Yes Please!!!!

"Lord, turn [me] every which way but loose." - Beth Moore

A few thoughts

A few thoughts on life and faith....

I believe that during the course of every Christian's life, there are times of major growth as well as times where things seem to just level out for a while, and maybe even go a bit in reverse. Last spring semester, I really felt like my walk and my faith was sort of at a plateau-- not going forwards or backwards but just sort of standing still. I was not totally sure why, but I really wanted to get back to that place in my walk where I was growing, learning, and yearning to grow closer and nearer to God. In that desire to grow, I really prayed for it and also started looking for ways to learn more through books and blogs. Over the past 4-6 weeks, I really have read some amazing things by truly amazing writers who have really got me thinking, wondering, and growing. In effort to share what I have found, I thought I would share little pieces that really struck a cord with me and really moved, convicted, or exhilarated me.

Oh... and I know those of you who know me are shocked that I am actually reading something other than what I have to read for school... I know... SHOCKING! :)

From the book Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure by John Piper (very good read)

"When delays and detours and Frustrations and opposition ruin our plans and bode ill for us, faith in future grace lays hold on the sovereign purpose of God to bring something magnificent to pass. That is the key to patience."

Also from Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure, a quote from C.S.Lewis

" The pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching. If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch. As long as we have the itch of self-regard we shall want the pleasure of self-approval; but the happiest moments are those when we forget our precious selves and have neither but have everything else (God, our fellow humans, animals, the garden, and the sky) instead." - C.S. Lewis

From the book Fresh Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson

"We are the beloved of God. We will go through trials, but we can submit to them so that our faith, the most precious thing we have, may be authentic." (this quote in the book is coming from 1 Peter 1:6-7)

" When we give ourselves to God-- mind, body, soul, and spirit- He changes us. We cannot change ourselves. We don't have the spiritual stamina to change ourselves..." - Nicole Johnson

From Perry Noble's blog... (old post from May 1, 2008)

"If you are in Christ then you are the King’s daughter…and you do not need to settle for the boy who can’t accept responsibility…you need to wait for the man who is WILLING to fight for your heart." -Perry Noble

"The king is entralled in your beauty" -Psalm 45:11

Liked this...It really hit home for me.

I read this over at MckMama's blog and thought I would repost part of it here. So true... so convicting and scary yet so very exciting to know HE is leading somewhere greater than we could ever imagine!

"No matter how careful our planning, we can rest easy in the knowledge that God's plans are greater than ours, even as we watch the plans we had set in motion unravel. When we face these stormy days and nights, we may be taken aback by the fiery intensity of it all, but God is never surprised. He's like the universe's best boy scout: always prepared. God is ever ahead of us, even when we lag behind, mouths agape as we see where He is leading us." - Mckmama

More music to my ears

In this post, I did my first Music to my Ears post... and told you I would update with new songs I like... so here are a few more!



1.Meredith Andrews The River


Chorus:
Welcome to the river come drink come away come find your very life
Welcome to the river of God where your brokeness is washed away
Find your healing find your freedom in the river of God




2- Newsboys Adoration



Chorus:

Come, let us adore Him He has come down to this barren land Where we live And all I have to give Him Is adoration. Come, let us adore Him He has come down to the world we live in And all I have to give Him Is adoration

3- 33 Miles Stand Amazed

Chorus:

When all the lights go down and the world is quiet

No one is around, I wanna be the same man that'll serve you then

Like I serve you now. That my convictions never change.

O let my need for you remain. As real as the moment I was saved

So I will always stand amazed.

PS... sorry about the formatting. It is like the paragraph spacing has changed, but I dont know how why it has changed. So... it will stay strange for this post!

