Recent Happenings

Christopher just finished up mini 2 and he did so awesome. I am so proud of how great he has been doing. I think it really gives us the reassurance that this is where we are supposed to be and that God will not take us somewhere so far out of our element without helping us to make it through. I got this little excerpt from a friends blog and I just felt like it was so fitting for what is actually going on down here. From the 1989 movie Gross Anatomy:

"Welcome to medical school. Many of you have only been here a day or so. In the next eight months you will be required to memorize 6,000 anatomical structures, read 25,000 pages of text, attend 200 lectures, and pass or fail 40 examinations. If you fail a class, you have to repeat it. If you fail two, you have to repeat the entire term. If you fail three, let's just say, you probably don't belong here anyway. Along with my duties as Associate Dean of Students, I also teach Gross Human Anatomy, the one thing you've dreaded from the moment you made the decision to come here. Nonetheless, it is the centerpiece of your first year of medical school; the systematic dissection of the human cadaver.....Your first year of medical school is a daily, hands-on exploration of it (death). It's not easy. It's uh, certainly not pleasant. And there's absolutely no reason for you to do it unless you want, more than anything, to be a physician"

Now let me tell you, this excerpt is not far from the very truth. Here is a typical day for Christopher

6:15 a.m. - Wake up
8:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. - Lectures
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m - Lunch
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m - Lab (depending on the day)
4:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. - Study
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. - Dinner
7:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.- Study
10:00 p.m. -11:00 p.m.- Relax and get ready for the next day
11:00 p.m. - Go to Sleep

Now of course everyday is not exactly like this. Some of the days he won't have lab but will have another lecture in the afternoon or he might just have extra time to go study. Then on the weekends he will have more time to study but rarely do weekends consist of relaxing at the beach or the pool. They normally consist of studying, but for the most part this is the daily life of a medical student. I am just so thankful that he is enjoying what he is doing and learning because otherwise this would be absolutely miserable. But never has Chris complained or wanted to quit. He just keeps going because I truly feel like at this point he knows that this is what God is calling him to do. There is absolutely no other way we would be able to conquer this battle without the help our Lord. He every day gives us the strength to keep going.

Growing up I have always had my own identity and after marrying Christopher and moving down to Dominica to follow Christopher's dream I have recently realized that although I still have my own identity, it has changed in extremely amazing ways. I went from being an independently driven person to a wife that is fully focused on her husband. I feel as my role has gone from thinking and doing for myself to being an encourager and support for everything that Christopher is doing. Although I don't necessarily do a whole lot down here in Dominica because the opportunities for jobs are slim and hard to find, I feel that my new job is to provide for Christopher (obviously not in a financial way). I make him lunch and dinner and continually encourage him to keep going. I think that for now that is the job that the Lord has planned for me. To make sure that he is taken care of and constantly prayed for and encouraged.