Pruning

This popped out as I was reading the Bible last week and it still has not left me.

...he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. (John 15:2)

I feel like God has been pruning me. Pruning hurts. He's cutting off pieces, unnecessary things. He is simply letting me experience the pain of nursing school for example. My patience is being tested. My trust in Him, tested. God is also doing more internal pruning in me, things I cannot put into words. I noticed this process begin when I first came to Christ. I thought GOD WHY ME? Pain. Oh pain is a beautiful thing. I learned that it produces growth and learning. Pain produces fruit. It is almost a dark and weary subject, but we all go through pain. Know this, God prunes the branches are are already producing fruit so that they will produce more. That's good news to me because I feel this gentle, painful, excruciating process taking place in my life. I hope you do too. Glory to Jesus for this.

 

May your spiritual pruning lead to bigger, better, juicer and sweeter fruit for our Lord :)

 

Deviance

I'm taking a Sociology course online this semester. We have to participate in discussions all the time and I was praying about what to say for the "deviance" subject, and I thought I would share with you guys.  Let's just say that I got a bunch of responses!

The question:
Consider what it means that we are all or have all been deviant. Can you recall a time when you committed a deviant (not necessarily criminal!) act? You don't necessarily have to share it with your group, but consider how you felt about your deviant act. Were you aware of it being deviant at the time, or was it something that was appropriate given the group or social context you were in? How do you think others viewed your act of deviance? Do you think people would have a different opinion about you if they knew about this act?

My post:
I noticed that many (not all) of us are sharing stories of things they regret, defining deviant behavior as actions labeled as "bad" or "wrong".

I'm going to look at this in a different way. Deviance is defined as: any violation of a norm, or behavior that violates the expectations of society.
I can safely and confidently say that I participate in deviant behavior every day of my life and I thoroughly love it.
I am a 20 year old female, college student. I love Jesus. I read my bible every day. I pray. I am waiting for my future husband in purity. I do not drink alcohol/smoke/do drugs. I do not watch television. I do not have a job, instead I focus my free time doing community service. I get along with my parents and siblings. My life is not centered around me, but on God and others.
You may scoff at me and label me as "Little Miss Perfect". I am not. I make mistakes. My point is that I violate the expectation of society. All the time. I am expected to go along with the normative expectation of society, but I don't. This is deviant behavior too, is it not?

40 Days

I'm probably not supposed to share this. But I guess I would like some moral support.

This morning- 4:30 am before clinical I decided that I would take part in Lent this year!
Ok, no I am not Catholic.
Yes, I am serious.
After some Google searching I decided that this is a good idea.
Yes, maybe wacky. And pretty non-traditional seeing as how I am Pentecostal.
But I have noticed over the last few weeks how much time wasting I spend on Facebook/Instagram.
Especially with nursing school, I need to give my brain a rest from studying once in a while, so I do that by logging onto Facebook or Instagram.
Honestly, there is nothing wrong with social media! It's awesome!
But I have found that instead of finding rest in those websites, I should first be seeking rest in the refuge of my Father's arms. 
Can I get an amen? :)
Today, Feb. 13th starts Lent and it ends on March 30th. So why 40 days? These forty days represent the time Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.
Wow, that is really a long time. 6 weeks. 

Oh yeah, on top of abstaining from social media- I won't be watching youtube episodes of Masterchef (my favorite show ever) or any movies. 

Anyway I'm already having trouble with not checking my Facebook. How sad is that!? Lol.

Now I have a question for you... What would you give up for 40 days?

The Adventures of Dee in Nursing School

Do you not love that feeling of fresh ball point pens and highlighters? The feel of opening that new pack of index cards?! I DO! The next two years are going to be rough, but as long as I find joy in the little things, I'll get through it. Today was our first "clinical", not yet in the hospital (we have no idea what we are doing). We had time to practice basic skills such as checking and listening for pulse, blood pressure, checking temperatures and donning sterile gloves. I was serious when I said we are clueless. I will always remember the moment when the poor lady got the poor thermometer probe stuck in the rectum of the poor dummy hiney. Hey, last I heard, apparently you learn from mistakes. So better make mistakes now and not get probes stuck in people's hineys later.

PS: I'm having so much fun :)

Back to School

Today was my first day back at college, and after an amazing summer... going back to school feels almost normal. Schedules, books, parking and sitting next to Dasha in biology lectures, I'm used to that kind of stuff. As we were in the hallway we discussed how this summer was like a dream, and now it is time to get back to reality.
Anyway in my lovely community college, the first semester always has a plethora of new students arriving. Which means NO parking spaces. Good thing that I don't mind walking. But then, God decided to let it rain. In fact, He let it pour. So I had to run outside to my insanely far parked car in the rain. It reminded me of running in the rain in Buryatia with Mia.Only she was not there with me :( So I ran with a smile and laugh, making the most of it.
I hope who ever is back in school has a blessed semester. Now I'm just anxious for my first nursing class. Let the studying, running around, lab, lecture, conference, number two pencil days begin again!