Passion

I find it interesting when I meet people who do not enjoy their jobs. I know that our situations can't always be ideal, but it seems that we can be working towards what we believe will be an enjoyable work experience. We met a doctor recently who confused me in regard to this topic. With all that has been happening with our current pregnancy you would think the doctor treating us would genuinely care about a patient. We were at the doctor once or twice a week for the first 6 weeks of this pregnancy and the doctor we were seeing said at every appointment that he did not know what was happening and sent us on our way. After not getting answers we began to ask questions about getting a second opinion and he responded with, "if that is something you feel like you need then go ahead and do it." Now in my job when confronted with a question that I do not know the answer to I generally make a strong effort to find the answer and if I don't know it I will refer to someone who does. Last week I had my nose in Fish Sauce and Shrimp Paste, almost vomited, and did it because I want to see my students have a good time at camp. I really struggle with people who do not display any passion for what they do. Now many people have what we would call a boring job, but even in that context there are things to look for that provide a spark of enthusiasm. Speaking as a consumer I feel much better about service when I know the service professional has a genuine interest in his or her job. Not because it involves flipping burgers or giving medical advice, but because that service job is an opportunity to give to someone else and meet a need that they have. That is always something to be passionate about.

Transfusion

July 11 marked our 6th wedding anniversary. My wife came out of the bathroom looking absolutely stunning and slowly walked out to the car for our evening out on the town. We drove into downtown Bend and found a really cool city festival going on with live music and everything. Normally we would park and head out to enjoy such an opportunity but this time there was a moment of hesitation. Deciding to just go for it I got out of the car and opened the trunk to get out a wheelchair for my wife. She slowly climbed out of the car and into the chair. A week ago Keri's blood count got so low that she needed two units of blood to get back into the normal range. It makes me angry to have to sit and watch my wife go through a scary medical procedure and not be able to help in any way. But there seems to be lesson after lesson in this situation. I think that one of the biggest things that I have learned is that I need to find a reason to celebrate every day that I am given. There are so many things that can happen to us at any given moment. God has been revealing to me the power of living in each and every moment. There are moments of great sorrow and moments of overwhelming joy. We can't live life afraid of what might happen tomorrow. Sorrow or Joy God is with us through it all and I need to find peace with that. My prayer is that God would transfuse me with His peace and that moment to moment I will rest in that.