"And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’" (Deuteronomy 1:31)
Well, I've been in my new home for a week now and it has been looking and feeling more like home each day. My mom was such a huge help! She stuck around a few days to help me unpack, organize, clean, decorate, and she even made a veggie pasta salad and apple pudding dessert. I am blessed with a very giving mom. She's seriously the best! Here are a few pics of my new little home. I'll be adding a few things here and there, but for now I am done. I'm pretty burnt out on organizing, cleaning, and decorating! lol. Yes, it's a tad on the girly side, but most of you who know me are probably surprised by how little pink I incorporated.
This week I've been working a lot on my apartment, exploring the town, and getting things ready for school. I found a few parks, a river, and bike trail, which I am quite excited about! I'm getting more acquainted with the stores and restaurants around here. Yesterday, I visited a cute little coffee hut and got a yummy caramel frappaccino! I got my cable and internet hooked up and I got my windshield fixed. Wednesday I went to Little Rock, which is about 45 miles away from here. I shopped around a little bit and enjoyed exploring a little of the city. It was a fun little getaway for the day, yet also really interesting!
It started raining on my drive there (The Weather Channel totally lied to me). When I arrived at Target the rain had stopped and a beautiful rainbow appeared. It was absolutely breathtaking! I got out of my car to take a picture and looked around the parking lot to see that several other cars had stopped off the highway to snap a picture of the rainbow as well. Although I only capture half of it, it was a full rainbow that even had another dim rainbow just above it. Gorgeous! I couldn't help but just stare at it for several minutes thinking about how truly AMAZING God is. The rainbow is a symbol of God's promise that He will never again flood the whole world, but when I look at it I think of more than just that promise. I'm reminded of God's character, how faithful He is. Seeing something that beautiful and amazing, it's like... how can we NOT believe that God is alive, that He loves us, and is that His promises are true?! That rainbow couldn't have come at a better time. He knew I needed that. :)
Later, while I was in Target we experienced a complete blackout for several minutes. I heard parents frantically calling for their children and children crying and screaming. So what did I do? I just turned on my flashlight app. on my phone and then tweeted about it. Haha. The emergency lights came on and I continued to look around for another hour waiting for the power to turn back on so I could check out. I hated to think I had come all the way to Little Rock without being able to get anything. But then I realized that maybe me going there wasn't about shopping. I couldn't stop thinking about that rainbow. It suddenly didn't bother me that I may have just "wasted" hours shopping at a store that I traveled 45 miles to get to. I started heading to put my things back on the shelves when the electricity came back on. Everyone in the store was crowded at the front (maybe 20 of us) and we all cheered and gave high-fives! Haha. I'm glad I got to buy the things I had gone there for after all, but I know now that it wouldn't have been a wasted trip at all if I hadn't. The rainbow and God's sweet reminder alone was so worth the trip in the rain.
I liked Little Rock and I will definitely be back! I think it will be nice to get the best of both worlds. The small town feel of Searcy and the big city feel of Little Rock. I think the quaintness of Searcy is quite cute! It is very different here, but I'm trying not to compare it too much to back home and instead enjoy the unique things about it. My grandmother was just explaining to me how different London was to her when she and my grandfather lived there for a few years. She said that she really enjoyed it though because it was so unique from anything she was familiar with in the United States. She didn't go there expecting it to be like everything she was used to. She said if she had gone there hoping it to be like the U.S. she would have been miserable there. But instead, she enjoyed every little thing about it that was different and special, and she was able to bring back so many lovely memories when she returned to the States. I know I'm not in a different country, but what she said to me has definitely stuck with me as I have struggled a little these past few days to imagine my life in this new place. I'm trying to remember that I'm not in San Antonio or even Texas anymore. Living in this new place and going on this adventure is exactly that: an adventure. Something new and different. I'm trying to put on a different set of eyes as I accept Searcy for Searcy, all the little unique things about it that makes it special and different from anywhere else. (It is pronounced sir-see, not seer-see! haha I learned that pretty quickly!)
Sunday was a wonderful day full of more realization. I tried out a church on the west side of town (literally 10 minutes away from my apartment on the east side). It was very similar to my home church in San Antonio, but much smaller. I really really enjoyed the church. I loved the worship, sermon, and even met a few people. They were all so friendly and welcoming. How neat is it that one of the first people I met there was from Dallas, TX!? :) The sermon was definitely what I needed. It was about how we are naturally drawn to living a life of comfort. Yet, we often miss that it's actually the lack of comfort that leads us to reach out to the Lord for His strength. Those are the times the Lord really does a lot of powerful work through us and within us. It was definitely a "Duh" moment for me. I knew these things prior to moving here, yet I guess my vision got a little blurred with discouragement after being here for a few days. I'm well out of my comfort zone here in Arkansas, but I can't forget how the Lord has lead me here after carrying me through some tough times in the past. He is my strength. When I am weak, He is strong.
"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10).
That's all for now! I'm off to the gym :) Did I mention I start school MONDAY!? Oh my goodness!!!!
Happy Friday ya'll!
Our little pup Mandi and I before I left. Isn't she just adorable?! I can only imagine how big she will be when I see her next!
Happy Birthday to my niece Madison Elizabeth this week! She turned 4 on Wednesday. Can't believe it!
This past week was seriously incredible! I don't even know where to begin! Monday was such an exciting day, yet also a HUGE eye-opener. Our jaws dropped as we were all told how intense the program is going to be. Three-fourths of medical school in half the time is going to call for some serious time management skills! After that reality check, we spent a lot of time discussing time management, learning/study strategies, and stress management. Wednesday was all about 'Loving Medicine.' We did a "ropes course" with our class, faculty, and staff where we did different activities/challenges that allowed us to get to know each other better and work as a team. It was a total blast! But I'm sure that will be the one and only time we could wear workout clothes to class! :) Thursday we did BLS (Basic Life Support) training and we all got our certification for Healthcare Providers. CPR is quite a workout, especially when doing it almost all day! My thumbs were sore the next day from infant CPR... haha. Friday we had professional and senior student panels where we got to ask questions and hear invaluable advice for surviving the program and becoming health care providers. Lastly, we ended the amazing week with a devotional.
