Looking at the future.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. 

“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

I love that when you entrust your life to the hands of God, you really have no idea where He's going to take you. It's the best kind of adventure.

So here's my latest surprise: I really love obstetrical nursing.

Why so surprising? OB nursing was quite literally the last type of nursing I ever saw myself doing. My friend Erica reminded me today that she had suggested it at one point and I said something to the effect of, "OB nursing seems too easy... the patients aren't really sick. I want to work in trauma where I'm really needed."

(Eating my words right now.) :)

I remember our pastor Jamie said a while back that God's will is not a tightrope... it's a wide open field. We should run until we hit a fence. I love that picture because I've hit some fences so far in the nursing world, but it's really for the best. I want some places that I can check off and say, "Nope, I don't think that's for me" so I can hone in on where I am supposed to be. I've experienced community health nursing, school nursing, gerontological nursing, a cardiac floor, general med-surg nursing... and none of it excites me and enthralls me the way OB does.

I found that I look forward to studying women's health and it comes pretty naturally to me.
I found that I don't come home from clinicals completely exhausted, and wouldn't mind staying even longer.
I found that the emergency C-section I witnessed a couple weeks ago from about 3 feet away was one of the bloodiest and scariest things I've ever witnessed... but when they pulled out a tiny 2-lb. baby and started singing, "Happy Birthday" to her, I wanted to rejoice. The moment was so sacred, holy, and beautiful.
I found the documentary "The Business of Being Born" completely fascinating. It stirred up something inside of me that I didn't even know was there... a passion for what birth was created to look like. It's a very graphic documentary, so I won't officially endorse it (especially to my young readers), but if you're interested in natural birth, I'd recommend it (not while you're eating, though). :)
I found that when I had the chance today in class to find a fetal heart tone and found it on the first try, it felt magical.

These feelings are all so new and surprising - and who knows that He won't change directions before May when I really have to decide - but I'm excited to see where He continues to lead.