Greetings, friends!
Where do I start?! This summer has FLOWN by so quickly! July is half-way over, and in one month, I will be loading up my car once again and heading to Starkville for another nine months. I have really enjoyed my summer for the most part.
In my dictionary, home means relaxing, smelling the aroma of southern cooking in our kitchen, having talks with my dad in his civil war decorated office, random shopping trips with my mom, playing burn out in the yard with my brother, watching my niece dress up the barbie dolls, playing fetch with dogs, and spending more time with God. Since the end of April, I have had the priviledge of doing each of those things and more.
When I moved home on April 30th, I was able to start my summer by sleeping late, laying out, playing golf, and reading. I did all these things just long enough to tease myself. However, I looked forward to the rest of my busy summer. At the end of May, I started getting my experience hours at Southwest Animal Hospital. I absolutely LOVE "working" there. My "job" consists of watching surgeries, observing different cases and asking questions, and cleaning kennels when needed. I never would have dreamed that I would love working an 8-5 job. This is definitely my future, and I am more than excited about it!
Not all of the summer has been fun and exciting though. Through the month of June, I had to endure summer school. Chemistry. Although I enjoy the subject, I despise summer classes. Monday thru Friday, I sat through a 3 hour lecture then lab for another 3 hours. When lab ended, I went to work until five. I went home, ate, and studied until midnight. Talk about a nightmare or better yet, a lack of sleep. During all of this, I was also house/dog sitting. One of the three dogs never showed up in those two weeks. I felt terrible, but the owners said that the dog was old and in bad shape. "Chaotic" sums up June in a nutshell.
July has always been a fun month for me and my family. When I was in my "kid" stages, we were always traveling. We were either watching my brother play baseball or me play softball. If we weren't involved with sports, we took some kind of vacation. For the past three years, we have traveled to Kentucky Lake to visit mom's extended family for the 4th of July. Kentucky Lake is a very serene place to visit. The weather was absolutely perfect- eighty three degrees WITH a breeze. All I did was eat, sleep, read, water ski, jet ski, and stay up until midnight playing dominoes and cards with a bunch of adults who are funner than most of my friends HA!
The day after I got home from Kentucky, my favorite event of the year began- Camp Sunshine! Nothing grabs the strings of my heart like the campers. They hardly ever complain. They are happy. They live out every moment. They don't stop dancing until the music stops. They love like no other! I know that God puts mentally and physically challenged individuals on this earth for an exact purpose. And that is to show others how much we take for granted on daily basis. He might have given them a special need, but He also has given each one of them special place.
And now,again here I am a month away from moving back to Starkville. I do miss it and all of my friends, but I will definitely miss MY home.
And so I leave you with some food for thought..
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled"- Matthew 5:6
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Confusion. Y2k10
I think that should be the theme for y2k10.
Almost four months into the year and already things are not adding up the way they are supposed to.
I am taking Trigonometry this semester, and I hate it. I guess that is my consequence for not listening to my math teacher in high school when she tried and tried to convince me to stay in College Algebra/Trig during my Senior year. I dropped it because I wanted an easier Senior year.
What seemed like the easy way out definitely was and is still not easy!
I literally feel like throwing my computer across the room when I realize that my answer is wrong because I missing a negative sign or I didn't put the decimal in the right place. Then there are times where I am not even close to the correct answer...
.. That is how I sum up January-April... Confusing. Frustrating. Tiring.
Yes, there are some good moments too. I'm not looking at the glass as half empty! As my father would say, "You're better than that, Morgan."
_________________________________________
January brought new beginnings. I turned 19. (Gosh, that still seems weird) I headed back to Starkville on the 4th after a nice, long, relaxing break. I was excited about going back. I missed my new friends. I missed the atmosphere. And I looked forward to the new semester. My classes are definitely tougher than the fall semester, but they are more interesting. I am taking Animal Science which is part of my major. So far, I have wrestled with sheep, milked a cow, and stuck my hand inside a cow's stomach. Today, I get to examine meat carcasses. You can make fun all you want and call it "cow college," but I take pride in what I do.
