Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
hope
we have been hearing a lot about hope in the past few months. as the election ramped up to a crazy fervor, back in November it seemed like 'hope' was the word on a lot of minds. you still see it everywhere on bumper stickers- Obama's face with those simple four letters underneath.
and as I watched the inauguration today on TV, sitting in the resident room at WakeMed hospital, I did feel hopeful. i believe our new President is a smart, thoughtful and Godly man who will lead our country well. but as he alluded to in his address, life doesn't always present us with obvious reasons to hope.
talking to my best friend from college today on the phone, we were reminding ourselves of that fact.
i spent a lot of the past 6 months feeling very UNhopeful about many things, foremost my career in medicine. and she had a difficult pregnancy complicated by health problems, and so a lot of the time our conversations have been more tear-fests than hope rallies!
but she said something today that was wonderful; she was talking about her little baby Vera and said that when she was feeling miserable during pregnancy, God didn't neccesarily answer her prayers right then, but He answered them through Vera.
isn't that beautiful? and so true of the rest of life. our hope is not always in our changed circumstances but in our relationships with others-- and of course with Him.
just some thoughts for a snowy inauguration day!
and as I watched the inauguration today on TV, sitting in the resident room at WakeMed hospital, I did feel hopeful. i believe our new President is a smart, thoughtful and Godly man who will lead our country well. but as he alluded to in his address, life doesn't always present us with obvious reasons to hope.
talking to my best friend from college today on the phone, we were reminding ourselves of that fact.
i spent a lot of the past 6 months feeling very UNhopeful about many things, foremost my career in medicine. and she had a difficult pregnancy complicated by health problems, and so a lot of the time our conversations have been more tear-fests than hope rallies!
but she said something today that was wonderful; she was talking about her little baby Vera and said that when she was feeling miserable during pregnancy, God didn't neccesarily answer her prayers right then, but He answered them through Vera.
isn't that beautiful? and so true of the rest of life. our hope is not always in our changed circumstances but in our relationships with others-- and of course with Him.
just some thoughts for a snowy inauguration day!
Monday, September 1, 2008
reminders
this morning, I have been reminded of 2 things.
1. God's mercies are new every morning.
Today, I feel energized and excited for what lies ahead. I really feel that this weekend is a turning point for me in many ways. . .I am submitting my residency applications, my journal article from my public health internship is being submitted (finally bringing that to a complete close), and tommorrow I start a consult psychiatry elective at UNC, finally bringing to an end the grace-filled-but-chaotic journey of the past few months (Roanoke Rapids! Step 2! Puerto Rico! Residency apps!). I feel like now I am 'settling back down' into a more stable and predictable life for a while. And as much as I like to have fun, I think those who know me well know that I really do crave stability and predictability.
2. I have a passion and calling to help those in need.
Going through letters and bills this morning, I was brought to tears by a letter from World Vision, a Christian organization whose work I strongly support. The story of a 29 year old Haitian woman offering her child to a stranger in exchange for food for her other children was just too much to take.
Only 3 months after the end of my classes in Maternal and Child Health, I fear that I have grown numb to one of my key passions in life. For too many years I have felt paralyzed, too far removed from dire need to really do anything about it. That sense of frustration only grew as a Master’s student in Public Health, studying human suffering from the ivory tower.
Don’t get me wrong- I need to study. I need to be patient, to apply myself to the work in front of me, trusting the Lord that He is slowly preparing me to be able to be greatly used someday for His work to ‘bring good tidings to the afflicted . . .to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives’.
But it’s SO easy to slip from passionate patience into apathy. To slip from ‘I care deeply about this but am quietly waiting for my time of ministry to come’, to ‘Maybe I don’t really care so much. Maybe my wardrobe and my feelings and my little details of life are the most important things in the world’.
So this morning, I was glad for the reminder. Glad to remember that I am ANGRY- bitterly angry- at the injustices of the world in which we live. Glad to remember that Christ’s heart is breaking every day for His children in need. And glad to remember that even in my apathy, He is a forgiving and gracious God. And he is a God who, with or without me, is very much at work in our world, making ‘a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert’.
1. God's mercies are new every morning.
Today, I feel energized and excited for what lies ahead. I really feel that this weekend is a turning point for me in many ways. . .I am submitting my residency applications, my journal article from my public health internship is being submitted (finally bringing that to a complete close), and tommorrow I start a consult psychiatry elective at UNC, finally bringing to an end the grace-filled-but-chaotic journey of the past few months (Roanoke Rapids! Step 2! Puerto Rico! Residency apps!). I feel like now I am 'settling back down' into a more stable and predictable life for a while. And as much as I like to have fun, I think those who know me well know that I really do crave stability and predictability.
