Entry Twenty

"Of this I am convinced, You my God are greater still." (The Greatness of Our God - Hillsong)

I want to be convinced of that.  If I let myself sit a contemplate the glorious things he is and has done its not hard.  But I need those moments to sit and contemplate.

And how unspeakably incredible is it that we have a God that is greater still?  Greater than what I think of when the word "God" comes up.  Greater than I've ever thought possible.  Greater than my heart and my sin.  Greater still than anything we know.

He has saved me from myself and from the pit of this world.  Like one pastor put it recently (did I mention this in a previous post?) he swam to the bottom of the ocean to pull out this dying, decaying corpse and breathe new life into it.  He sacrificed his Son he cared about us so much.  He is infinitely holy and higher than all the great men that have ever walked the earth.  He's healed, saved, fixed, judged, disciplined, chosen, rebuked, instructed, raised up, conquered, and loved.

And he is greater still.

Entry Nineteen

Red River Gorge = perfect place to take a day off and chillax with some fantastic people... and get some wilderness first aid experience?

It started out as a gorgeous day in the mid 60s, sunny and perfectly without school.

Everyone happily climbing on rocks and NOT thinking about Gross Anatomy.

All until we saw this...

And then one of the guys got bit by this...

Baby copperhead according the ER doc.  The hero of the story really being the iPhone that got a picture of the snake, sent it to the ER, and had the docs ready with anti-venum 30 min before we ever got there.  It felt a little like a Duracell-battery style iPhone commercial (you know the "when it really matters, the professionals trust...")  But the guy is fine now, still swollen but no anti-venum was required.  And in case anyone was in doubt, yes, KY really does have lots of snakes.

Side Note

Doesn't this just make you want to get out there and do something to help this suffering world?

CNN Heroes 2011

Entry Eighteen

I LOVE fall and am SO excited to have one this year (Honduras doesn't have one, which was fun when trying to teach my 6th graders about the seasons).  And one of the best parts?  Family :-)  We had our biannual Mefford family reunion this past weekend and on top of that I got to have dinner with some fantastic friends.  It was all in all a much needed break and a lovely weekend.  (And in THREE days we're headed to the Gorge!)

Here are some pics from the gathering (all are on FB too):

It will be officially fall tomorrow and once I get my first pumpkin spice latte everything will be lovely!

Entry Seventeen

Are you going on with Jesus? The way goes through Gethsemane, through the city gate, and on “outside the camp” (Hebrews 13:13). The way is lonely and goes on until there is no longer even a trace of a footprint to follow— but only the voice saying, “Follow me.” (Matthew 4:19) - Oswald Chambers


Only a voice.  Saying "follow me."  Sometimes that's all we get.  That and a faith that believes Romans 5:17.  A faith that believes that through Christ righteousness will reign so much more than sin, in the life of someone who his resurrected with him.  I don't tend to think of righteousness that way.  I tend to think of it as a harder find, a harder victory than sin.  That's a lie.  It is Christ who was completely and ultimately victorious.  "Oh death where is your sting?"  There is no condemnation anymore.  Sin is not gone from this world, that will come in time, but for now it is no longer binding those who live by faith.


And with a faith that believes these promises of God and the blood of Christ as a sufficient sacrifice, a simple "follow me" is all we need.

Entry Sixteen

Am I doing this for me or for him?

I hate testing motivations.  Not only is it not fun because sometimes you just don't want to face the answer, but it can be very hard to tease through the layers to find the true driving factor.  But boy does it change the way we live when we really start to examine our motivations.

The only John Piper sermons I have ever listened to focused heavily on this topic: do you worship a God-centered God or a you-centered God?  It makes all the difference in the world if you are truly living this out for God, for the glory of God, for the fame of God, for God himself.  Or if you are living it out for a God who is all about you, saving you, helping you, glorifying you.

So back to the original question, am I doing this for me or for him?  Am I worshiping a God-centered God or a me-centered God?

I think it is very easy to live my life for me without thinking twice about it.  All my decisions are selfish simply because I am the only one I consider when making them and generally I'm the only one directly and obviously affected, so it makes sense.  It really takes a mental transformation to go from that to "consider others before yourself."  Very not natural.  I generally live my life for me.  And I guess some people make the same mistake living life for a husband or children.  But it's just me.  So I make my decisions and I live my life for what I know: my needs, desires, aspirations, etc.

But that's boring.  Like running on a hamster wheel.  Good enough for hamsters, but not me.

So am I doing this for me?  Most of the time.  But he has justified me and I live by grace, which means I get to live for him despite my sinful tendency to live for me.  Isn't it lovely?

