An Update

Well, i guess a few more people read this thing than I thought; I've had a few comments and emails about my lack of updates, so here goes!

I have been kind of busy lately - added a half day at work and have had projects to get done that have kept me busy in the evening. My brain has been very busy - I took and passed my 3 certification tests (wound, ostomy, and continence) a few weeks ago - so I'm good for another 5 years!! I've also been putting together some teaching modules for work. And, I've been contemplating my faith, a lot (in a really good, wrestle with the truth kind of way).

We started doing "The Truth Project" in a small group from church in early January - if you have the opportunity I highly recommend this journey! It has really, really been good to look at the foundations of my faith and to begin to understand the lies of the world and how I have been affected by them. It has been really, really good to look closely at God and His Truth and to solidify my trust in Him and His Word. It has been amazing to understand, perhaps for the 1st time, God's purpose for my life: to know Him fully. To understand that my relationships, my gifts and talents, my passions, have all been carefully designed by God so that I might know Him better. I thought my purpose was my calling to be a nurse and to be a wife and mother, but I am beginning to understand that He has gifted me and given me these passions and these relationships so that I might know Him. And the amazing thing is that He gets firey jealous of anything that keeps me from knowing Him - imagine that, the Creator of the Universe jealous of anything that keeps little ole me from Him! Looking at my life from this angle has had some interesting consequences - like this morning when my first patient was talking on her cell phone and complaining about how long this was taking the whole time I was trying to draw her blood - I think normally that would have put a bad enough twist on the start of my day that I would have grumbled and stewed for a while - but this morning I was really able to look at the situation and say "OK Lord, I know you are trying to teach me something - let me be open to whatever it is." I didn't get any instant revelations, but I had a really calm, peaceful day despite the fact that it was pretty hectic in the clinic this morning.

And God is being so faithful in showing us His Hand and His Presence as we continue to find our place here in Wichita. In the small group that we are in at church, we have connected with one person whose mother grew up in the same small town area of South Jersey as my father did, and also another who I made an amazing connection with when I discovered that I was her brother's wound care nurse in Atlanta. It was a special revelation to both of us of God's loving care.

And Kim is excitedly preparing to enter Colorado Christian University in the fall - this is a dream come true for her! In fact, when she was trying to decide where to go to college when she was still in high school, she fell in love with Colorado Christian but in the end decided it was just too far away. She joked with us, knowing that Koch is headquartered in Wichita - that "maybe Dad should get transferred to Wichita so I can be closer to Colorado Christian." So here we are! And there she goes!!

So, I can't really say that Wichita feels like home yet - but we are certain that God's hand is on us and He is using this journey to grow us in knowledge of Him. So we continue to trust Him and continue to be excited about where He is leading us.