Home Is Where The Heart Is

So in case you haven't caught on, I usually don't update until I have something to write about, and sometimes that takes a while. Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote, and one of the major things is that I bought my first house! A real house, and it's mine. I LOVE IT!! This is a picture of the fireplace. This has become my place to come home and just rest. It's like my own private retreat. :) Now onto some other recent developments...

My heart has been so restless lately. It's hard to explain. I have pretty much decided to take the first step in pursuing my life's dream, and apply for graduate school for a masters in youth ministry. As a result, I have found myself facing so many doubts...what if this is what I want to do, not what God wants me to do, what if I am suppose to do something else, what if I'm no good, what if, what if, what if? On a positive note (kind of), I have found myself so convicted of my own sin. It is disgusting how immune I had become to it and how it seems all of a sudden I am so aware of it, and so put off by it. I know that if I'm to serve as an example to young people, there are things that need to change so that His light may shine brighter through me. I seem to have started out on a new leg of my journey, and I think I like what it may bring. Stay tuned for more on this topic, as I continue to learn more myself. Now it may seem like aimless rambling, but I know it will eventually all come together.

I got to go to Tampa this past weekend. I got to see so many old friends. It was such an awesome reminder of how incredibly blessed I am. I got to see and catch up with people I hadn't seen in two years, and some even longer, but we were able to pick up right where we left off. I got to catch up with my old coach, saw my old english teacher, stayed at a great friends' house, spent time just hanging out and laughing with old friends, went to a wedding. It was all great. I was so overwhelmed at church on Sunday- standing and worshipping with people who were instrumental in my high school experience, in a church that served as a foundation for those awkward teenage years. What made it even better was knowing that on the other side of my plane ride, I would be home with the people and the church that are so important to me now. God's grace is more than enough, and I am richly blessed. Home truly is where the heart is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y01rx_XzQ34

Footprints In The Snow

Footprints in the snow? I don't get it...let me explain. If you've ever seen a ski mountain after a fresh snow fall and before the runs open, it is brilliantly white...an uncharted territory if you will, and each person who gets on that mountain will leave their own personal tracks in the snow. Some will fall, leaving prints hiking up the snow to get all their gear together before they continue on their adventure, and others will leave a continuous line leading down the mountain. Fresh snow is the best to ski on! I have been given fresh snow! Today, I got a job at a hospital close to my apartment! This has been a long time coming, and there will be times when the ride will be smooth, and other times when it will be an uphill battle for me to get it all together and continue on. I know the trail won't always be easy, but it's fresh, and I have been given an opportunity to leave my mark...GOD IS SOO GOOD!!!

So here is the background to my excitement that can't truly be expressed right now...
In May, I graduated nursing school and took a job I didn't really want, but was thankful to have. I took it after a few rejections from potential employers that left my self-esteem shattered. Needless to say, I've felt like the past 8 or 9 months have been an uphill battle trying to prove myself worthy, and also swallowing my pride numerous times when answering questions like "why in the world do you want to work here?" (it's a 46 mile commute) I did not choose this job, it was the only option at the time (I will always be thankful for the paycheck it supplied). After battling the new nurse nerves on top of some pretty awkward and frustrating staff dynamics, plus spending half my income filling up my car and trying not to fall asleep at the wheel, my heart has felt heavy.

Now, after months of applications, interviews, set backs, and hope, I have arrived...a much happier me...relieved, and lighter with so much weight off my shoulders. I will be able to have a life...here...in my town, with my friends. I am ecstatic and incredibly grateful. In looking back, I can honestly say that I'm going to miss my co-workers on night shift because they have all been a huge support while going thorugh this, and I know that I was meant to be where I was for the time I was there, because I am confident it was God's answers to my prayers at that point (though it wasn't what I was hoping for) Please stay tuned for more updates. Ski this mountain with me, and please...enjoy the fresh powder along the way!!!

A New Year, A New Year

So it's January 20th, and some of those resolutions have already come and gone. Fresh starts are a funny thing. They are so freeing and so exciting, yet there is such familiarity and comfort in the current ways of life. This could be elaborated on, but I will choose to move on for now. There seem to be so many things I want to do/see/accomplish in this life. For instance, there is a part of me that wants to pursue emergency nursing, perhaps going to EMT school, and on to being a flight nurse. There's another part of me that wants nothing more than to form relationships with today' youth through youth ministry, with the ultimate dream of owning and running my own camp, or pursuing overseas work with youth. I also am interested in Big Sisters. Another part of me wants to take time and just travel the world and experience all it has to offer. There is still another side of me that wants to attempt writing a book, perhaps. I would also like to learn to play guitar and piano. Add on to that, learning Spanish and Sign Language. Did I mention I would also like to be in a television series? Oh, and I also want to own a home, get married and have a family. I would also like to..........well, you get the point. Some go hand in hand and some don't go together at all. For this reason, it will be interesting. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future. The future is an unfamiliar, yet fantastically exciting thing, but for now, I will discover my future one day at a time, through the present, the here and now. For now, my future involves cleaning my apartment. Any volunteers?

So...It's ben a while...

I realize that I haven't updated in quite some time (if anyone reads this anyway). Let's see...I graduated in May, 2007. I then took and passed the NCLEX in June and became an official Registered Nurse (RN). It is crazy how quickly time passes! I am currently working the night shift on a cardiac step-down unit in a small county hospital. I don't particularly enjoy it, but it has been a decent starting point. I've had lots of experiences. I've lived and learned. I am ready to do something else, somewhere else. I had an interview this past Wednesday, but I'm not really sure how it went. I haven't heard anything back yet. However, even if I don't get the position, it is a step in the right direction. I feel like this year is going to bring about a lot of changes...and I think they will be good changes...I HOPE they will be good changes. I am going to make a committment to update this regularly, so if you are reading, please check back soon. Happy Trails,
Sarah