2. I have a passion and calling to help those in need.
Going through letters and bills this morning, I was brought to tears by a letter from World Vision, a Christian organization whose work I strongly support. The story of a 29 year old Haitian woman offering her child to a stranger in exchange for food for her other children was just too much to take.
Only 3 months after the end of my classes in Maternal and Child Health, I fear that I have grown numb to one of my key passions in life. For too many years I have felt paralyzed, too far removed from dire need to really do anything about it. That sense of frustration only grew as a Master’s student in Public Health, studying human suffering from the ivory tower.
Don’t get me wrong- I need to study. I need to be patient, to apply myself to the work in front of me, trusting the Lord that He is slowly preparing me to be able to be greatly used someday for His work to ‘bring good tidings to the afflicted . . .to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives’.
But it’s SO easy to slip from passionate patience into apathy. To slip from ‘I care deeply about this but am quietly waiting for my time of ministry to come’, to ‘Maybe I don’t really care so much. Maybe my wardrobe and my feelings and my little details of life are the most important things in the world’.
So this morning, I was glad for the reminder. Glad to remember that I am ANGRY- bitterly angry- at the injustices of the world in which we live. Glad to remember that Christ’s heart is breaking every day for His children in need. And glad to remember that even in my apathy, He is a forgiving and gracious God. And he is a God who, with or without me, is very much at work in our world, making ‘a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert’.
Friday, August 29, 2008
an unexpected visitor
currently, i'm at a local coffee shop whose name will remain withheld. they have amazing cupcakes and excellent coffee. they play a great mix of music and you will always, always run into someone you know. in the winter, I spend a fair amount of time here since the atmosphere is relaxed and pretty cozy.
there is one problem, though. the distinctive smell when walking in the door and the 90% sanitary rating remind me of the reason i just can't spend more time here. . . .they don't exactly care about cleanliness.
carrboro is home of the hippies, so what do a few crumbs matter? my overly neurotic self needs to relax, right? defend the dust! down with the man!
well, that is what I thought too-- until today.
sitting here attempting to work on my residency applications, having a Hefeweissber in the middle of the afternoon, I had almost stopped noticing all the flies buzzing around. par for the course, right?
then i took a look in my green bottle. . .and i shriek to my friend Lisa 'there's a fly in my beer!!'
and it was true.
poor little creature. . .buzzing around, seeking the exit for dear life.
you never know what you will get in Carrboro!
there is one problem, though. the distinctive smell when walking in the door and the 90% sanitary rating remind me of the reason i just can't spend more time here. . . .they don't exactly care about cleanliness.
carrboro is home of the hippies, so what do a few crumbs matter? my overly neurotic self needs to relax, right? defend the dust! down with the man!
well, that is what I thought too-- until today.
sitting here attempting to work on my residency applications, having a Hefeweissber in the middle of the afternoon, I had almost stopped noticing all the flies buzzing around. par for the course, right?
then i took a look in my green bottle. . .and i shriek to my friend Lisa 'there's a fly in my beer!!'
and it was true.
poor little creature. . .buzzing around, seeking the exit for dear life.
you never know what you will get in Carrboro!
Monday, August 25, 2008
mercy and grace
So-- my plan to update my blog in Puerto Rico did not go exactly as planned! After the first day, the computers at the school started malfunctioning and so we could not get on the internet the rest of the week.
But now I have pictures posted with captions that tell most of the story!
Visit my web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/rebecca.adia/PuertoRico2008 .
Bottom line: it was a wonderful trip, full of blessings. Full of God working out the logistics and keeping me safe. Full of fun people, like my 21 year old fellow student from Switzerland- we shopped till we dropped, warded off Puerto Rican men, and with it all, had long talks about faith and life and love while sipping mojitos on the beach. Full of learning- I am so motivated to use Spanish now!! And full of traveling alone but not feeling at all lonely.
The morning that I left town, I sang a song in church that includes the line 'I am surrounded by mercy and grace'. As I look over the past few weeks, I can really say that this is true. And I am so thankful.
But now I have pictures posted with captions that tell most of the story!
Visit my web album at http://picasaweb.google.com/rebecca.adia/PuertoRico2008 .
Bottom line: it was a wonderful trip, full of blessings. Full of God working out the logistics and keeping me safe. Full of fun people, like my 21 year old fellow student from Switzerland- we shopped till we dropped, warded off Puerto Rican men, and with it all, had long talks about faith and life and love while sipping mojitos on the beach. Full of learning- I am so motivated to use Spanish now!! And full of traveling alone but not feeling at all lonely.
The morning that I left town, I sang a song in church that includes the line 'I am surrounded by mercy and grace'. As I look over the past few weeks, I can really say that this is true. And I am so thankful.
Monday, August 18, 2008
estoy aqui!
