A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
This term, working at SPARC has been quite the experience. I think I’m breaking out of my sheltered-ness…learning about what the real world is like. It gets unbearable at times, but only when I forget I’m not doing it alone.
How I’ve changed and how I’ve learned
Becoming less becoming more
and I’m still nothing next to You
I’m still nothing without to You…
What interesting lyrics from “Monday Morning”…
The other day I read something that spoke to my heart from 2 Corinthians 4…I especially like this part:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
So many “trifles and fooleries” occupy my mind everyday. I don’t know if I can ever “pray continually”…It’s so hard to always be aware and practice God’s presence in life. Of course I need to remind myself that I’m not doing it by my own strength…It’s only by His strength that I can do all things.
Taking the time to be kind…
Today my coworker talked to me about how un-kind and rude our society has become…It’s hard to come by people who take the time to care about other people. North America, as we have learned in social psych, is very individualistic as a whole (har har…oxymoron?). We are about independence and all that… I wonder what it would be like to live in community with people around me all the time. People from asian countries tend to be more helpful and look towards the needs of the group first. In Aletheia, we have been talking about building a community like that of the early church. Whenever I read about it, I wish I could be apart of it
But thankfully, I know kind people do exist=). One of my patients told me today “So few people take the time to say a kind word to another person. But a kind word can go a long way…” And it’s so true.
One kind word can warm three winter months. - Japanese Proverb
It’s been a while since I’ve posted my thoughts up in a public blog. For the past bit, I’ve been using my msn space, allowing only a selected few permission to read it. The idea of random strangers reading my thoughts is a bit unnerving…you never know what creepsters are lurking out there on the internet. Anyways, as a sort of “disclaimer”, please note that I don’t mean to offend anyone with my thoughts or ideas expressed on this blog.
I’m ready to move on to now…hopefully you’ll be patient as I get used to this whole making my own site and maintaining it for your viewing pleasure and for my verbal diarrhea. In the meantime, here’s an update about what’s going on in my life…
So far this term, I’ve mostly been working, but I’ve had time to do some other things when I’m not too tired. I work at a physiotherapy and rehab centre, for those who don’t know. Each day, we see 90-120 patients in our tiny clinic…I’m one of two student kinesiologists. (The title really means nothing) We see a lot of patients that have been through motor-vehicle accidents and are in need of therapy to recover from their injuries. My job duties include: teaching patients to do exercises and stretches, hooking them up on the IFC and TENS machines (I put electrodes on their areas of injury) and applying hot and cold packs where needed, a whole bunch of administrative stuffs and general cleaning and maintenance. Honestly, my work is physically draining and really repetitive…but I love talking to the patients and getting to know them. People tell me that I smile all that time and that encourages me to keep smiling. If anything, I hope I am making some small difference…
This past week, my coworker/boss (the kinesiologist) whom I work under announced her resignation. In about a week, just me and the other coop will have to hold up the fort until a replacement is found. This coop term, I have discovered the sad reality of how (this) physio clinic works…it is a money-making business that cares more about making a whole lot of profit than about the patients. I feel discouraged because I know the patients deserve more than we give them..but I’m just an idealist and a lowly coop that is probably in no position to judge how the company is run. I just know I hate pushing people in and out…
Alright, that’s enough for post #1.
