Weekdays to Weekends

These last two months have flown by; particularly the last three weeks.

Weekdays, I am exhausting my brain with radiography/ hospital procedures. Weekends, I am exhausting my body with outdoor recreation and travels. Perhaps, my irregular sleep schedule is possibly the most exhausting of all. My schedule at the hospital changes every week, ranging from starting at 5:30- 12am. This leads to the inevitable problem on the weekend of being unable to sleep in late. In fact, I am lucky if my body will let me sleep till 8am- even after a late night of craziness.

Even though, it has been fun. I have been to the beach multiple times, had a glorious birthday weekend, and most recently took a trip over to Smith Rock for some spectacular climbing.

Upon my birthday weekend I will elaborate further. (Mainly, because so many people came together to make it spontaneously grand.) In total, I went out to dessert with my friends at Sweet Life, went to a concert featuring the Silversun Pickups, Manchester Orchestra, and Cage the Elephant. I also went on a hike up Spencer's butte, went out to lunch at the Bernstein, visited Saturday Market, and went to a Shakespeare play in the park. Not to mention shot some impressive guns, a bow and a couple airsoft guns and finished off with a hike up Skinner's Butte. Yes, the year of twenty three shall be grand.

Ha, twenty three even started with a trip to Smith Rock climbing multi-pitch for the first time ever! Yes, life is good.

500ft up!

Loving ALL - The mark of a Christian

A good reminder from bible study this week.

Matthew 5: 43-48
You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

A friend recently told me she doesn't want to be called Christian any longer because it is only synonyms with the word hypocrite. I feel this verse calls us, Christians, back to truly what a Christian is called/ defined by- simply, love. But not just any love. Love that is defined by God and is His own. His love is not a pampering love that allows you to do what is comfortable. It is a love that is not marred by feelings. No, simply it is a action, a choice. This love is one that speaks truth and rebukes sin, judges and confronts sin. It is a love that was demonstrated for us while we were still considered Christ's enemies, when he was beaten, bruised, mocked, and tortured till death on a cross. Yes, Christ demonstrated that we should love ALL.
We are not to love showing partiality to those that loved us first. If we do this we are just like everyone else. What sets us apart as changed and impacted by Christ is when we love those that do not love us, to love every person we come into contact, even the people that make life difficult.
Final thoughts from Proverbs and Corinthians:
Proverbs 24: 17
Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice, or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away
Proverbs 25:21
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
1 Corinthians 13:6
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Therefore love, and love as your heavenly Father.

Coffee Mug Poem...

Human thought has no limit. At its risk and peril, it analyses and dissects its own fascination. We could almost say that, by a sort of splendid reaction, it fascinates nature; the mysterious world which surrounds us returns what it receives; it is probable that the contemplators are contemplated. However that may be, there are men on the earth- if they are nothing more-- who distinctly perceive the heights of the absolute in the horizon of their contemplation, and who have the terrible vision of the infinite mountain
- Victor Hugo

Living in Eugene

My mind has been on overdrive these last two weeks. I have been memorizing the city of Eugene, Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend, Hospital Procedures, Radiographic Techniques, Patient Positioning, and so much more. The time has past quickly. Yet, I feel I have taken in enough information equivalent to an entire term of college.

Trying to enjoy my summer and balance my work/ social life, I have also been playing hard during my days/ hours off. I work from 7:00am to 3:30pm (though it is often later than that). This allows me to have the afternoon to study, exercise, and hang out.

Nick and I have been exploring on the weekends. We went to Shotgun creek over the 4th of July weekend and watched the local fireworks from the top of Skinner's Butte in the center of town. Last weekend, we met up with his grandparents out near Carmen & Smith Reservoir to do some camping and fishing. It was so much fun hiking around and boating on the reservoir and Clear Lake. The weather was wonderful and the adventuring was a blast. I love that area of Oregon!

I am also starting to appreciate Eugene and enjoy being here. More importantly though, I am finally feeling comfortable with living at Nick's grandparent's house and jumping in on various procedures in the hospital. Thanks for all the prayers. Keep them coming; next week I need to start comping on exams. (I need to comp 16 exams before September.)

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

It is not an accident that I am in Eugene. For this reason, I am so excited to see what God has planned for me during my time here. There is a purpose.

Extern Starts Tomorrow!

With my final two weeks of summer, my time has been divided between both Eugene (my future home) and Bend (always home).

I moved into a temporary living situation with a friend in my program. After which, I started familiarizing myself with the town. I went on walks of the neighborhood with the family dog, went garage saling with the grandma and took many biking tours with Nick and my mom. Eugene has a great bike system set up throughout the city. Nevertheless, it takes me just under an hour to bike to the hospital from my current location. For this reason, it is a temporary solution to my housing problem. I hope to hear back from an apartment this week. At which point, I will know when and where I will be living for the rest of the year... With my cousin!

My time in Bend, I spent with friends and family. I went hiking around Suttle Lake, up the butte (Pilot Butte) a couple times, and biked around town. The weather has been amazing- Thank you God! With all this, I have managed to distract myself from studying up for extern... shoot! It starts tomorrow! OK, so all I need to do is... brush up on my techniques, positioning, figure out where my lead markers are in storage, find my extern binder and just catch up on house work. oh boy. God calm my nerves.

Bull of the Woods

The begining of summer... What better way to celebrate than a backpack trip with friends.

