Movin' On...

I knew that packing day was coming this month...but it seemed so far away. I hadn't really planned to move until grad school was over and the "just right" job appeared...wherever it appears. However, the clinical phase of my degree is taking far longer to complete than I ever dreamed and is requiring that I be away from home more than at home. No matter how hard I tried, I could no longer rationalize paying bills at home and living all over the country for the remainder of my school time. (My home has become a very expensive storage locker!) So, I'm not renewing my lease at the apartment I've really enjoyed living in for the past 4+ years, and I'm movin' on....

I've usually had the luxury of time when I've decided to move and I could take my time packing, but since I have to be out by the end of the month, time is not on my side. I am so grateful that four of my friends came last Saturday to help me pack, and I'm guessing that by the time we finished, the five of us had gotten about 50-60% of the packing done! Pretty good, considering we worked at it hard for about 6 hours! I now have just under 2 weeks to get the remainder packed, along with some remaining schoolwork, and then I can resume clinicals. Because I don't know where the "just right" job will be when this journey is over, I'm storing everything (that I don't either take with me or keep at my mom's house) at a U-Haul facility. Then, off I'll go to Oklahoma City!

Yesterday, I was reading Joshua 1:9 in the Complete Jewish Bible. In this translation, the verse reads as follows: "Haven't I ordered you, 'Be strong, be bold"? So don't be afraid or downhearted, because ADONAI your God is with you wherever you go." The following was my reflection on this Scripture....

"The word 'ordered' in the verse above surprised me, but on thinking back, I remembered the word I'm familiar with (in that spot -- different translation) is 'commanded'. Same difference...but it made me stop and think a bit. I have been...well, not so much afraid as downhearted about leaving my apartment. I never did get to organize it and decorate it as I really wanted to and always pictured in my mind's eye. Maybe it will happen the next time around...but now I see I have orders...any good nurse knows what to do with orders! I believe God will go (is going) before me and will be with me wherever I go...."

Savior, Christ the King!

This is how I spent most of the day on Saturday and Sunday...playing harp in our Christmas presentation, "Savior, Christ the King". I had more fun than I've had in a long time making beautiful music with my church orchestra! What this doesn't show is the other harpist who played with me. (She was taking the picture.)

I tried to remember to look through the strings and be sure we were together. Most of the time we were, but there were a couple of funny moments (in retrospect)...waiting for a cue from the conductor with hands poised...missed my cue, but the other harpist played the line, so it must have looked like harp ventriloquism! A couple of times, we each had mis-counted and had a solo glissando...hopefully it sounded like it belonged, even though it didn't. But the harps definitely were heard this year...both of us had good microphones and the sound techs had us turned up "hot". I promise I could hear myself tuning before the concert out in the auditorium. It feels especially good to be waiting on a cue from the conductor and playing on his cue just like he's expecting!

My fingers are just barely sore today, which is amazing since I had no callouses before I went to rehearsal last Wednesday. After almost 18 years of playing harp (yikes!), my fingers recover and re-develop callouses pretty well.

I hope I can always play harp with an orchestra...it's so much fun making music with others!

Now that we've welcomed Christ the King in music, it's time to make my heart ready again for His coming! I hope you all have a blessed Christmas season!

Over the River and Through the Woods....

...and past the cornfields, leaving the snowfall behind! One thing's for sure, I know where corn comes from...there are so many cornfields in IN and OH...it's unbelieveable! I loaded the car and drove back home to NC last Thursday and Friday. I planned to drive to the halfway point and spend a night in West Virginia, before finishing the drive on Friday. So, after saying a temporary goodbye to everyone in the office, I took off driving past scenes like this as I made my way through central Indiana and southwestern Ohio. I made it almost to the border of Ohio before needing to buy gas, and when I found a station, gas was $1.59/gallon, the lowest price in that area! I was able to fill up to the brim for only $28!!

As nightfall came, I was traveling though Portsmouth, OH. There was a suspension bridge over the Ohio River; the lighting was unbelieveably beautiful! (I just looked for a picture of it online, but I couldn't find one that was taken at night.) If you ever get a chance to see it, take the opportunity! Anyway, after I crossed the bridge, I came to a sign at the traffic light that said I was crossing into KY. Strange...I had looked at my Yahoo! directions and thought I wasn't going through KY this time. But I continued on, thinking that I was supposed to go 67 miles from the last turn I had made, and I was only at 40-something miles. It got darker and darker...except for twinkling Christmas lights, and I finally saw that I had been looking at the wrong line of directions and had gone about 20 miles past where the next directions were to take over, so I had to go back...didn't want to...but had to. Going over that bridge again almost made it worthwhile, but I was more than a little annoyed with myself, because I wasn't sure exactly where I was. I parked and dug out my PDA that I use in the clinical setting and the GPS software I bought, and after some prayer and determined effort, I ventured out again in Portsmouth going another direction. I arrived safely at my hotel in WV about 1 1/2 hours later than I had intended. I went out to get food to bring back to the hotel to eat after I unloaded and settled in (too late) after watching part of a TVLand "Cosby Show" festival. Oh well...I don't get the opportunity to do that very often.

