Fall Days

Finally blogging...check out my last two blogs as well about my recent trips to Georgia and Washington DC.

Fall walks and bike rides are pictured below. From the trail with Mayo Clinic in the background.
Thinking today might be the last chance this fall, I biked the 25 mile round trip from Rochester to Pine Island in two hours.
Countryside on the way to Pine Island on the Douglas Trail

Minnesota scene: barn and fields!

The trial and bridge near my house.

Above is the Zumbro River and a bike path bridge that crosses it. I've been biking every chance I get and walking with friends. The colors have been marvelous and the smell of leaves is in the air.

Washington DC

DC with Micah and DanielBowling in the White House
The White House at night after our west wing tour
Gettysburg. They say it was the battle with the most casualties in the Western Hemisphere.

Amy and Daniel

All about Sebastian

I've been too busy living life to blog, but here are some pictures!Ben, Sebastian, and the grandparents

Getting aquainted with Granddaddy...
How many positions do you sleep in?
These two pictures are to showcase the hat and booties that Aunt Angela made and the blanket that Anita made.

Sebastian

How awesome

is the Lord most high,

the great king over all the earth!

Psalm 47:2

I have so much to share and write that I will never get it done. Blogging sometimes takes so much time that I just don't get around to it, so here is a short post that takes little time just to let you know that I am still alive...and so is someone else, my nephew, Sebastian! I got to spend nearly two weeks with Ben and Tandalee in Georgia in the time surrounding the birth of their first baby, making me an aunt for the first time! Many more words and pictures later...

Heart Joy

I should follow up that last post with another. (Kaylene, this was origionally a comment in response to yours, but it got long enough I decided to post instead. Thanks for commenting.) I usually have new patients on different floors every day, but I really hoped and prayed I could have him again. The next morning, I was woken up by a phone call saying that I was to go to Methodist Hospital again. And...I had the same patient and his wife again! The wife was gone for the morning and had just come back when I was about to leave to spend my last four hours on the medical ICU. I gave report to the next nurse and I was leaving at 3 o'clock, when the charge nurse stopped me to say that I was staying for the next four hours after all. I think it was God, because the patient's wife and I had such wonderful talks during those last four hours! We talked about why I wanted to be a nurse, that I am a Christian, the kind of nursing I dream of in foreign countries, the fact that she was accepted into nursing school and would have started 3 weeks ago if it were not for her husband's illness, her boys, my family, culture, Ramadan... We laughed; we shared. I was able to stop giving her husband as much sedation, and he became more alert, though the breathing tube still prevented him from speaking and his condition is no less critical. He smiled, gave a thumbs up, and was otherwise much more responsive. The wife gave me a bottle of mango juice, a delicious pastry filled with spicy meat, and a great, big hug as I left. Oh, the day before, she told me, "I love you!" as I left. I walked home so happy. What a joy these things are! How many other people receive these kinds of blessings at work?

Heart Ache

I'm sitting here in Methodist Hospital listening to the Koran being read to my patient with prayers being sung in the background on a cassette tape and an Arabic channel playing on the TV. The patient's wife is lying on the foot of the bed; his restrained hand rests on her foot. She has cried a lot today. He may not live. Her brother is here. He is the one reading the Koran. She has three children at home trying to go to school. Other than that, she is alone in the United States. Her oldest son is depressed because of his dad's condition. He is not doing his school work. She talked to his teacher today. What can she do? She has no one, she says, other than her husband, whom she loves very much. He loves her and has always treated her well. There is no one else from her country that lives in her town. My heart aches for her.

Random

I am cold because it is the middle of the night and my body says I should be sleeping. My patient is... This evening I spent 2+ hours listening to my pt's husband tell about his missionary experiences in Kenya at Kijabe. He is a pathologist and would go there every year for awhile for 6 weeks or so at a time. He just talked and talked and it was hard to stop him, because he so wanted to share all about it and encourage me to do it. He told about the kind of needs there are, the kind of work doctors do there, the people, the church, the animals, the birds, the lakes, safaris, diseases, religions...and on and on.

This is my sixth shift since I have been off orientation. Every single shift has been wonderful. I find that I love dealing with patients and families who are confronting life and death issues. It is humbling to see how God speaks words through me even when I don't know what to say. Most days have been slow enough that I am able to spend time listening to families and providing a little extra touch. One of my patients responded with an extra touch for me that meant more than I can convey. It was the end of my 12 hours with her. She was intubated, so she couldn't talk, but she seemed completely oriented. She reached for my hand and held it for a moment. Then she reached up to touch my face softly. That was one of those precious moments that makes me want to hold my breath and never let it pass. It was such a loving expression of appreciation for my care that she showed me even though she couldn't speak. See the poem about human touch from a couple of posts ago; it can be so powerful!

I feel like summer is finally here! After being busy and gone so much of the time, I have been able to be in Rochester and make the most of the gorgeous weather. I bought a bike and love to take it for a spin on the trails. A little over a week ago, Sarah, her sister, Matt, and I went kayaking on the Root River in Lanesboro. Last weekend, Matt and I visited his brother and sister-in-law in Madison. We visited the huge farmers' market there, went swimming, and took a long bike ride. I'm so thankful for these times of enjoying the weather before fall comes. There are already hints of it coming. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed one kind or tree was already turning yellow. There were a few turning red on the road from Madison to Rochester. Even the air is starting to have that crispness that reminds of fresh apple cider, pumpkin pie, and a fire in the fireplace.

I've had a hard time keeping up with blogging and making it interesting, so suggestions are welcome! I hope you haven't all given up on checking my site:)

Incredible Friends

I have incredible friends! I'm so blessed by them each time we talk. A couple of days ago, eight of my Rochester girls and I had a sleep over. It was like a reunion, because we hadn't been all together for...a long time! Summer gets so busy and we're going here and there, so it was refreshing to get to fellowship, pray, share, confess, laugh... Then there are my friends who will share any joy or grief. They are willing to just be present or share, but when they talk, their words are wise. They point me back to God. They love me with a love that many people have never experienced. Then there is my family. They are ALWAYS there for me.

The Human Touch

The Human Touch

‘Tis the human touch in this world that counts,
The touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more to the fainting heart
Than shelter and bread and wine;
For shelter is gone when the night is o’er,
And bread lasts only a day,
But the touch of the hand, the sound of the voice
Sing on in the soul always.

Spencer Michael Free

Elizabeth's Wedding

This picture is from a photo shoot with friends in Rochester.

L-R Emily, Tiffany, Amy, Rachel, Sunita, and LindsayI went down to Arkansas last weekend for Elizabeth, one of my college roommate's, wedding. The picture above is of the bridesmaids and Elizabeth after her shower that we threw on Friday. L-R Megan, Elizabeth, Brittany, AmyThe rehearsal dinner was on the porch of her family's golf course. The view below is from the porch. Gorgeous!The couple, now Elizabeth and David Bruce.

Bridesmaids: Megan, Amy, Brittany