prayerful, thoughtful considerations

my friends,

I have been thinking a lot about this blog, and how terrible I am at writing posts.  The fact of the matter is, I am imperfect, and I set too high of a goal for myself.  This semester of nursing school is much busier than I thought it would be.  A blog post a day is too much for me.

So the blog is going to change.

He has redeemed my soul from going down into the pit, and my life shall look upon the light.
Job 33:28

Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Psalm 54:4

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
Psalm 63:3

I am so imperfect, y'all, so completely imperfect.

I secretly, selfishly hoped this blog would be a reflection of a great life, a prayerful one, that without more specific details could be inspiring and bring more people to God.  But that is not what the Bible says, of course, I knew this.  The Bible talks about making disciples by being honest and real, revealing both the good and bad in my life.  It does not talk about making disciples by bragging about how wonderful your faith is... which I, basically, had hoped to do.  How selfish of me, how ridiculous of me to think I could do that.

So this blog is going to become a standard-type blog about my life.  My ups and downs.  My hopes and dreams.  My slow but perfectly-timed discovery of God's plan for my life.  Musings, things that strike my heart, the mundane realities of my life.  But that is all I have to offer: my life and myself.

You can expect a new blog post once a week, possibly more if it's a light week of schoolwork or summertime.

I do hope you'll be back, my friend.  I hope you come back many times.

I will continue to pray for things, and you can continue to let me know if you have prayer requests.  I will still pray, of course.

You are a blessing for reading this and for joining me on this journey of revealing myself.  And I am grateful for you.

xoxo

friday, friday, everyone get down- oh, Lord, I can't even do it.

hello, friendship

I'm super glad you stopped by :)  I finally got the nerve to post the link to this lil blog on facebook and I got a lot more views!  Woohoo!  I sure hope you come back again.

Today was absolutely crazy, weather-wise.  So many schools in south Louisiana were closed, and many of the bridges in the New Orleans area were closed.  I fear a dangerous wreck occurred around the corner from my apartment building.  Yikes.

so I'm gonna lift up my school community tonight...

wonderful Heavenly Father,

I am so thankful for today.  It has been ridiculous, weather-wise, but I can't imagine today going by any other way.  I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunities this dreary and icy Friday afforded me, both the ones I took and the ones I didn't, and I am thankful.  Most of all, I am thankful that You walked through today with me.  You didn't have to choose me, but You did.  And You didn't have to give me today, but You did.  God, I am so thankful.  So thankful.

hey, thanks for LSUHSC and what it does for the people of New Orleans.  I am so grateful to be a part of this community.  I lift up everyone involved here: let they all be safe in the icy weather going on.  Let the crazy, unimaginable decisions required by the administration on a daily basis be easily concluded and peacefully attained.  I pray the students learn how to be good ambassadors of health and wellness so that we can spread this knowledge, in the form of care, throughout the world... wherever our feet land.

Thank You for letting me go to school here.  I'm really looking forward to becoming a nurse next year, and I wouldn't be able to do this if it weren't for you.

I love you greatly.

amen

[xoxo]

delayed prayers

Goodness gracious, y'all, I am terrible at this, apparently.

friday | saturday | sunday | monday
school | family & friends | me | world

my Heavenly Father,

Thank You for another day, I am so grateful for it.  It is so beautiful outside and I get to spend the day with my mom and see my dad, sister, T, and close friends (S, and hopefully J, L and A) all within today.  And tomorrow I work the labor & delivery rotation in the new family unit.... Oh goodness, God, what glory!  I can't wait to be a part of Your magic, and hopefully help these new families feel Your love throughout the painful process of fulfilling Your promise to Eve.  :-|  but I know You will be with me and with us in every new creation, since You're in the creating business, and I know You will help make the transition very smooth.

My God, I lift up my LSUHSC community to You again today, hoping and praying that the lives of everyone associated are blessed by You.  That You bring to us all Your glory and hope and love and grace, so that we can pass it on to everyone we care for and help care for in the New Orleans area.  There is a great power and responsibility in knowing how to take care of someone, and I pray for all of us who are being blessed with that... May we all be wise, conscientious, and never run short on grace.

I want to pray for my family and friends, too, God.  I am so grateful for them.  J did such a wonderful job at the Shift service yesterday, I just love her heart so much.  What a blessing it is to know her and to witness Your love through her.  I also want to pray for M, who is making big plans for her future.  I worry about her a lot, even though she sometimes annoys me, and just want her to be happy.  I hope she doesn't forget how much You love her.  Lastly, God, thank you for those (T especially) who love me for me and push me towards my dreams without a second glance.  This environment of love I've found myself in is unreal.  I am so blessed by it, God, and I know You orchestrated it.  Please help me make sure I give as much love back out into the world.