After breakfast and a catch-up conversation with my regional clinical coordinator, I set out for the remainder of my trip and drove through WV, VA, and NC. As I drove and listened to teaching CDs, I had a front row seat to some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable! I love mountain scenery and tunnels, but I'm not so crazy about drivers that get up right behind me when I am going 70 (the speed limit) and act like they're going right into my trunk when there's no room (and I can't move over)! Anybody ever heard of BRAKES???!

I arrived in northern Mecklenburg County shortly after 4PM and met my mom and cousin for supper. I filled my tank this time for $30 ($1.70/gallon)! I had gotten just short of 500 miles on one tank of gas in my SUV...worked out to about 28.1 MPG...such a great car! After supper, I began the unloading process...it took multiple trips in and out of the apartment, but I finally got it all inside...and promptly landed in my recliner! Considering that the temperature in the previous 2 weeks in Indiana had been mostly in the 20s and low 30s with snow (and frozen roads at times), Charlotte feels like it's having a heat wave with temperatures in the 40s and 50s! Tomorrow's temperature is expected to be in the 60s!!

Since returning home, I've been to a reunion of a church group celebrating its 30th anniversary in ministry; some of those folks I hadn't seen in over 20 years, so that was pretty neat! I played harp in the church orchestra twice on Sunday morning; I've missed that terribly since I've been away in Indiana. I got lots of hugs and friendly greetings from those I've missed! I went to a Christmas dinner with Mom at her church on Sunday (and ate too much...sigh).

Yesterday, I went to practice with another harpist the harp parts for the Christmas musical that we will be playing this weekend on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon and evening. We had to play "divide and conquer" on one of the parts because the arranger must have forgotten that harpists only use three fingers and a thumb on each hand to play any given chord. Some of the chords had at least 10 notes to play, and I threatened to play with both hands and my left foot! (If only I were really that coordinated....sigh!) Although it wouldn't be ladylike at all, it would get the notes covered! Oh well, after a nice long sectional rehearsal, the other harpist and I have a plan of attack at least. We'll have dress rehearsal Wednesday night to further cement things. I love to play in church orchestra!

Today, I'm just getting ready to do more schoolwork, thinking with great joy that next Christmas, I should be able to just go to work, decorate, and enjoy the season just as it's meant to be...boy, oh boy, am I ever looking forward to that!!

White Rain

I try really hard not to pay too much attention to the weather reports, because I've seen them be wrong so many times. Take, for instance, last night's report. Yahoo! had predicted snow or a wintry mix for Sunday, but the TV report before bedtime was that this would be a "rain event".

When I woke at the usual time this morning, I noticed it was darker than usual, so I got up and looked out the window. Yep, you guessed it...the "rain event" looked just like the picture above. White rain?? Sorry for all of you who love snow, but the first thing out of my mouth was, "Oh, no!" Now, truthfully, I love snow, too, but only when I don't need to travel in it. I had planned to go to church today.

Now, my friends in places that really get snow would laugh at what we got here in Indiana...probably only about an inch. But, it's always a test of my faith when I have to drive in it, because in my area of the country, we don't get very much snow, but we do get ice and sleet. That's why until I moved to Oklahoma in the early 90s, my dad, who was a truck driver, was always called upon to take me to school or work when it snowed (or did whatever it was going to do in NC). Boy, oh boy, the first time I had to drive to school at ORU when it snowed (because they wouldn't cancel school), I had this white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel all of my 5-10 minute drive there.

I went upstairs where I could see the road, and watched the cars as they moved along the road without a bit of difficulty. I thought about it, and decided the following things:

• If it were a work day, I'd go to work no matter what it was doing outside, so why would going to church be any different?
• I squinted, and as far as I could tell, there was no "mix"...just snow.
• Cars were moving along the (secondary) roads without one bit of difficulty. Now, I know this is Indiana, but it didn't look threatening.

So, off I went...and you know what? The roads were only wet where the snow had been, but had already melted. I drove safely to church, where I worshiped and heard this great sermon on "Faith in Development"...about how the things we go through in life are meant to develop and strengthen our faith in God! I'd already had my object lesson on the way to church!

The snow is melting quickly, it seems, though it's still very cold. The snow is still at this pretty stage on the roadside and in the trees. It's so amazing that God proves Himself and His love to me over and over again!

A Different Sort of Thanksgiving...

