Gatherings

The three events that always brings people together are birth, death, and marriage. I'm not aware of any births as of recently, but the other two are certainly near. Its a feeling of conflict that draws near when you'll be attending a funeral and a wedding in the same week. It feels like you should only do one thing; if you go to the funeral take the time to mourn and support those whom have lost a loved one, if you go to the wedding make sure you're there to support the newlyweds. This actually triggered a memory of my brother's wedding and a death of a grand aunt around the same time... my family went to the wedding, whereas other relatives attended the funeral. If there were only one event I could choose, I would support the one nearest and dearest to me. There are happy times and there are sad times, but no matter the feeling attached, we should cherish the time we have with the people we love and care about because you never know if there will be a tomorrow.

Nearing the End...

Wow! It has been a while since I last update this, but now that I feel like I have more time maybe I'll write in here more frequently. Its funny that the last entry I wrote was about going to start school, and now this next entry is about the end of my first year of didactic coursework for occupational therapy. It's been a long and difficult journey that went by quickly, and I just have one more final tomorrow before I start my summer of fieldwork!

At the end of the month I will be going to various (pediatric, mental health, physical disability)clinical sites to get some first-hand experience! Its really exciting, all of my assigned locations nearby and the fieldwork educators are very nice. I can't wait to experience all the reasons why I chose to pursue OT! And the increase in free time doesn't hurt either ;)

This past year has been quite a blessing... I think I got into graduate school around this time a year ago, Tina went to church with me for a while, school began a few months later, Joshua moved back :), the ongoing supportive family/friends, and new friendships that were formed. Thank you for being a part of my life!

Of course throughout all this God has been supporting me, I'm very grateful and thankful.

Content in All Situations

Apostle Paul was an amazingly spiritual servant of God. The story of his life as written in the Bible is both shocking and inspiring. He was chosen by God, Jesus himself appeared to Saul (also known as Paul) while he was still persecuting the church! Shortly after that he became a fervent believer and spent the rest of his life glorifying God. He taught us many things through the letters he wrote to the churches, but I think God has been putting this message on my heart:

'I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.' -Philippians 4:12-13

Enjoy the your life as it is, be content with any situation; everything is in God's hands. This was the message this past Sunday, and it was also reiterated today through a devotional email I received. Lets make the best of all we've been given! :)

Prayer

Yesterday I started reading a book called 'Why Revival Tarries' by Leonard Ravenhill; it was given to me by my pastor for the culmination of the discipleship group, thanks Lem!

I'm on chapter two and so far it is an interesting read. It brings many concerns to light and is convicting. "...the people who are not praying are straying." This verse really holds true to me; when I first became a Christian, I pray fairly often... but at that time my prayers were shallow and for physical things.

Then there was the time when I fell away from church and did not pray at all... I started to believe things that Satan was whispering in my ear, and it was the most difficult time of my life thus far. But as I begin maturing as a Christian, I now see the importance of prayer. Prayer is what keeps you in God's love, it maintains your relationship with the Father; prayer is how infants of God can become fully grown spiritual women and men of God.

Prayer is so fundamental, and yet I myself neglect my prayer life because I'm too 'busy' or it just doesn't cross my mind... how sad is that! No wonder there are so many Christians that are just lukewarm.

I hope and pray that my brothers and sisters in God wake-up! May we not be satisfied with how their spiritual lives are currently. We must grow by continual prayer, desire to have spiritual wisdom and understanding, and always give thanks to our Father in heaven. Let us truly live a life worthy and pleasing to our Lord. Amen.

Stupid Books!!!!

So I just finished purchasing all my books recently and I've been slowly receiving them... All these book sellers give their books a better condition rating then the actual condition of the book... Its so irritating to receive books that are not in the condition that I expect them to be in! Yes, I am a picky person... but if I'm going to pay more for a better conditioned book then I want it to be in the right condition! HAHA!!

Aside from that I bid on this set of anatomy books on ebay a month back or so, and it just so happened that the day I decided to look up my books I found this great deal on a set of books I needed. I was super excited because I found these books 2 hours before the bidding was going to end, I thought it was like a God given gift!

Weeks have passed, I have not received the books and there was so response from the seller regarding my purchase so I filed a claim with ebay... after that the seller responded and wasn't even willing to work things out with me and said he wouldn't be able to go through with the purchase due to a family emergency... I was really irritated at first, but eventually the seller said that he was away from home because his mother had fallen ill. I was still irritated, and said something along the lines of 'Ok. I'll be expecting my refund."

But as the days passed the Holy Spirit kept encouraging me to say a pray for him, but I really didn't want to because it would make me feel awkward since that person was a total stranger to me... eventually I gave in and wrote a pray in my response to the seller and he responded 'Its hard to say how this made me feel. Thank you is all I can say.' I'm not sure if this was positive or negative, but I can be hopeful that he felt the love of God through the prayer.

The moral of the story: God might put you in uncomfortable situations sometimes, but everything He does is according to His will and purpose, so just trust Him to know whats best for you and for others whom He loves :)

Busy Busy

Life has been somewhat busy with preparation for school and also doing a volunteer supervising type thing, in addition to my other activities. Even if you're busy, don't forget to take the time to show love to the important people in your life. I'm thankful for everyone that God has put in my life!! Thank you for all the love and support and encouragement through thick and thin!

What is even more important, if you're Christian, is to be sure to make time for God. There are so many days in which I put God on the backburner; times when I don't pray, worship, praise, say grace, or even think about God. How it must break his heart to know this, that his children that he loves so dearly do not even think of him! I pray that this will not be the case for any Christian, myself included. May we all take the time to speak, listen, and wait on our God. Amen.

Back to School

So I'm going to be going back to school very soon, and I'm rather excited and nervous at the same time! I really like preparing for school; knowing what my schedule will be, seeing/buying the books I need before school starts, and just having all the other necessary basic supplies. Whether I actually read all the books and use all the supplies is another matter.

I checked out my scheduled classes for Fall 2011 and I'll be having classes all week long, 3 hours a day, except for Wednesday which will be 6 hours. I'm pondering how many hours I'd have available to work since it would be good to make a little extra money while I'm falling into debt... but at the same time I'm worried about having this hectic course load and being employed at the same time. Work is not recommended while attending school full-time, but it seems manageable if I only work 1-2 days a week and take off time to study when I have exams or projects.

I woke up thinking about what books I needed for school, so I looked up the the required books for my 5 classes. There are 14 required books!! And these textbooks are not cheap... Of course the school book store sells the book at inflated rates in comparison to if you search it out to purchase it on the internet, but I know I'll be spending at least $500 on these book even if I'm purchasing at prices below the school bookstore rate.

All this gets me thinking about school loans and the debt I'll be in after I'm finished... I'm about 10k in debt from my undergrad loans currently, but after I receive my Master's I'll be about 150k in debt. Its absolutely crazy how deep in debt a person can get within a few years! Time to make sure I know how to manage my finances!