Living in Freedom as a Woman

This week is Nurse’s week. Celebrating a career that is unique in so many ways. I remember it was midway through my freshman year that I shifted the course of my educational pathway. I had grown up wanting to be a doctor that delivers babies. I went to the University of Texas at Austin as a pre-med major. Then I took my first biology class- Holy cow! I changed my major to Nursing. Life has never been the same. I remember my first clinical rotation was in an acute rehab place (basically the middle place between hospital and a nursing home). I already had some PTSD with nursing homes from being a young child and visiting my great-grandmother in one. Well, my first clinical day, I walked in and met my first patient and her diagnosis was “Dumping syndrome”, aka “explosive diarrhea as soon as I eat anything”. Literally, she had to sit on the bedside commode while she ate. Sadly, I had to stand in the corner and literally dry-heaved the entire time. I had to go get two of my friends and my ...

Today is my 34 th birthday. For the last few weeks, I have been sharing with my close friends that 34 is really hitting me harder than any of the 30s. Not necessarily in a bad way, just more so in a reflective way. For so much of my life, I have spent more time and effort on trying to be someone I am not or trying to appear to be something I am not. I am certain I am not the only woman that falls into this category either. The world makes us feel that we have to look a certain way, act a certain way, be a certain kind of friend, mother, wife. Competition. Perfection. It is when we quickly realize we can’t keep up with these standards that the inadequacy sets in. Like I am less of a woman because I don’t look like a model, I don’t drive that car, have that kind of house, and have those kinds of clothes. I eat fast food; I don’t feed my family all organic or whatever it may be. In this inadequacy, we fall victims to Satan’s evil ways. We give him room to steal our joy, destroy our soul...

Rest Rest: -           Repose, sleep; a bodily state with minimal function/activity -           Freedom from labor -           State of inactivity -           Peace of mind or spirit -           Free of anxieties “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” Matthew 11:28-30 Rest.  A word I have been chasing after for as long as I can remember. Trying to plan and figure out how I can get there…. If I can only do "X", then I can rest. If I wouldn't have done "X", then I could have had rest. My engine has literally been in overdriv...

12.04.14 Feelings This is a word that strikes a chord with every single one of us. There are numerous types of feelings. Good and bad. There are various definitions of the word. Today, I have really been examining the meaning of the word. “Feeling” in lay terms means to use the word “feel”. This is an interesting word because it can be used as a verb or noun. My husband would laugh at me, because he LOVES to discuss feelings. So what does “feel” really mean? “Feel” Verb 1-     To perceive or examine by touch 2-     To have a sensation of something, other than by sight, hearing, taste or smell 3-     To find or pursue by touching 4-     To be or become conscious of 5-     To be emotionally affected by 6-     To experience the effects of Noun 1-     Quality of an object that is perceived by feeling or touching 2-     A sensation of ...