December 17, 2009

Sleepless nights and other transferrable skills

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In some ways it seems that the theme of a number of conversations I’ve had this past week is about how hard becoming and being a doctor can be. Monday night I talked to a friend who is in her surgical residency in a military hospital. Her life right now is really, really hard. She doesn’t sleep much. She has been on two tours in Iraq as a general medical officer before continuing with specialization, and that was easier in many ways that this. Every night this week, my husband came home from the cancer clinic late with a pile of work, only to spend several more hours typing up patient notes. Last night I spoke with a friend in her last year of residency at a program in the Northeast. She’s pregnant, and had a very rough first trimester. When all she could physically do was show up and get the work involved in patient care done, but didn’t get to finish some non-patient related residency paperwork, she was punished with extra shifts.  One of the evenings my husband was working late in the hospital I had dinner with a friend who is a second year medical student. It was two days before her final for the semester, and she could easily sense the load waiting for her after she walks across the stage at graduation. She is wisely pursing a field in medicine that is more conducive to family life, but the path to get there is still difficult. Yesterday while baking shortbread another friend who is a pediatrician came to visit. We discussed, among other things, the wise decision that a married female student we know made in leaving her just-begun graduate medical work to pursue building a family.

Today I read through a number of comments on the blog The Line and contemplated some of what was said regarding the interview I discussed here last week. One commenter proposed that medicine be reformed to make it more family friendly. Others pointed out that some specialties are more flexible and family friendly than others. 

Work hours have already been capped in American residency programs, and there is talk of them becoming even more stringent. What used to be a 120 hour work week is now supposed to be only 80. But that does not change the fact that a certain amount of training taking a certain number of hours is needed to effectively prepare physicians for treating the patients they will be seeing when out of training. So a reduction in hours per week would likely lead to the lengthening of residencies in many fields. Also, handoffs of patient care tend to be when more errors occur (so the fewer hand-offs, the better, which frequently means longer shifts). And there are plenty of programs (think surgical specialties) that simply ignore the limits and find ways to cheat the system of accountability to maintain certification.

And sure, there are plenty of non-surgical subspecialties, as well as some primary care positions, which can be undertaken in a job-sharing or part-time situation, with a minimum of call. This is becoming more popular and acceptable as more women enter medicine. My pediatrician friend I mentioned above works in a pediatrics practice made up of seven physicians who all work part-time, both the men and women. But the educational path required to get to the point of working part-time in any of these specialties is, at the shortest, seven years from the beginning of medical school. Seven long, hard years.

So, after going through all of this, suppose a Christian woman marries and has children. What skills has she acquired along this particular path that is transferrable to her new calling? Aside from the obvious skills that involve my knowledge of medicine, and the things I’ve mentioned on this blog before, there are a few that come to mind:

  1. Sleep deprivation. I don’t know that I can say it gets any easier, but the sleep deprivation I had with my daughter when she was born (until about 8 weeks when I had her sleeping through the night…more on that in a later post!) was not in any way a new thing. Sure it was different in that it was broken sleep night after night rather than zero sleep every third night. But in some ways I felt prepared for it. I was accustomed to functioning on little sleep, so it didn’t make me bitter about the lost hours. Rather, I found myself so grateful to be up with her and her diapers rather than a new patient with nasty bedsores to examine.
  2. Endurance. The constraints that our work hour restrictions placed on us in residency required the work which was previously done in 36 hour days to occur in 30 hour days. This meant the 30 hours was more intense and fast-paced, and often I’d be happy if I got to lie down even for 30 minutes. For bragging rights (we love to brag about who had the worst call night, by the way, it’s a source of pride), I once wore a pedometer for one of these calls. In my 30 hours I logged more than 16 miles of walking and running. Needless to say I’d eat whatever I wanted post-call guilt free! Parenting requires endurance too, I’m discovering. Except, I prefer running after a toddler over running to codes any day.
  3. Perspective. The unique opportunity to step into the most private and life-changing moments in the lives of people that medicine affords is like nothing else. The proximity to death and the awareness of the fragility of the human condition through fighting it in the lives of our patients bring preciousness to life that is hard to attain elsewhere. Every moment of joy is stored up and treasured, because we don’t know how many of these moments we have. The urge to press for the sake of the gospel stronger, because opportunities may not reappear.
  4. Time management. In my white coat pocket, I carried blank note cards. I used one stack for patients, with brief notes about their admission information, history and physical, and hospital course. Each day had a separate note card for the To Do List. EVERYTHING that had to be done would be written on that card, or it wouldn’t happen. I also noted to whom I delegated tasks, whether it is an intern or student, for following up. We had a routine which involved pre-rounding (gathering information in the early morning hours from the night before and checking on patients), rounding (with an attending physician), and then the afternoon was filled with any number of admissions, discharges, procedures, tests, the “TO DO” list, and also I needed to set aside time to teach the students. My frequent feeling was pressure to finish everything on the To Do List as soon as possible, before something urgent or bad pulled us away, or it wouldn’t get done. So I’d write orders while waiting for consults I’d paged to call me back. I’d hold family meetings between procedures. I’d skip lunch sometimes to be sure I’d gotten it all done. I’ve found the To Do List system, along with good routine development, to be one of the most efficient uses of time at home as well. I have a list that I make each day of what to get done, and move down it one thing at a time. Multitasking is really no big deal now. I won’t say that the transition to home was always easy. But I knew how to manage my time.
  5. Sanctification. This transcends the catagory of a “transferrable skill”, but  I agree with one commenter (#9) on the blog who stated that medical training can be as sanctifying an experience as marriage. We found ourselves frequently tempted toward bitterness, cynicism, and discouragement. Sometimes we succumbed. But walking the path through these strenuous years built a stronger faith in a Sovereign God. This is very well the most important thing I’ve taken with me, more valuable even than my medical degree.

