"...like a firefighter!"

I had the most precious encounter with one of my patients last week, that represented a different kind of pain associated with childhood cancer.

She was sweet, she was cute, she was tired, she had cancer, but this patient also had Downs Syndrome. For whatever cruel reason, children with Down Syndrome are at an increased risk for developing cancer than other children; so it is not unusual to see these precious children in the oncology setting. The chemotherapy was taking its toll on her, leaving her content to rest quietly in her bed watching her beloved Disney movies while I came in and out taking blood pressures, temperatures and making her get up to use the restroom. It took until the afternoon for her to warm up to me, but when she did, she looked up from me in her bed and said with a clear confidence, "You know, I'm brave. Brave like a firefighter." To which I replied, "Yes you are! You are SO brave!"

And she is. Fighting her own type of fire, but a fire nonetheless.

I am a terrible blogger

Sorry to all of my fans (mom and emily), but apparently blogging doesn't fit into my regular schedule :) Here is a story I stole from my mom about my little sister Amanda, and I hope it brings as much sunshine to your day as it did to mine:

"Time for a funny Amanda story. For those of you who don't know her personally, Amanda has a pretty good sense of humor and says funny things all the time. Some of it is intentional, and some just happen. This is one of those stories....So Amanda was sitting here at the computer looking at her website. She doesn't look at it everyday, but once a week or so she'll sit down and see who has signed the guestbook and she likes to see if I've put new photos on. She was looking at the photo of her with her oncologist, Dr. Jubran, and she turns around and says to me, "I didn't know Dr. Jubran was an archaeologist." I laughed soooo hard:) Then I went on to explain what an oncologist is. I guess she had never heard that term before. She just knows her doctor helps children with cancer.She was a little embarrassed once she understood the word meanings, but I told her I had to share this story. It was too good to keep to myself!"

Hopefully you will be hearing from me soon!!

For some reason I have not thought about it lately. Maybe because I attend a Christian school where a debate over something such as this rarely happens because we all share the same view. Or maybe because it is such a horrible thing, that I choose not to dwell on it too long. But it is something that I truly hate, and I was once again reminded of it this last Sunday in church. Every time I think of the millions of babies who have lost their lives by the act of abortion, my heart starts to ache. More lives have been lost to abortion since the Roe v. Wade decision than all of the casualties of every American war combined. And my heart hurts because it is legal, these precious lives have no say in the matter, and it is such an example of how sin has tainted society's value of human life. I had an article sent to me from Albert Mohler's website (albertmohler.com) that presented the abortion issue so clearly, and I have decided to share parts of it with you:

"You just try for a few moments - and it is our responsibility to try - to get into that world and to try to think abortion through. You will come to understand that abortion makes sense to people who think that our existence is primarily about our rights - that we are human beings who stand on our own two feet, that we are autonomous human beings, that we are answerable to no one, that we are our own independent moral agents, and that we have the right to decide who will live and who will die.
In the world of the Bible, that is simply unthinkable. In a world that begins with the sovereignty of God, that is absolutely unimaginable. In a world that is a Scripture, Gospel-world, the question is - how can we be found faithful and reflect the glory of God in every dimension of our lives?
We come to understand that we fall short of the glory of God, but we understand that we were made for the glory of God. To turn that on its head and decide that we ourselves will become the judge of who will live and who shall die - that is unthinkable." - Albert Mohler

Kids say the darndest things

As a first grade Sunday School teacher, I get to 90 minutes a week with some of God's most precious gifts. The cherry on top of this whole opportunity (in addition to sharing the good news of Jesus with them) is that not only are they precious, but they are HILARIOUS! One week I spent 10 minutes asking "Who's there?" as these seven year-olds threw knock-knock joke after knock-knock joke at me.

Me: "Where did you learn all of these knock-knock jokes?"

seven year-old jokster: "My joke machine. I'm a joke master."

Me: "You certainly are a joke master."