While most of the country was bustling with holiday celebrations with food, family, and friends, my holiday was a quiet one in Indiana. I was struck with how different this day was from most of my other Thanksgivings in the past.

As a child, Thanksgiving was a time to gather at my grandparents' house next door with my parents and usually an aunt and her daughters. Since I was an only child, I was accustomed to things being a good deal quieter than they were on those special days. I would play with my cousins, then we would eat a fabulous lunch, and we cousins would continue to play after lunch while the grownups were cleaning up. But after a little while, I'd slip away to our house (when I'd had enough "loud") and take a nap until time for the city's Thanksgiving parade. I'd sleepily watch the parade, then drag myself to the kitchen to get some favorite leftovers.

For many years, I attended a church that had a wonderful Thanksgiving service that started without fail at 10AM with praise and worship songs, reading of Scriptures, and testimonies from people who were especially thankful for things that had happened in the past year. I can still remember how whole families lined up in the sanctuary to give their praises to God. We always closed with communion and the Aaronic blessing (the Lord bless you and keep you...). Most of the time, we were doing good to finish the service by 12:30PM, and I'd rush to get to my family lunch, which had usually already started.

When I moved several states away, there was never enough time allotted for me to go home for Thanksgiving, especially since I was going home for Christmas and New Year's Day each year. Those Thanksgivings were celebrated with other families -- the first couple of years with the family of my handbell teacher and other kids from the university who had no family in town, then after that, it was usually spent with my dear friends who were a second family to me. These friends usually had Thanksgiving dinner in the late afternoon, so most Thanksgivings found me at the hospital working day shift (usually for double pay...needed that!), then going to their house for the evening.

When I moved back to my hometown, I hosted my parents at my apartment for my first Thanksgiving back in town and felt so "grown up", decorating and having everything "just so". We shared the food preparation and cleanup, visited a little while, and they went home. I am so thankful that I hosted Thanksgiving at my house that year, because the next year, Daddy was in an assisted living facility and couldn't have made the trip. Since he's been gone for almost 3 years, Mom and I have usually been together for a meal and a visit.

But this year found us separated -- she in the family home in North Carolina, and I in Indiana. Thankfully, her cousin came over to have lunch with Mom, and they spent a musical afternoon together, playing the piano and singing. I, on the other hand, spent some quiet time in Scriptures, and did a variety of activities, from watching the parade and other old sitcom favorites, to studying for the next exam that I hope to finish next Monday. Oh, and yesterday, I went to see the baby who was my first "catch" and his parents; they're all doing well and the baby's already gained over a pound in the past month! I had taken some pictures, and I made them into a Smilebox to send them...that's always fun.

I decided to "take myself out on a date" this evening...really hard to find a restaurant open. I finally found a Cracker Barrel restaurant open, and I enjoyed their Thanksgiving meal, which gave me the tastes of the day, without the opportunity to get seconds (and thirds, etc.). I had to laugh when on the way there and back again I saw this huge blow-up of Tom Turkey sitting on someone's nicely manicured lawn.

And, no-o-o, tomorrow I won't be out at 4AM shopping...that's when you'll know I've lost my mind, because 4AM is for SLEEPING...unless I would be babycatching, and I don't think that's liable to happen.

Whatever the season of life, whether boisterously loud, quiet, or somewhere in between, this fact remains -- the LORD is good, and His mercy endures forever! Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, what a relief it is!

As of 3:45PM on November 12, I finished my Advanced Antepartum course! I scored 90 (A) on the test, and my final grade was 88.8% (high B). I've been studying so long for that second test and I feel so-o-o-o good that it's finally over! I'm almost floating...shoot, by the time I finish my last two exams for this year, I may well be flying!

Help! I'm studying and I can't wake up!!

No...this isn't me, but if you had seen me the last few days while I've been studying, this is what you would have seen! I've started to study for next week's test each day this week (except Tuesday) in the late morning, and it isn't long before I'm nodding. So much material...all of it to be condensed into 50 questions. (Can you say overwhelming?) The next test on my dashboard is on Advanced Antepartum (Pregnancy, for non-nurses) Care. Here's an overview of what I'm trying to get organized in my head:

• Depression in Pregnancy
• Organic Diseases in Pregnancy (cardiac, respiratory, dermatologic, thyroid) -- management and treatment
• Rh and blood group incompatibilities
• Substance Abuse in Pregnancy (tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and meth) -- cessation strategies, effects on babies
• Domestic Violence
• Genetic Testing (types available & reliability, counseling, genetic diseases)
• Teen Pregnancy
• Older Women (age 35 and above...sigh) and Pregnancy

I do make progress daily, but there's so much information to absorb. But absorb it I will...and then another course will be finished and off the radar!