A new day, a new week

Sorry to be hogging the blog lately, but I figured I should do a follow-up to last week's quick message. Things are beginning to return to "normal" around here - class, studying, etc...The funeral was Saturday, which gave all of us some closure to begin to refocus on closing out the semester strong. My friend and I gave our big presentation over music therapy today to about 125 people, and it was a huge success! Whew...And finally, I got the job!!! I don't know the exact schedule yet, as HR hasn't contacted me "officially", but hopefully soon I will begin working at Medical City Children's Hospital. I'm so excited and feel so lucky for this opportunity to work with kids ranging from newborns to 18yrs.

I found out this week that one of my classmates is the spouse of a well known Christian group memeber: Dan Dean of Phillips, Craig, & Dean. How neat!?! In light of that, the lyrics this week are to one of their MANY songs. Look them up because I bet you've heard at least one of them in church in the past 10 years. Enjoy!

Mercy came running
Like a prisoner set free
Past all my failures
To the point of my need
When the sin that I carried
Was all I could see
And when I could not reach mercy
Mercy came running to me

Mercy Came Running by Phillips, Craig, & Dean

Riding the wave...

I just wanted to take a moment to share a difficult experience that I've been a part of this week, and ask for a favor. Today, a classmate of mine passed away. We were in class together Friday afternoon, but stood by her bed in ICU Monday afternoon. To make a long story short, on Saturday she became septic (her blood became toxic) and caused her major organs to progressively shut down. After coding (heart stopped) 3 times this weekend, she never regained consciousness. Upon arriving to class on Monday morning, we were informed as to the severity of the situation, and were asked to visit her. It was shocking to see someone that we treated patients with only a few days prior, as the patient...and in very, very bad shape. We were aware that she only had a short time, but as of around noon today, she was taken off life support and passed very quickly thereafter. I just ask for your prayers for the family and our TWU Nursing community. We are strong, but it is a very difficult wave to ride. She was an extremely kind woman that had such an impact on everyone she came in contact with. Thank you for your support & I love you all!

Katie

The Waiting Game

We can hardly believe how time is flying by...Last weekend, Katie's mom came to visit and we had a great time! One of our favorite parts was going to see Alice in 3D. It definitely reminded us how much we enjoy going to the movies together, but how rarely it actually happens. We also helped out at a church picnic by letting the kids hold the church bunny. It was a beautiful day to be outside!

This weekend brings a waiting game for us both - Chris on the possibility of getting benefits, Katie on the possibility of a new job working with kids at a hospital. Katie's interview is Thursday afternoon, so keep the prayers coming. Either way, it is nice to have the hopes of both! Oh, one more exciting thing this week: Chris' journal article was accepted for publication. We're very proud!

That's about it for now, but we'll leave you with this week's lyrics and pray that they find you happy & hopeful...

Give me your eyes for just one second

Give me your eyes so I can see

Everything that I keep missing

Give me your love for humanity

Give me your arms for the broken hearted

The ones that are far beyond my reach

Give me you heart for the ones forgotten

Give me your eyes so I can see

Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

Hoppy Easter!

We had a great time celebrating Easter this past week or so - The Sunday before Easter, our church put on an amazing concert to start off the week, the tulips in our neighborhood have been blooming like crazy, Katie made Easter cupcakes while we watched movies on Friday (believe it or not, it was our first time to use Redbox), and we spent Saturday and Sunday with family in Waco. Other than that, it has been more of the usual here: school, work, and some fun with friends. Hope you had a wonderful Easter as well!

Here's the "song of the week":

It ought to be more like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love

More Like Falling In Love by Jason Gray