I also have had the opportunity to listen to some very cute prayers, but I do not think anything will trump what I heard last Sunday from a little boy in my class who had volunteered to bless our snack of gold fish crackers and water.

seven year-old boy: "Dear Lord, thank you for Sunday School today.

Help us not to become Jewish. Thank you for our snack.

Amen."

Thankfully, I was able to thank him for a prayer well done and excuse the rest of the class to snack without bursting into laughter...but I was close. I have absolutely no idea where he got "help us not to become Jewish." Now, in this boy's defense, I am positive he did not mean this comment in an anti-Semitic way whatsoever. I merely think he used deductive reasoning with what he knows about the Jewish people, which probably is limited to these facts: 1) The Jewish leaders did not believe in Jesus and 2) The Jews are the people who wanted Jesus crucified. And I guess those were reasons enough for him to express his desire for all 22 of us in the room to resist any desire we might have to suddenly switch religious affiliations.

The more time I spend with first graders, the more fun I have.

Things That Make Me Tick: A Great Dress

If you are a woman, you are familiar with the feeling of seeing a dress in a store and before you even slip it off the hanger, you know that you were made for each other. Honestly, it has only happened twice for me and one of those times was yesterday. It was back in the sales racks (the only place I shop) of Gap and when I held it up, it was love at first sight. Slipping it on, I knew it would be very, very hard to leave without buying this strapless, ruffled beauty. You know how it is: there really is not an occasion in sight where you would ever need such a dress, but you think, "This dress would be perfect for that party I will be invited to, or that wedding I will be going to, or that date I will (someday) be going on, or when jcrew finally calls me and wants me to model for them, etc... " To top it off, I had a gift card!! So, even though I have absolutely no reason (right now, but you never know when jcrew might call...) to buy a strapless dress with ruffles all over it, I walked out of that store as the proud owner of a GREAT dress! This is just one of the many things that make me tick.

A Very Merry Christmas

This Christmas season that is just concluding has been a wonderful week of spending time with family and being reminded of the birth of our Savior. Christmas Eve was, as always, kicked off at our church Christmas Eve service and then moved to our place where we (mom's side of the family) ate a delicious meal cooked by my own dear mother (I hope some of those culinary skills are transferred to me...either by genetics, diffusion, osmosis, or whatever it takes to keep me and my future family from starving). The festivities ended with a family viewing of the infamous Christmas of 1991, when my uncle came dressed as Santa Claus and the camera captures me making a run for it and my dear little sister bursting into tears. Good times.

The little women and I then proceeded to open the traditional Christmas pajamas, see picture:

Christmas morning brought sister #2 banging on the door at 8:30am (I'm shocked it lasted THAT long!) and all of the excitement of staggering down the hallway towards our presents in birth order; yes, I am last. It was a relaxing morning spent with my favorite people in the world, celebrating the birth of the most important baby of all time... and celebrating the cookware set that will now allow me to cook for myself for the entire month of January!!

YAY COOKWARE!!!

"...the sweet sounds of techno."

Today I went on a beautiful hike with one of my dear friends from home, and besides the naked guy that we saw talking a casual stroll along the beach, we had fun hiking the hills of Santa Barbara County. At the top of the hill that we climbed, there was a breath-taking view of the ocean and surrounding countryside; but the second best event at the top was when we read the log book.
The purpose of a log book is to mark your accomplishment in writing so that those who follow can read the names and follow suit. This log book contained some short stories, rants about how tired some were, a few scattered profanities, and tales of triumph. Our favorite entry began like this: "So today I awoke to the sweet sounds of techno and took many shots of vodka." -sounds like the start to an awesome day- and it ended like so: "Long, arduous adventure, but it is not quite done, as we are about to smoke some plants atop this beautiful mountain. woo-ee-woo-ee." I think every hiker in the Western United States heard my laugh at the conclusion of that entry. Although my day did not begin with the "sweet sounds of techno," or end with "smoking some plants," it was still a great day with my friend. :)