Author: Mr. and Mrs. Falls :)
Greetings from Houston on a “snow day” from work for both Michael and Emily due to increment weather conditions (i.e., it’s cold… ish). Seriously, we both have work off today for fear of snow because apparently Houston drivers have NO idea how to drive in it. We have yet to witness this because, well, we’re off work and not on the roads, but one can only assume it’s an experience. Nevertheless, we won’t complain because we get a whole extra day together and thus get to update our blog for January!
Michael began his second semester of school, and Emily began her first full-time nursing position. Second semester for Michael has been going more smoothly compared to first. He is beginning to see the fruit of his teaching efforts as students start to master some of the concepts he’s been teaching. One of Michael’s shortcomings has been his desire to reach his students with the math content so much that it has led to a drop off with some of his relationships with his students. He’s been praying (and asks for your prayers, too) that the relationships he cherished first semester would continue to grow this semester, and that he would be able to reach out to other students as well.
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| Memorial Hermann Memorial City location - this is where Emily is completing some of her clinical training. |
Emily was really nervous to begin her official training with the new hospital, but on day one felt a sense of peace as she stepped into the classroom. She soon realized that she just needs to take things one day at a time, learn as much as she can, and trust God to bring about the results. God is bringing her victory in her battle of placing her worth in her performance and others’ opinions of her – this can be easy to do with any new job, so please pray that she would continue to find her worth in the Lord, and that God would reveal to her His purposes in placing her in the OR. Emily’s had the opportunity to see some really cool surgeries. In fact, on her first day of clinical she saw a below the knee amputation…. sooo cool (“Sooo sick”, according to Michael). She’s observed nearly every role in the operating room and next week will begin to scrub in with a surgical tech and learn about the instruments, protecting the sterile field, etc. She’s also become good friends with her fellow OR RN intern, Jaime. Please pray that this relationship would continue to flourish!
Our church has begun a new sermon series called “The Names of Christ.” We’ve been studying various passages that identify Christ as Our Rock, Son of David, King of Glory, and Our Cornerstone (we’re still going through the series, so there are more titles to come). This series has opened our eyes to the character of Christ in so many ways. Through it, we have realized our need to depend on God completely for His grace. We often have the mentality that we can “earn” our way mostly to God through good works, and God in His grace can nudge us to Himself the rest of the way (picture a little child crawling up a ladder, who needs the help of their father to nudge them the rest of the way). However, God doesn’t work like that. It is entirely by His grace that we are saved through faith, and this is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. Also, through the “Cornerstone” sermon, we were reminded that Jesus is the foundational “Jenga” piece in our lives. Let us explain: when you take Him out, everything crumbles. Our pastor encouraged us to dwell on the fact that if Christ isn’t our foundation, then nothing else in our life makes sense or matters. In other news, Michael began playing with the worship team at our church this month. So far, it’s been awesome to be able to use the gift of guitar playing for God’s glory again. Also, Michael is involved in an endless pursuit to complete his Teddy Roosevelt book (about 450 pages long). Not only is he learning about American history, he’s also improving and adding to his vocabulary (simulacrum, plenipotentiary, mugwump). Bonus points to anyone who knows the meanings of those words without looking them up (you don’t count, Karla :-P).
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| A pic with Nick and Alicia from our last visit to Austin (Emily forgot her camera this time around!). |
Emily turned 24 this month! It was difficult for her to spend her birthday apart from her family and friends back in Indiana, but she felt incredibly blessed through cards, messages, phone calls, and gifts. We traveled to Austin for Emily’s birthday weekend to visit Alicia and Nick (Nick was visiting from Indiana). On Friday night, we had an Indian dish prepared by Nick and cupcakes (with sparkler candles) prepared by Alicia. On Saturday, we went disc golfing (as has been our tradition since our last visit to Austin :-P), shopping at an outdoor mall, and then to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. It was a great visit and awesome to spend quality time with friends from back home. On Sunday, we went to church and then went out to lunch at Jason’s Deli with several friends (we chose Jason’s Deli mostly because they serve free soft serve ice cream). In the evening, we watched the IU vs. Michigan State game at B-dubs and though it was a tough loss, we were and always will be proud to be Hoosiers. :)
In closing, Michael insists that we post this link for everyone to behold:
We love you friends, family and Indiana,
M and EmP.S. Happy Birthday to Karla and Amber who celebrated their birthdays on February 1st!
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