meaningful monday.

i've realized several things since starting nursing school:

1. thoughtful thursdays are impossible to uphold

2. God puts the most amazing people in your life in the most unexpected places

3. life will never stop being hectic

4. quitting is not an option.  

because if Jesus had quit while he was hanging on that cross for us, 

we would all be in major trouble.

after being in school for 3 weeks, i have had 5 tests.

one was a midterm.

how is that possible, you ask?

well, easy.

i'm in an accelerated program.

that means a normal semester-long class

is condensed into 5 weeks.

i may or may not be a walking zombie.

and my body may or may not wake up after only 4 hours of sleep, 

pumped and ready to go.

after tests, and papers, and projects,

and trying to keep my sanity,

and attempting to juggle life,

i stop.

and i breathe.

and i thank Him.

He put me here.

He gave me this desire to want to be a nurse.

He carved the path that led me here.

He made things go wrong for this to be right.

He gives me strength when I fight to stay awake.

He gives me peace as I sit in front of a test.

most importantly:

He gives me the courage to keep fighting.

for the important relationships.

for the time in my day.

for the destination of being a nurse.

He is unbelievably amazing.

and yesterday at church, 

I learned about the song that Moses wrote

after God parted the Red Sea and washed away the Egyptians.

He destroyed the army that was responsible for 400 years of 

humiliation, enslavement, and murder of the Israelites.

Moses praised Him with gratitude.

for being the victor, for being a God of hope, 

and for being a God of love.

while it may seem small to others,

this is my Red Sea.

and this is all that i know to be big right now.

God is answering my prayers

by giving me hope, 

and showing me love, 

and being victorious.

and when an even bigger Red Sea comes along,

all He wants is for me to trust him.

and He will part that too.

"the LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him." - Exodus 15:2