We (Behak, Nathan, and I) chose to trek a loop east of Salem called Bull of the Woods Loop. This trail promised gorgeous veiws from mt. look outs, wildflowers and impressive old growth trees. It truely surpassed my expectations. It was beautiful. With all the side treks the full loop is 50 miles. We aimed to hike a 40 mile loop. This plan, however, changed as we frequently found ourselves backtracking and cutting new trail. Much of this adventure was over, around and through fallen trees, fording streams, and even sliding over snow. With all of these obsticles, we still managed to find our way back to the car 46 plus miles and 3.5 days later.

Our first evening of hiking was 7 miles in past Opal Pool to a campsite veiwing a lovely waterfall. The next couple days had considerable elevation change and guessing on unmaintained trail- very exhausting! The second day, we hiked 20 miles up to a high lake. I also did a side hike up to Battle Axe and bathed at the lake that our camp was near. (I was nasty and totally fatigued after all those miles of hiking.) Our next day was a lighter 13 miles. We only forded a single stream (less than the day prior) and went up to the bull of the woods lookout this day. The veiw was definately worth the extra mile off the trail. Our final day was only 6 miles to the car - the trail just went to the top of a mountain and then straight down again. HA. The side jont to the top lended no veiw; as it was covered in cloud, but it was still fun knowing that I was at the TOP!

Back to civilization, I am so thankful for warm showers, clean drinking water, and a soft bed (It feels odd, all three of us were sleeping in about the same space that I now command alone.) My memories for this trip will forever be: the beautiful rhododendrons, huge trees, bathing in a high mountain lake, climbing fallen trees, the veiw from bull of the woods lookout (nine mountains! reineer, st, helens, hood, jefferson, three finger jack, washington, north and middle sister and broken top) and the silence of the trek. It was a great time!

Wake up, Wake up!

I find, this year, I did not live a life of joy supplied by a God that is willing to fill. With loss, I decided rather to close off from the people I hold most dear. It was almost as if I made a pact with myself to never have to say the final goodbye to anyone again. As I crawled under the cover of music, exercise and work, I became numb to the world spinning past. What remained at the end of the summer was a shell of a person. Apathetic and uncaring months passed without much recollection of my own.
My next memory is standing on a line of one inch webbing six feet off the ground. Looking down at the grass, I felt fear and pain again as I had just heard of another friend’s death. Tears flowed easier this time. Yet darkness invaded my slow recovering heart, changing it back to dismal. Cold and anesthetized, I finished my time at OIT. There are few moments that stand out in clarity from this last year. They were often triggered by music, wind brushing my face and the beauty of clouds change color in the evening light of spring.
Sad, how the mind closes off. I apologize to all of my friends for not being present in mind. Still, know that those meetings were good for me. Thank you for your patience. Believe it or not, those small points of conversation kept me going more than all the activities I crammed into my life. Those busy weeks of play were only a distraction to keep my mind busy. I healed more talking to you, my friends.
Now coming out the fog, I recognize what I missed living in sadness. Thank you, God, for waking me for the potential final good bye. Uncertain of when we might see each other again, I try to focus on the positive. I will pray for you, friend, continually, that you would be joy filled, live a full life, be confident surrounded by love and peace. John 10: 10 Psalm 5: 11 Ephesians 3:16-19
Ephesians 5: 14
Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
I still pray and hope that you would be aware of my God displaying his love for you daily.
Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed. – Corita Kent
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them; but then an entire life to forget them
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.
-Elbert Hubbard
Wake up wake up- everyday Sunday
Fells like I'm going through the motions in the dark
in a world that leaves me with an uninspired heart
All I know, is I'm so tired
living life a barely feel
give me hope, give me fire
gimme something real
'Cause I don't wanna keep sleep-walking through
endless days, I've had enough of
going nowhere, God I want to
wake up! wake up!
wake up!
It's now or never come and pull me from this dream
where everything is colorless and nothing is what it seems
I believe, only you can make me come alive
help me be so consumed, open up my eyes
'Cause I don't wanna keep sleep-walking through
endless days, I've had enough of
going nowhere, God I want to
wake up! wake up!
wake up!
Half Asleep
I'm so bored
counting sheep
'Cause I don't wanna keep sleep-walking through
endless days, I've had enough of
going nowhere, God I want to
wake up! wake up!
wake up!

"First Time" - lighthouse
We're both looking for something
We've been afraid to find
It's easier to be broken
It's easier to hide
Looking at you, holding my breath,
For once in my life, I'm scared to death,
I'm taking a chance, letting you inside.
Feeling alive all over again,
As deep as the sky, under my skin
Like being in love, she says
For the first time
Maybe I'm wrong,
But I'm feeling right where I belong
With you tonight
Like being in love
To feel for the first time
The world that I see inside you
Waiting to come to life
Waking me up to dreaming
Reality in your eyes
Looking at you,
Holding my breath,
For once in my life
I'm scared to death,
I'm taking a chance,
Letting you inside.
I'm feeling alive all over again
As deep as the sky that's under my skin
Like being in love, she says, for the first time
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right
Where I belong with you tonight
Like being in love to feel for the first time
We're crashing
Into the unknown
We're lost in this
But it feels like home
I'm feeling alive all over again
As deep as the sky that's under my skin
Like being in love, she says, for the first time
Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right
Where I belong with you tonight
Like being in love to feel for the first time

(This is what a God moment feels for me.)