today is paper-writing day. i haven't had one of these in quite a while. my car is in the "shop" due to some busted electrical stuff causing my horn to beep every time i turn off the car. (brian regan moment, anyone?) so therefore i am stuck at home, but thankfully on a day when my class is cancelled and i have the day to get the work done that i have been putting off all week...and that is due today :)
will i ever change?
the past few weeks have been crazy busy, crazy full it seems like. i am getting closer to the end of my orientation at ridgeview, having worked 2 1/2 weeks now and still have some hospital-wide orientation left. tuesdays are the most full--working all day and then class from 5-8. the most tiring part i think is the early morning wake-ups (i will never get used to 5:30. it is just too early) but i am finding that even though it can be a lot, i am not as tired by the end as i think i'll be. i think the reason being that i am tired, but i am not DRAINED. i am actually really enjoying this job so far and the immense opportunities to be Jesus to people that it brings. working all this past weekend helped--worked saturday and sunday (which sadly means i have to miss church) but over the weekend, it is only inpatients, and not the partial patients who only come 10-7 M-F. therefore, there are less girls (this weekend just 8) and a lot more laid back atmosphere = a chance to sit, talk, and get to know the patients. not only that, but there are lots of opportunities to get to know and love my co-workers too. everyone is coming from such different places and it is just good to have a place, an outlet, to be out of the Christian circle that can easily become my life.
there is still a LOT to be learned both with doing my job (which apparently will take at least 6 months before I will be proficient at everything) and with how to relate to a population that consists of mostly eating disorder patients, and many others dealing with depression, self-harm, are suicidal, and substance abuse. first day on the job, a 16 yr old girl was admitted who was 5'1 and weighed 66lbs. goodness. i was reading in one of my school books about an interaction between a counselor and client, with the client talking about how one of the difficulties of letting go of her anorexia was that it made her "special" or different in the eyes of others. sitting with a patient yesterday and listening to her express this same fear takes what is true in a book and puts a real face and person behind it. thus, lots of experience to be gained...counseling and listening skills, setting boundaries and being firm despite resistance, learning to encourage and speak truth without necessarily bringing "Jesus talk" into the conversation, and of course, leaving room for the Holy Spirit to create and bring those opportunities about for people to ask about the Lord so i CAN speak about Him. Ultimately, we are his tools no matter where we are if we make ourselves available.
so that has been my life the past few weeks--that and going to classes. i am grateful for this day off. time to stop procrastinating and get back to writing about the models of intervention and treatment for child sex trafficking victims.
hope you are having a happy wednesday :)
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