10 Reasons Why...

I have decided to do a blog of 10 reasons why I'm thankful for my schedule. I was prompted to post on this topic because I have gotten about 2 hours of sleep each of the last two nights, and have been praying that the Lord would give me a content and thankful heart rather than the ugly and complaining one my sinful nature tends toward in these situations. Not surprisingly He has been faithful, and when my alarm went off 2 hours after I had climbed into bed for the second morning this morning, He allowed me to not only hear the alarm (which many people can attest to the fact that this in itself is a huge deal) but also to wake up feeling somewhat refreshed and ready for the day. I stumbled to the bathroom, and spent some time in prayer as I showered. The day and clinical were somewhat successful, and I am so thankful to the Lord for sustaining me and giving me the strength to accomplish all that was needed. So, here is the list I compiled in the car today. As you will see, it's a mixture of some funny and wonderful things I have experienced (although it may no longer be quite so funny after I get a full night of sleep tonight...).

1. When you leave your house before the sun comes up, you have the incredible experience of watching the sun rise while you drive to clinical. It always brings a smile to my face and is a wonderful start to my morning. As the first rays of sunlight appear on the horizon, you can't help but praise God for blessing you with yet another day of life.
2. When you leave CSULA at 10 pm you get to see the lights of downtown Los Angeles in a way you never can leaving campus any other time of day.
3. Very few other people truly understand how much fun this schedule can be, so there are almost no cars on the road. Hooray for no traffic!
4. Somewhere around 1 am as your eyes start to cross and you begin to contemplate the fact that you could only possibly receive 1 point maximum for the 27 pages of paperwork you have almost completed, you start to laugh in a way that would probably get you labeled as insane if anyone else was awake to hear you (so it's a good thing they are all in bed:o).
5. When you live with people who have a wonderful sense of humor, it can be fun to hear all of the jokes they come up with about how they have forgotten your name and can't figure out what happened to the girl who was living in the front bedroom.
6. When you pack both a lunch and a dinner you get to decide what foods you eat when, and even have the power to change the menu while you are eating. You also develop a new appreciation for the inventors of the microwave oven and microwave dinners (until you get to your nutrition class...:o).
7. Having scrubs for your uniform means you basically get to wear pajamas from 7 am - 10 pm, and when you get home at 11 pm you really do get to wear your pj's. Yay for being comfy!
8. Ever since my fellow students and I started measuring the quality of a nursing student based on the size of the dark circles under their eyes, I seem to be near the top of my class!
9. With a little bit of preparation the night before, you can climb out of bed and (without opening your eyes) walk with your hands out in the general direction of the kitchen. If you press enough things you can eventually start your coffee without ever really waking up. (The trick to this is to keep your hands out so that your nose is protected when you slam into walls.)
10. At various points during the day you hit "walls" which seem impenetrable. Truthfully, in my own human strength, they are. So the reason I am most thankful for my schedule, is that it provides almost constant reminders of my own inadequacy and my total dependence on God as my source of strength and joy. Thank you Lord for supplying all of my needs according to Your riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

Fun picture of the day. I took this at the Long Beach Aquarium this weekend, because my uncle pointed out that the name of the fish (which you can't really read here) is "Sarcastic Fringehead." It made me thankful that my parents went with Emily...