Mi primer dia en Puerto Rico has been great so far!
random notes:
-Sra. A is exactly what I imagined. A small kind woman in a brightly colored housedress. Love it.
-This small island with an extremely high poverty rate has a much better public transportation system than the Triangle!
-Food at tiny hole-in-the-wall places is a little like the NC state fair: anything can be deep fried (and thus turned into a 'fritura'!)
I just realized that I can't post pics while I'm here, but I hope to post/share many when I get back! The island is beautiful; lots of stucco architecture as expected and lots of lush plants and flowers. My bedroom overlooks a lovely tropical garden. . .que bonita.
Spanish class is going well- it turns out that i get individual instruction, which is wonderful! My teacher, Ingrid, is very energetic and encouraging and pushes me to use my Spanish -- I am definitely going to get my money's worth.
On a final note, i recieved feedback from 2 folks that my earlier profile pic was 'racy'--so I apologize if anyone's sensibilities were offended! (I thought it was an artistic kind of shot. . . ) But yeah. I'll have to post a different one when I am back in the States. :)
Hasta luego!
random notes:
-Sra. A is exactly what I imagined. A small kind woman in a brightly colored housedress. Love it.
-This small island with an extremely high poverty rate has a much better public transportation system than the Triangle!
-Food at tiny hole-in-the-wall places is a little like the NC state fair: anything can be deep fried (and thus turned into a 'fritura'!)
I just realized that I can't post pics while I'm here, but I hope to post/share many when I get back! The island is beautiful; lots of stucco architecture as expected and lots of lush plants and flowers. My bedroom overlooks a lovely tropical garden. . .que bonita.
Spanish class is going well- it turns out that i get individual instruction, which is wonderful! My teacher, Ingrid, is very energetic and encouraging and pushes me to use my Spanish -- I am definitely going to get my money's worth.
On a final note, i recieved feedback from 2 folks that my earlier profile pic was 'racy'--so I apologize if anyone's sensibilities were offended! (I thought it was an artistic kind of shot. . . ) But yeah. I'll have to post a different one when I am back in the States. :)
Hasta luego!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
diviertese!
('Have fun'!)
My friend Emily said that to me last night en espanol. I had to think twice about what she said-- which scares me! Because in just 1 day, I'll be in a place where I'll be speaking Spanish an awful lot of the time. I'm both nervous and excited.
After my plane touches down at 9.43 pm tommorrow evening in San Juan, I will go to the house of Sra. A, my host mother for the week. All I know about her is that she is 67 and lives alone. I'll be curious to see how my mental image matches up with reality. Maybe I should bring her something emblematic of NC as a houseguest gift. Any suggestions??
An awesome friend suprised me by loaning me her 'Santa Biblia' (Holy Bible in Spanish) for my trip. . . what a good idea. I'm definitely excited to sit on the beach and soak in some sun and some scripture! Here is one of my favorite verses- now in a different language. . .
'En el arrepentimiento y la calma esta su salvacion, en la serenedad y la confianza esta su fuerza.'
Isaias 30:15
Returning, rest, serenity, trust-- all things my heart cries out for.
In more fun news, I am spending money like crazy these days-- in preparation for my trip, I bought a new camera yesterday! The old one was just so awful. So bad that OTHER people laughed at it. So, I bought the Canon PowerShot SD1100, in Carolina blue. And--of course-- I picked up a new bathing suit while I was at it. What else could I need? I'm ready to go!
My friend Emily said that to me last night en espanol. I had to think twice about what she said-- which scares me! Because in just 1 day, I'll be in a place where I'll be speaking Spanish an awful lot of the time. I'm both nervous and excited.
After my plane touches down at 9.43 pm tommorrow evening in San Juan, I will go to the house of Sra. A, my host mother for the week. All I know about her is that she is 67 and lives alone. I'll be curious to see how my mental image matches up with reality. Maybe I should bring her something emblematic of NC as a houseguest gift. Any suggestions??
An awesome friend suprised me by loaning me her 'Santa Biblia' (Holy Bible in Spanish) for my trip. . . what a good idea. I'm definitely excited to sit on the beach and soak in some sun and some scripture! Here is one of my favorite verses- now in a different language. . .
'En el arrepentimiento y la calma esta su salvacion, en la serenedad y la confianza esta su fuerza.'
Isaias 30:15
Returning, rest, serenity, trust-- all things my heart cries out for.
In more fun news, I am spending money like crazy these days-- in preparation for my trip, I bought a new camera yesterday! The old one was just so awful. So bad that OTHER people laughed at it. So, I bought the Canon PowerShot SD1100, in Carolina blue. And--of course-- I picked up a new bathing suit while I was at it. What else could I need? I'm ready to go!
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