"I have a midterm this week?"

While I am sitting here typing I am feel slightly guilty that I am not being the studious student that I should be. Instead of studying for a midterm that I just recently found out that I have on Thursday, I decided to make use of my time differently. (I just sat through class for nine hours...I am taking a well deserved break...so I rationalize to myself).

So why the picture? I thought that it was rather funny actually. I have been super busy this month. This semester I am being a full time student taking five classes. I have never done this before. I am taking Social work 417 which is alcohol and other substance abuse; Human Justice 201; Social Work Practice 2; History 101; Sociology of the families. Three of my classes are on Tuesday, which I have deemed Marathon Tuesday. Nine hours of lecture wouldn't bother me so much, except I don't start until 1pm and I finish at 9:45pm. I want to be done by April 2011, God willing. So I am also going to be a full time student throughout the summer as well. I am also working at South West Crisis Services (speaking of which, I got reminded that I have a staff meeting tomorrow morning...this is what happens when I don't write things down on my day planner). I work casually there, it's been great for learning and I love talking to my co-workers and the clients.
I originally thought that I may need more money, so I thought of working full time and then also doing school part time. Sometimes I think I am invincible, but when I started to get advice from others they urged me not to do it. I am thankful for that, it's the end of january and I am behind in school work, working casually. It's interesting though, I was stressed out about the whole money situation, but God kept reminding me that I am precious to Him, and I mean more than the birds in the air. So I trusted it would work out after a period of stressing. It's amazing how God is Jehovah-Jirah (hopefully I spelled that right). And He provided through the generous gifts (thanks to the Anderson family!!!!).
Anyways, back to the picture. I don't remember it being taken, thanks to the sedatives that were running through my veins. This was taken right after they removed my wisdom tooth. I guess I was having coherent conversations with people. My friend said that I was getting upset at the assistant who didn't believe me when I said I don't ever remember being on anti-biotics. Which to my knowledge, I don't remember...my mother is anti-drugs, so I would have had to have been on my death bed to get them. I don't remember how I got out of the midtown plaza, or the conversation I supposedly had with some lady as my friend went to find her car (don't remember that either). I don't remember the drive to my friends' place. In fact I woke up about four hours later and thought that I missed my appointment, until I felt the bloody gauze in my cheek. To say the least, I was supper disoriented. I don't like that feeling. Anywho, the doctor gave me a prescription for Hydromorphone. Yeah, that was excessive....*anyone wonder why we have a prescription drug problems in society??* Anyways, I did use three of them. It's interesting how it was such a jump: advil or the pill form of morphine? I took two the day after (it was my jaw that hurt more so) and then because I was driving on friday home, I didn't take anything, not even advil (it was raining, and I knew that the roads were going to be bad). So when I got home I took an Advil, BreAnn also stayed with me on friday...the roads turned really nasty. But we went to a friends house to watch a movie. My jaw started to ache...so I took another one of those pills. Which, by the way, makes you sweat...it knocked me out pretty good too. I just stayed on top of it with advil from then on and it was fine. However, taking advil every four hours for four days straight then sporadically....I had a killer headache when I went the day with out it. So I chugged lots of water. I am going to hand back the rest of my prescription to the drug store. But what if I had addiction problems, yes there was a check box for that when I was filling out my medical history, but I don't think even if you were someone who struggled with it, you would check it. And they gave me a pretty good sized prescription. (if you are ever you tubing you should put pharmparties in the search box and watch the video).
Enough with that.
This past weekend, I went to Breakforth. It was good to be in that type of environment. I am sure that every Christian has ups and downs in their walk. Lately I have been feeling distant from God. Everybody refers to it as roller-coaster. I am thankful that even though that I have those moments in time, that the disparity between my ups and downs are starting to become closer. In those times where I see my bible, and I choose not to open it, God still talks to me. This has been going on since I came back from south africa. It's kind of hard for me to explain; besides I feel like Jonah. Intentionally avoiding God because I know what his has called me to do may be extremely difficult. Part of it is that He is challenging to rid myself of things that distract me and become holy, as Jesus makes me holy. He gives me dreams: sometimes I see myself married, with a family, a loving husband, children, adopted children, doing what God called me to do in my vocation. Sometimes, I see myself in Cambodia, working to get girls out of the sex trade. I see myself doing the same thing here. Sometimes I dream about working with the United Nations as a peacekeeper and going back to Africa to help. Sometimes, I see myself being single, working in a school setting, or being a child advocate. Social Work is very secular profession and I know that I am constantly in a collision of worldviews, but strangely it makes me excited. Because I get to be like Jesus amongst people who are completely different in their views than I. Maybe I am a firm believe that leading a Christian vocation, ministry, doesn't just happen within the confines of the church setting. And I think that it is often harder, because you sometimes are alone in your class, or where you work. But thankfully God gives us support systems...aka the body of Christ. So going to breakforth was good for me, I needed to hear somethings, be convicted of somethings, and I am not going to sleep through the alarms that are going off. So I have met my whale, and may God give me the strength to keep on in Him. As my friend Dawn would say, "keep on keeping on". So I am keep on keeping on and waiting for what doors He opens for me.
Well, I should go and start on some homework...