM - 12:00 AM job, and by the time 12:30 AM rolls around, I am quite ready to crawl into bed and sleep. This is the first time this week that I have had enough time to sit down, breathe, and write, so I apologize that I will not be posting as often as I would like to this semester. Still, I want to share with you what has been on my heart. This weekend, we had a spiritual retreat for my social club that was centered on worship. The theme was "come away with me", which is taken from the Song of Solomon. This unusual book of the Bible can be read as the romantic love story of a husband and wife, but it can also be read as the romantic love story between God and us. Our God is a romantic God. He loves us desperately and desires an intimate personal relationship with us. God created the love between a husband and wife to help us understand the ki...

Standing at the edge, the water looks a long way down. Something deep in my gut whispers, "Don't do it. Don't jump." My heart pounds a little faster and my breaths come quicker. It is crazy thing to jump off a cliff, no matter what the surrounding circumstances may be. So I stand there, peering over the edge, trying to hold my balance while convincing myself to take the step and jump. Here I am, looking at my life, contemplating the road ahead. There are battles to fight, changes to face, and decisions to make. It feels unnatural, even dangerous to be in this place. I don't know what lies ahead. So I stand there, peering over the edge, trying to hold my balance while convincing myself to take the step and jump. I wonder if I should creep up to the edge, hold my breath, and calmly step over the edge. Or maybe I should step away from the ledge and then take a running leap without even thinking about it. Should I be cautious or crazy? Looking at this life, I wo...