Another thing January brought was cold weather. I love winter time, but I HATE walking around campus in 20 degree weather for a solid month. Definitely brutal.
February. Oh, February.
This month probably wins the award for being the worst... I was stressed out at the beginning of the month. My grades were not as high as I wanted them to be. As much as I tried, I could not get organized. (I still do not think I'm organized) Then it all hit rock bottom on February 12th...
Friday, February 12th started as a wonderfully beautiful day. Valentine's weekend . Only had two classes. Worked out. Did some laundry because I was not going home until the first weekend in March. Surprised by a dozen red roses on desk from sweet Tyler. Made chocolate covered strawberries. Oh! and instead of a card, I got two fortune cookies and surgically removed the fortunes and wrote my own and placed them inside the cookies. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself!
So, I was doing my Friday odds and ends when Mom called around 3. She told me that Dad was going into emergency gallbladder surgery. He had been having problems since we went to Disney, and made an appointment with the doctor to have a colonoscopy done. He made it for the Wednesday after Valentine's weekend.
He was having immense pain that Friday, so he called his sister who is a doctor to check on him. She proposed that have his gallbladder taken out right away.
I really was not worried about the surgery when mom told me because it is one of those "piece of cake" surgeries that is almost overpriced.
Four hours later, Mom called me back and told me exactly what I did not want to hear. "I think you need to come home in the morning." She did not tell me why other that I needed to spend time with my daddy. I stood on the sidewalk, crying and.. confused.
So, I awoke at 7:00 following day. Tyler voluntarily drove me to McComb because he did not want me to drive. I'm surely blessed to have him.
We arrived at the hospital around 11:00. (Now, at the this time, all I knew was that dad's gallbladder was removed.. or so I thought.) The room was filled with my family- mom, my brother and sister-in-law, my niece, my aunt and uncle, and my grandmother who is the strongest woman I know- all quiet. I sat on the lumpy bed with my grandma and dad. Both of their eyes flooding with tears. I then knew things were not good..
Colon cancer. Stage 4.
When the doctor opened him up to take the gallbladder, he saw three masses of cancer around the colon area. He ended up not taking the gallbladder because he did not want to risk the cancer spreading. Dad was in the hospital in McComb until Tuesday. He had surgery in Jackson the following Thursday to re-route some things. He was there about a week, and started chemotherapy treatments 3 weeks after that. He is now working on his third round.
My father has never come up short for any of his family. I can count the times on one hand of how many times he has told his family "No." He has always gone out of his way to make satisfy people. My father is the strongest man I know. It hurts me to go home and see that he's weak and in pain. But then I am comforted when I see piles of encouragement cards all saying "you are in my prayers." Prayer is powerful.
I could go on and on, but I don't want to talk as if he is dying. Yes, they say that his case is incurable, and he will be on chemo the rest of his life. But I, Morgan Smith, hold on to something much stronger and more powerful than cancer and poverty and nuclear weapons and the universe. FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.
John 16:33 tells us that we will ALL go hard times, and times where we all want to give up, but we should step back have faith because Jesus overcame the world.. the world! So, I know that in the end that God will be glorified by this.
Even in doubt and confusion, God still reveals to me that He is in control of it all. Like the song says, "Everything rides on hope now, everything rides on faith somehow, that when the world has broken me down, Your love sets me free!"
Almost four months into the year and already things are not adding up the way they are supposed to.
I am taking Trigonometry this semester, and I hate it. I guess that is my consequence for not listening to my math teacher in high school when she tried and tried to convince me to stay in College Algebra/Trig during my Senior year. I dropped it because I wanted an easier Senior year.
What seemed like the easy way out definitely was and is still not easy!
Anyway, all of my trig homework is done on the computer. Sometimes the homework is aggitating because I type in an answer after working on a problem for a good amount of time, and the answer will be wrong. I work it out again and again and again until it finally tells me the right answer.
I literally feel like throwing my computer across the room when I realize that my answer is wrong because I missing a negative sign or I didn't put the decimal in the right place. Then there are times where I am not even close to the correct answer...
.. That is how I sum up January-April... Confusing. Frustrating. Tiring.
