Don't Waste Your Life

After an extensive day doing testing at St.Jude it's hard not to be grateful for all my blessings. Though I'm a member of the survivor's club, I really haven't had it as bad as most of the kids there. I'm exhausted after one very long day of appointments and meetings but I can't imagine having to go through that constantly every day.

While I was eating lunch there were two girls, both of whom had lost all their hair from chemo, who were having a reunion of sorts talking about their symptoms and waiting on the nausea to set in from their treatments. They seemed to chat happily though one seemed more under the weather. Their encouragements to each other felt foreign to me as I have never been an in-house patient. I've basically led a normal, unaffected life with little more than uncomfortable questions to answer.

As the waiting gaps were quite lengthy, I had the opportunity to read "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper which has truly been an inspiring read. In the first few chapters he talks about how it is the youth of our generation who have the real chance to make a difference by being inundated with the true message of God's plan for us. God's ultimate design is to be glorified but this shouldn't be a chore for us. Quite the opposite, God is gkorified when we take delight in Him. There are serious implications if we ignore God's glorification but when we unite our happiness with Christ's cause there is true happiness and enjoyment of life. "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to me, and I to the world." Delighting in anything but the cross is useless for everything but His kingdom wastes away.

There's so much hope in that hospital. I was talking to one of my favorite nurses Debbie when I had the revelation that God has a special place in his heart for children, and so in a facility full of children, His presence is sure to abound. And when you look for God, you will find Him. I found Him in the smiles of the nurses, the earnest hello's of various staff members and in the dedication of a man named Danny Thomas who provided this place of hope through God's blessing on his life.

I am so excited to start my internship there where I can hopefully be a part of that atmosphere for a long time. I feel my happiest there and more free to connect with people and share the sam hope I have, I pray that God will be glorified in my presence there as I delight in His abundant blessings.

Help me to keep my eyes on the cross and my heart in Your hands,

Yours