The Rollercoaster of Life

I have often heard people compare life to a roller coaster at an amusement park. I am even one of those people. In fact, roller coaster is the the only earthly thing I can think of to describe my life. Starting gate to the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Turning left, veering right. Up, down and all around. The fear of cancer, the fear of doing and going somewhere totally out of my comfort zone. The shear joy of a clean cancer report to finding out that Sarah Boyd (before we knew she was SB) was on her way. Despite all the dips and curves, thrills, and scares, I know I can live life to the fullest and not be lost or afraid. I can live my life in Him knowing that when I get to the finish line, life will have been greater than I could have ever imagined and more wonderful than any dream I have ever had. And even greater than life here on earth, will be eternity with Him.

As for life right now, I am definitely on a high. This semester has started. I have not been this excited about a semester in a long time. I have not felt this much excitement about life, maybe ever. Truly giddy with excitement. God has greater thing planned than I can ever imagine. I can live knowing that a spectacular picture is being painted buy the hand of my awesome God. Wow! I am so blessed and so thrilled to be serving God through my life!

What a trip!!!

Wow! What a trip! It was a whirlwind of a week, but a great one none the less! I have learned so much, seen so much, and been influenced and changed because of all that I have seen and done!!!

Thanks, Lindsay, for letting tag along for a great adventure!!!

and of course... a few last pictures of our trip!

1- Lindsay in Gronigen on Sunday evening.

2- Amsterdam-- Specifically Dam Square, which is where our hotel was. We were only there for about 14 hours. So we did not really see any of the city since we did not get to town until about 7pm. But... at least we stayed in a great location and could have dinner at one of the cafes on the square!

3- Lindsay and I in Gronigen... same time she was having her coffee above :) (probably should have taken my glasses off.... oh well. too late now!)

Gronigen Day 2

Today was my last full day in Europe on this adventure. Our day was a busy one, but a very good one and we learned and saw sooooo much! Today we spent our entire day (930am to 430pm) at Martini Hospital in Gronigen.

Martini was the only hospital we visited that we actually had a positive response from. Lindsay had been in contact with Atti, the head neurology nurse. Atti was a wonderful lady, who was so sweet and so eager to help us. Atti set up a whole day that included meeting with her to see how the neurology unit worked/operated, a meeting with the building construction manger, a meeting with infection control, and then a tour of the entire facility.

We were able to see and learn so much that will be wonderfully valuable for both my research as well as Lindsay's research on the semi-private patient room. Martini is such a different hospital from any hospital I have ever seen in the US. The attention to the life cycle of the building, design of the exterior, views to nature and access to natural light, as well as the overall design of the facility was incredible. I think American health care designers could learn a lot from European designers and hospitals like Martini.

Here are a few pictures from our day at Martini!

1- "Famous" facade of Martini Hospital. This is the southeast facade that has a double skin facade where there is the facade of the building and a second glass facade about 24" out from that. The glass acts as a sound barrier as there is a busy road there, but also acts as a heat gain controller. During the summer (like when were there) the censors open rows of the glass skin when the temperature between glass and building gets to 21 degrees C. That creates a stack-effect ventilation where the hot air rises, drawing cool air up along the face of the building cooling the building. During the cold winter months, the glass facade helps keep the building heated and warm!

2- Here you can see where the glass opens to allow the double skin facade to vent.

3- One of the foot traffic areas where visitors and hospital staff can go from one side of the building to the other. The glass windows on the left of this picture look out to the court yard that is created by the two connected wings of the building.

3- The walls in the hospital are all wall systems that are easily movable and changeable should the building use ever change. They are also magnetic (yet dont feel like metal) which allows patients to display all of their cards and what not.

4- The main entrance of the hospital (at the end of the road). I love that the Dutch ride their bikes everywhere!!!

5- Typical 4 bed room. The typical unit in Martini is comprised of 32 beds-8 private patient rooms, 4 4-bed rooms and 4 2-bed rooms. The boom with the screen on it at the top of the picture is actually for entertainment. Each patient has their own entertainment screen and telephone.

6- Typical private patient room.

7- The workers from the lab use scooters to get around the facility (which is HUGE) and has over 500 in-patient beds plus houses outpatient doctors unit as well as outpatient oncology!