Wet Shoes

Some of the best times of my life have been when my shoes, socks, and feet are squishy wet. On Friday, we had a thunderstorm with snow pellets. Saturday brought freezing rain. Last night and today it snowed several inches, so I enjoyed a long walk after work. As I tramped along in my tennis shoes, feet wet, soaking in the tranquility, I remembered other wet feet times, then I slipped and slid all around and almost fell down. Some of my best walks and runs have been in the fog or dew-soaked grass, after a rain, or in the snow. There's just something about water in all of its forms that brings life.

"The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing...to find the place where all the beauty came from." ~C.S. Lewis

*Blizzard*

We are under a blizzard warning. Churches are canceled for tomorrow. Reckon I'll be driving to work in the morning...

For those of you interested in foreign cultures, you should read Angie's blog. The link is under my friends on the right. Angie was my roommate for two years and suitemate for an additional year at college, so she's put up with a lot:)

Random

It reached a whopping 40 plus degrees today! The snow is melting away, and it is forcast to snow for about a week beginning Friday***

Today I picked out a nursing student to work with this summer for a 10 week internship like the one I did a couple of years ago. I am so excited about that!!!

"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do." ~Helen Keller

L'Abri

All day Friday and Saturday I was at the annual L'Abri conference here in Rochester. For those of you unfamiliar with L'Abri, below is a description of it from their website: http://www.labri.org/.

The French term L’Abri is translated "the shelter" in English. It is difficult to force L’Abri into a rigid category or come up with a precise description. It could be said to be an international study center and a residential community, while also being much more. In 1955, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, the founders of the work opened their chalet/home to those who were seeking answers to life’s many questions and L’Abri began.

Celebrating its fiftieth year in 2005, Swiss L’Abri is now made up of 7 chalets, and a staff of single people and families. L’Abri continues to provide the possibility for people to come to a place where they can be part of an extended family, receive honest answers to honest questions, and cultivate or pursue the truth of Christianity.

We emphasize a biblical Christ centered focus; hospitality; cultural awareness, analysis and where necessary critique; growing in community with God and one another, through the power of the Spirit. Other important concerns, to mention a few, are apologetics, true spirituality, where Christ is understood as Lord of all life, and a Christian worldview. As the pressures of extreme forms of postmodernism and new expressions of pantheism and pragmatism rise and gain a foothold in culture, Christians continue to need to know how to navigate through the high degree of confusion to clearer thinking and living for the sake of Christ. L’Abri is dedicated to helping provide this, firmly believing that questions and problems about God and life can be discussed rationally and answers sought, without resorting to having to take a leap in the dark.

Be warned that I may be posting about it and the things I am reading that are related for the next who knows how long! I just haven't processed enough to even begin tonight. I am truly overwhelmed.

Peace

Sitting in a room with a patient for a whole shift can be easy, challenging, or just plain interesting. Yesterday was easy and interesting. The suicide attempt patient and I discussed (he wrote and I talked) nearly everything under the sun, from John Nash and "A Beautiful Mind" to energy consumption and alternative fuels, faith, AA (alcoholics anonymous), animals, sunrises, trees, death of loved ones, psych hospital experiences, and peace. Peace. It seems to be an obsession for some people with psychological conditions. I got to thinking about peaceful places and feelings.

Peace

Standing in a snow covered wood.

Listening to crickets through my window on a summer night.

The calm after a storm.

The indescribable freshness after a summer rain shower.

A sunset accompanied by the hum of mourning doves.

The feeling and thoughts each of these evokes.

The presence of the Creator in my heart.

Peace.

ICE

Daniel is here visiting me! He got the detailed tour of Mayo and downtown Rochester in zero degree weather.

We looked at the ice sculptures, sat on ice benches, and tried without success to look warm and comfy for the pictures.

The huge chapel at St. Mary's hospital, which I somehow never went to see until yesterday.

Chilhuly glass art, some of the many works of art scattered through the Mayo downtown campus.

This ambulance looks like an adventure...

...or maybe not. It is comforting to know that there was a straw mattress on the cot to soften the jolting ride.