Entry Fifteen

My assignment this week for Intro to Clinical Medicine was to write my own version of the Hippocratic Oath that I want to follow in my practice and profession as a physician.  There are parts of it that were really straightforward/obvious and parts that were more difficult to tease through.  Here's what I finally came up with (points in no particular order):

*I will not do anything to cause my patients undo harm and exercise conservative judgment when suggesting treatments that could be harmful to the patient.

*I will strive to understand my limitations as a practicing physician or student and only operate within my abilities, referring to others when my knowledge or skills are inadequate to serve the patient’s needs.

*I will protect all the information that I acquire about my patients and any information they volunteer to me even after they have deceased.

*I will treat every patient with the best of my professional ability and not withhold any treatments on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, etc.

*I will strive to remember that I do not treat a wound or a sickness, but I treat a sick human being whose sickness can have broad-ranged effects on economic stability, family members, etc.   I will be aware of surrounding issues and carefully consider these related issues as well as the sickness itself.

*I will always seek to improve my patients’ quality of life through caring for their health and preventing disease before it happens whenever possible.

*I will respect the wishes of my patients with regards to their healthcare and allow them to define for themselves what health goals will most readily allow them to experience an acceptable quality life.

*I will inform my patients to the best of my ability about their health status, risk factors, and empower them to make beneficial decisions regarding their healthcare and general welfare.

*I will not knowingly withhold relevant information from my patients about their health status, health risks, or other related information.

*I will respect and honor all of the physicians and scientists that have studied, practiced, and spent time teaching me to be a physician and subsequently pass on my knowledge and skills to the generation of new doctors who will follow me.

And suddenly the responsibility of what I'm training to do feels very heavy :-)

Entry Fourteen

Good news!  I survived my first round of exams and I'm still standing.  We have decided its really not that much different from undergrad yet, but it's like finals week every week.  Obviously that can get a little stressful.  So what do med students do the night before the first big exam?  Play ultimate Frisbee of course!

We were ready for war.

We didn't know it but we ended up playing the dental school and yes we won :-)

Entry Thirteen

(My entry titles are going to get very embarrassing if I can't spell numbers correctly :-)

NEWS FLASH:  I do not have to be good at everything.

Actually, not so much a news flash but a lesson that's been grilled into my head over and over this past year.  One of the things I absolutely had to become okay with in Honduras (see En Vasos de Barro) was not being excellent at things the first time I tried them (like teaching or speaking Spanish).  It's silly I know, but I have been pretty used to being pretty "capable" in general.  Unfortunately, being used to that feeling makes situations where I have no idea what I'm doing very uncomfortable.  God truly humbled my heart in Honduras on this issue, but I still have trouble not stressing out when I have to do something that I don't think I can do perfectly (or at least really well).  I just have to keep reminding myself: that's why you are here, to learn.  And not to learn things you already know, to learn things you don't know and can't do yet.  That is so much of what are Christian life is supposed to be like too.  Constantly relying on God's ability when we get thrown into situations we can't handle, or get handed people we don't know how to help.  It's just all about the diving part.  Time to put on the "sink or swim" mentality.  But let's be real, God has already promised not to let us sink.  But we're still responsible for jumping.

Entry Twelve

Still trying to find a church home in Louisville, I visited Sojourn for the 2nd time with my roomie, Jenna (awesome girl, by the way, I don't know if I've mentioned her but she is a complete God-send of a roommate).  The sermon was on the John 10 passage about the Good Shepherd (I can NEVER spell that word right the first time).  And the speaker told me some things about sheep that I'd never heard before (and haven't had time to research and verify), but I thought were very funny...

Sheep will wander off from their flock, and without a leader to follow anymore, will continue walking... and walking...

Sheep have been known to eat themselves to death; see good grass, grab, chew, swallow, and repeat.

Sheep freeze or run like crazy if they become startled.  If they happen to roll themselves over on their backs by accident and see only sky, they might start air running until they exhaust themselves.

Although it was not the main point of the sermon, I of course couldn't help but think how much sense it makes for the Scriptures to compare us to sheep.  We are just so stupid sometimes.  I am just so stupid sometimes.

On a different note, my first set of real exams are this Friday and following Monday.  Microanatomy and macroanatomy.  It still hits me at random times that I'm actually training to be a doctor right now.  I cannot believe that in less than 4 years now, I will be trained up to treat patients.  Four years used to seem like such a long time.  Not so much anymore.  But I refuse to say (as so many of my friends already do) "I must be getting old."  Just a pet peeve of mine I suppose, but I hate it when I hear 25, 26, 27 year old's say that.  There is so much more life ahead of us and I am so excited about all that God is going to continue doing and working out in all of our lives.  I'd prefer to just get excited!