Yes, there are some good moments too. I'm not looking at the glass as half empty! As my father would say, "You're better than that, Morgan."
_________________________________________
January brought new beginnings. I turned 19. (Gosh, that still seems weird) I headed back to Starkville on the 4th after a nice, long, relaxing break. I was excited about going back. I missed my new friends. I missed the atmosphere. And I looked forward to the new semester. My classes are definitely tougher than the fall semester, but they are more interesting. I am taking Animal Science which is part of my major. So far, I have wrestled with sheep, milked a cow, and stuck my hand inside a cow's stomach. Today, I get to examine meat carcasses. You can make fun all you want and call it "cow college," but I take pride in what I do.
Another thing January brought was cold weather. I love winter time, but I HATE walking around campus in 20 degree weather for a solid month. Definitely brutal.
February. Oh, February.
This month probably wins the award for being the worst... I was stressed out at the beginning of the month. My grades were not as high as I wanted them to be. As much as I tried, I could not get organized. (I still do not think I'm organized) Then it all hit rock bottom on February 12th...
Friday, February 12th started as a wonderfully beautiful day. Valentine's weekend . Only had two classes. Worked out. Did some laundry because I was not going home until the first weekend in March. Surprised by a dozen red roses on desk from sweet Tyler. Made chocolate covered strawberries. Oh! and instead of a card, I got two fortune cookies and surgically removed the fortunes and wrote my own and placed them inside the cookies. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself!
So, I was doing my Friday odds and ends when Mom called around 3. She told me that Dad was going into emergency gallbladder surgery. He had been having problems since we went to Disney, and made an appointment with the doctor to have a colonoscopy done. He made it for the Wednesday after Valentine's weekend.
He was having immense pain that Friday, so he called his sister who is a doctor to check on him. She proposed that have his gallbladder taken out right away.
I really was not worried about the surgery when mom told me because it is one of those "piece of cake" surgeries that is almost overpriced.
Four hours later, Mom called me back and told me exactly what I did not want to hear. "I think you need to come home in the morning." She did not tell me why other that I needed to spend time with my daddy. I stood on the sidewalk, crying and.. confused.
So, I awoke at 7:00 following day. Tyler voluntarily drove me to McComb because he did not want me to drive. I'm surely blessed to have him.
We arrived at the hospital around 11:00. (Now, at the this time, all I knew was that dad's gallbladder was removed.. or so I thought.) The room was filled with my family- mom, my brother and sister-in-law, my niece, my aunt and uncle, and my grandmother who is the strongest woman I know- all quiet. I sat on the lumpy bed with my grandma and dad. Both of their eyes flooding with tears. I then knew things were not good..
Colon cancer. Stage 4.
When the doctor opened him up to take the gallbladder, he saw three masses of cancer around the colon area. He ended up not taking the gallbladder because he did not want to risk the cancer spreading. Dad was in the hospital in McComb until Tuesday. He had surgery in Jackson the following Thursday to re-route some things. He was there about a week, and started chemotherapy treatments 3 weeks after that. He is now working on his third round.
My father has never come up short for any of his family. I can count the times on one hand of how many times he has told his family "No." He has always gone out of his way to make satisfy people. My father is the strongest man I know. It hurts me to go home and see that he's weak and in pain. But then I am comforted when I see piles of encouragement cards all saying "you are in my prayers." Prayer is powerful.
I could go on and on, but I don't want to talk as if he is dying. Yes, they say that his case is incurable, and he will be on chemo the rest of his life. But I, Morgan Smith, hold on to something much stronger and more powerful than cancer and poverty and nuclear weapons and the universe. FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.
John 16:33 tells us that we will ALL go hard times, and times where we all want to give up, but we should step back have faith because Jesus overcame the world.. the world! So, I know that in the end that God will be glorified by this.
Even in doubt and confusion, God still reveals to me that He is in control of it all. Like the song says, "Everything rides on hope now, everything rides on faith somehow, that when the world has broken me down, Your love sets me free!"
Here are some pics of the handsome man: Also he has a caring bridge site!
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