| Yes, I know. It’s amazing. I am actually posting again. Wow. It has been a pretty busy summer for me and I have done a pretty crappy job of keeping up with everyone. But I had to take a day off from work today because I have been kinda sick so I thought I’d take time to post again.
As soon as school was out, I hit the ground running. I left Covenant on Thursday, May 6th and began work on Monday the 10th. I am working as a Patient Care Assistant (that’s the technical name but often we are referred to as transporters) at the hospital in Harrisonburg. Since I am working at a hospital I had a pretty rigorous orientation to go through. My first three days of work consisted of orientation meetings - for eight grueling hours a day. Boring! But I guess it was good because I learned a lot of things that would be necessary for me to complete my required tasks as a transporter. That Wednesday, May 12th, I came home from work and went straight to bed because I was planning to leave for Owensboro, KY at midnight. I drove through the night and arrived at Heather’s house around 10:30am. For those of you who didn’t know, Heather is my girlfriend and her birthday was May 14th. So I spent Thursday through Sunday at her house and headed home Sunday after church. It was soooo much fun. I love surprising her and we just had so much fun. I could go on for a while about that trip and all the fun we had, but seeing as how I am trying to cover 2 months worth of my life and I have only finished one week, I’d better move on. That Monday I began the real work. As I said I am a transporter so my main job is to bring patients from their rooms (usually in the Ambulatory Surgery Unit) to the correct Operating Room. I know it doesn’t sound too hard but it actually can be quite involved. Obviously the most important things are to get the right patient to the right room so that they can have the right procedure from the right doctor. Not too hard. But when you take into account sterile technique, patient needs, and doctors desires, it can get a bit complicated. Not to mention stressful. But I have enjoyed it greatly. I am learning tons of stuff about the medical profession. It really is a lot of fun. Ok, so after work then I head to my other job. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have 2 other jobs too. I work for a physical therapist and I referee soccer games in the adult league that I play in. So let me lay a typical Monday out for you.
5:20am - Wake up, shower, eat, devotions, leave the house by 6:00am
6:30am - arrive at work, change into scrubs, attend morning report meeting until 7am
7:30am - first cases begin meaning the patients not only need to be in their proper rooms, but all their paper work must be completed and the rooms must be fully stocked. The doctors like to make the first incision at 7:31am and believe me, they can be pretty particular.
3:15pm - clock out from the hospital
3:30pm - clock in at Advantage Physical Therapy (I will outline my responsibilities there later on)
7:30pm - clock out from Advantage. Head to soccer field to play at either 8, 9, or 10pm. Make it home between 9:30 and 11:30.
That is a typical Monday and Wednesdays and Thursdays are even worse because I didn’t usually have games to play in those days so I would ref from 6-11pm. Oh yeah, and all those jobs are about 25 minutes away from my house. So as you can see I have been busy. But I don’t want you to think that I haven’t had any fun all summer either.
Allow me to now take some time to hit the real summer highlights. My two trips to visit Heather were awesome. In the nine days that I have seen her this summer, I have had more fun than the rest of the summer combined. We went to a water park, a theme park, a country music concert, an airport, a mall, a fireworks show, a river, a swing concert, a bunch a restaurants, and we survived a tornado. Well, it was almost a tornado. We went swimming, biking, running, driving, hiking, and walking. We laughed and cried (well one of us did.....it wasn’t me). We had fun times and some not so fun times. But most of all, we have grown closer. We love each other more than ever before and we are seeking the Lord’s will for our relationship. And it is the best and most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. God has thrown some hard things at us but He has also used those things to build a deeper love for Him, and for each other. I can tell you that I love Heather with all my heart and that she loves me with all hers. But here’s the amazing thing, everyday, the Lord strengthens that love. There is some old song from the 60's or 70's that says it like this, "I love you more today than yesterday, but not as much as tomorrow." I just can’t get over how amazing that is. And the only thing more amazing than that is that God loves us both far more than we can imagine. I am just so excited about the future and the plans the Lord has for us!!
Oh yeah, back to some other cool things I have done this summer. I have seen tons of surgeries and that has been great. For the first time in my life, I can say that I have a job that I really enjoy. Well, actually, I have two job that I really enjoy. It has been so great for me to work at the hospital and grow so much in my knowledge of medicine and the health care professions. I love working with the patients and I really like my coworkers. It has not only been an amazing learning experience, but also an enjoyable one. And that makes a big difference. I have some crazy stories now. My other job has been equally, if not slightly more rewarding. I love physical therapy and sports performance and with each day that I work at Advantage PTSP, I know that I will be a great PT. It has been really exciting for me to see the kinds of things that I will be doing, and really love them. I will really be able to wake up every morning and look forward to going to work. I have gotten to work in a variety of fields within the practice and have had such a wonderful time interacting with the patients. My summer jobs have truly been rewarding.
Spiritually, this has been kind of a hard summer. My busy schedule and many distractions have caused me to sink into somewhat of a dry spell. Have you ever looked back at your life and thought, how do I get my heart back to a place that it used to be? However, I feel like I have been coming out of this dry spell more lately. I regret my pride and my inability to take a big gulp and ask for prayer. As for now, I would love your prayers. There are no major problems in my life, as a matter of fact, the Lord has been unbelievably good to me. But that is just the problem, where is my gratitude? Where is my joy? Where is my glory? I don’t want anyone to worry, but I do want you guys to pray and ask how I am doing. God is working in me but it can be a frustrating thing to keep dealing with the same sins. I look back and can see many ways that He is working in my life, but it is hard to be able to see them as the happen. But praise God for his sovereign love. That is one thing that I am learning everyday. My Father is in control of everything, and He loves me....what could go wrong?
The other major reoccurring theme of this summer has been the soccer. I have been playing as much as possible and that has been a constant stress reliever, not that my life is really that stressful. But I am learning to enjoy the game again...something I had forgotten for the last two years. So I am going to be honest and lay it all out there for you guys. I am expecting big things from myself this fall on the soccer field. In years past, I wouldn’t have said that out of fear that I might not live up. But now to be honest, I don’t care what you guys think. I am going have fun. And it is fun for me to play well, score goals, and win. So that’s what I plan on doing.
Man, there is sooo much more I could talk about. Most of it is about Heather. She is the love of my life. I wish I could give each of you a taste of what this feels like because it is the most amazing thing in the world. I am madly in love with the most wonderful girl on the planet. If you don’t know Heather, you better get to know her because she seriously is the coolest person in the world. So often we get so derailed by the minutia of our lives that we forget the big stuff. I have a tendency to over analyze everything in my life.....I mean everything. But the Lord is still gracious to me. He has given me His two most prized possessions, new life in His Son Jesus Christ, and the most wonderful girl that He ever made to share that new life with. God is soo good!!
Ok, well, like I said, I have tons more, but this is all I want to put on here now. It has taken me long enough to write this anyways. I really hope you are all doing well. And remember, the Cave ain’t got no door....were always open. Stop in and see what life in the WC is like some time.
Peace from the infamous WC Mafia,
Cheeks |
