I remember the first week of nursing school vividly. I was sitting in my Professional Development class that was filled with 100+ eager new students. The professor asked for volunteers to share why self-care as a student was important. As the shoot-straight-from-the-hip person that I am, I raised my hand and said “Because there are other things in life that are more important that nursing school.”
Gasp! Did she really just say that? With the daggers that pierced my back, you would have thought I’d told the class that I believed in cannibalism or something. Yes, people, some things are more important than nursing school – at least for me – and I’ll be bold enough to say that some things should be more important than nursing school for you too.
I’m not talking about time spent per day as the end all be all indication of priorities – nursing school takes up a lot of my time and I’m sure 8-12 hour work days take up a lot of time too. BUT, in my corazoncito (little heart of hearts), nursing school is not my top priority. In fact, it’s probably like 5th on my priority list. Don’t get me wrong – I do the work, and I do it well. But I’ve figured out that in order for me to steward correctly the other things in my life that God has placed in front of me, I need to make some choices. Because, while I can’t control how many hours a week I have to be at clinical or in class, I can control what I’m doing with the other 86 hours of my week (and this is actually already taking into account sleep time! Wow I have a lot more time than I thought!). How I spend those 86 hours speaks volumes about where my priorities are.
For those of you that don't know me personally, I figured I'd outline some of things I do (alongside my wonderful awesome hot husband Garry) outside of school
- Cozz-ee – the new, socially conscious way to buy coffee. 100% of profits given away to fight 7 leading causes facing our world. Ugh, I just can’t contain my excitement for this and how impactful I know this is going to be for the world. If you haven’t already done so, find us on Facebook or Twitter and while you’re at it, go ahead and buy some coffee.
- The Lampstand – let’s just call it a community group on crack! We eat dinner, we pray, we worship, we study, and we get out into our community. This group is for all folks regardless of church affiliation who are (or want to) passionately pursue God and who want to be around other folks who care about really living a life sold out for Jesus. Guess what, we’re on Facebook and Twitter too! (Yes, we’ve succumbed to the social media monster)
- Hospitality Volunteer Coordinator – we get to welcome folks to The Midtown Bridge Church! So stinkin fun to meet with folks and be a smiling face to those who visit for the 1st time. And speaking of unconventional, we meet in a movie theatre!
Needless to say, with every passing day of nursing school, I’m realizing more and more that my priority is not nursing. I LOVE that I’m going to have a defined skill set and I am beyond ecstatic that I get to be trained by some of the best nurse educators in the country. But, I will never ever ever (did I mention ever) see my primary role on this planet as a nurse. If I get there, I have gravely missed the mark. For me, nursing is a TOOL to impact people for Christ. Nothing more. Nothing less. And it’s not going to happen in a hospital for the next 40 years. HECKS NAH! Garry and I will be traveling the world, spreading the gospel and being the hands and feet of Christ.
Some say we’re radical. Some say we’re irresponsible. Some say we’re “Jesus Freaks." I say – Whatev to you my friend! Nothing has made more of a difference in my life than my decision to have a real, living, breathing relationship with God. So I will proclaim the goodness of the Lord ALL the days of my life.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Mthw 28:19-20
No comments:
Post a Comment