I also want to pray for my schedule, my commitment to my classes, and my commitment to becoming an RN.  I know this is the path You want me on, God... I know it the way you know about a good melon.  ;-)  I love being in the hospital setting, God, but I am acting too much like I am taking a class and not enough like I am a nurse.  I must be more like a nurse when I'm in clinical, God.  If I don't, I fear I will come off as lazy or lackadaisical to my clinical teachers, who may or may not see the promise of a great nurse in me.  I know it's there, and I know You know it's there... I just want to make sure it comes out so I can have a promise of a great future ahead in nursing, Ya know?  I worry a lot about the future, God, but what's most important is now.  I am trusting You with what's coming, I'm giving that up right now, even if I pick it back up in a little while I pray You remind me that You've got this and that I don't need to carry it.  Ah, what a blessing that is... I can breathe a sigh of relief at the thought.

Lastly, I'm praying for that big blue world out there, God.  It is big, blue, scary and intimidating, but most of all it is Yours.  I pray that Your will is done out here, my Lord of all.  I can't imagine my life without You and many people are out in the world doing exactly that.  They are brave, God, and I boldly pray You are able to get them back and close to Your heart.  I boldly pray for my fellow Christians who are out seeking to get those close to Your heart... may they stay near to You as they are out being Your hands & feet.  And just like J said in shift yesterday, the Christian life is the atypical.  I know so many people whose lives are typical, but the atypical always catches the attention of someone else.  It is how You love.  I pray for that in my own life, God, and I pray for my fellow Christians (especially my friends and family, with whom we walk this path) to be atypical.  Let us be daring, bold, and genuine, God.  Let us move about the earth with boldness & a genuine spirit.  Let us be Yours in this world, God.  Let us be only Yours.

What glory is this, my Lord.
love, K

[xoxo]

friday prayers

hey y'all.

Today's a Friday, which means a few awesome things...

Last day of class for the week.
Full weekend ahead with a visit home!
I'm a full day closer to trying out my dream job in the clinical setting.
School prayers.

If you don't already know, I attend the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing.  I am in the second semester of my Junior year (read: Junior II), taking Pediatrics, Women's Health, Nursing Research and Genetics.  I am going to rock out this semester, y'all.  It's been a tough 2013 and I'm ready to start the 2014 school calendar by totally and completely rocking it.  Especially because OB/Labor & Delivery/Women's Health has been drawing me near to it ever since I learned of its existence.

But let me not delay the prayer any longer.  It is why we're here, after all!  [So many levels to that statement!]


My glorious Heavenly Father,

What a gorgeous day today is here in New Orleans, all foggy and cloudy.  I love the variety you give us in the weather, my God: You know how much I love to appreciate the cloudy, rainy, dreary days so that I can appreciate the sunny days all the more.  I think the weather is a beautiful metaphor for life in this way, and I think You have known that all along :)  I love that about You, God.  That omniscience of Yours.  Floors me.

I am praying today for my school community.  God, LSUHSC reaches so far beyond its address.  Students of all kinds live and learn in all areas of the city, and graduate and move to become doctors and nurses and occupational therapists and physical therapists and physician's assistants and grad students all over the state of Louisiana and the country and, I'm sure of it, the world.  How beautiful that is, God.  The teachers of this community are raising up people who impact people all over the world.  I could not be more humbled at the thought of the magnitude of your work in just this school alone... much less med/nursing/graduate/therapy schools all over the country!  I love that you put these desires in our hearts to become these certain kinds of people, and then you give us all sorts of opportunities to actually become those certain kinds of people.  LSUHSC is just a small portion of that fulfillment.  I love this, God, I love this so much.

I'm lifting up the whole school today, God.  Every researcher with their offices and labs in the MEB.  Every med student/intern with their stethoscopes in hand, holding them up to listen to robots or patients.  Every nursing student, standing nervously with their all-white uniform and clipboards, hoping they remember all the meds they were supposed to learn last night.  Every therapy student.  Every grad student.  Every future physician's assistant.  All the administrators stressing about syllabi and budgets and whether or not the money will come through... God.  You have it all.  I pray for every one of these people's hearts.  I pray for their minds to be clear as they seek the mysteries You have laid out for us, or the common knowledge You've given us years ago.  There is so much to pray for here, God, but I believe You know it all and You've got it all in Your big hands.  We have nothing to worry about, because we have You and You have us.  And You know what's coming, and even if it scares us, just the fact that You have it is enough to comfort us.  You are the greatest and best and only source of true hope, God, and I pray that each and every person involved with LSUHSC knows or comes to know Your hope, my God.  What an even more impactful place this school would become.

I love you and I know You've got this.
K

[xoxo]

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