A Question for those of you who have left full-time work for reduced hours or full-time work as a homemaker: What transferrable skills did you bring from your profession (law, engineering, teaching, etc.) and education to homemaking?

 

December 14, 2009

A tour of my Christmas Home

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Creativity
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I’m on tour with the Nester Christmas tour of homes 2009, as well as Hooked on Holiday House tours!

Welcome to Charleston, please visit for a while!

I repainted my front door earlier this year…is it green or black? Neither–it’s Charleston Green, a classic color around here. Like my garland? I realized this year I’m kind of a garland snob…meaning I really prefer to use real greenery! I made the wreath and garlands on the front porch from all the free clippings at lowe’s where we got our tree. They didn’t seem to mind me getting a little extra from the bin…

Come on in to my foyer. Most of the greenery I used in my Christmas decorations I acquired from all the trees in my my yard, so now, instead of beautiful magnolia trees, bay trees, and holly bushes, I have barren sticks. Just kidding, I barely made a dent! Here in my foyer I made a cedar garland. I really thought about hacking the cedar tree down the street apart for this thing, but didn’t think the neighbors would like that. So I spent $10 for a couple bunches of cedar at the wholesale florist I’ve used a lot in the past. Up on the tops of both doorways are the “kissing balls”, made of bay and mistltoe. I can put up the tutorial for them later this week if any of you are interested. They took like 15 minutes to make, super easy!

I love having a red dining room! Here is a little still life for you…

The table runner is full of magnolia clippings poinsetta, candles and ornaments. Since I have a one-year-old, this is the only place I could use my glass ornaments without her getting at them! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the cat doesn’t attack them and break them, or eat any poinsetta!

Look out for the kissing ball on your way to the kitchen!

Here is the view from my kitchen. It’s a good thing it’s looking good because I have a LOT of baking to do this week! I have a pile of ribbons to add to the tree, so I’ll have to add the final tree photo later!

I conveniently positioned my camera so you don’t quite see the toys on the living room floor!

As you enter the living room you pass the piano. I have our advent calendar on it. There is a tiny sized nativity with one piece on each day of the last month of december(baby Jesus doesn’t get taken out and put in place until the 25th), and a Scripture reading from our church’s advent schedule to go along with each day, as we anticipate the celebration of the incarnation.

Here is a closer look at our mantle. I used Martha Stewart’s intructions for the dried pomegranate and bay garland. it turned out just how I hoped. I can use the dried pomegranates year after year, so I went ahead and bought them. The bay is from our yard. The nativity on the mantle was once brown with some colors, but I thought a coat of gold metallic paint would serve it better.

To your left, on the same wall as the piano, is my violin. Having it hanging there makes me grab it more frequently to play. This afternoon was “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” and my daughter tried to play the piano along with me, since she can reach the keys now! I thought the violin could use a Christmas bow.

The horse: fake. The cat: real. I know, she looks beautiful. She’s a Ragdoll cat. The best breed there is! She thinks she’s either a human or a dog, and is a purring machine.

I made this garland. I used sculpty clay to mold these little word tags and then strung them together. They were going to be ornaments at first but I like this better.

I picked up a bunch of small cypruss and pines from lowes for a pittance and wrapped the bases in burlap to match each other. Perfect for the top counter!

Time to sit at the kitchen table and relax for a bit.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your tour! Come back to visit! Later this week I’ll be posting some decorating updates as I finish a few more projects, as well as the tutorial for the kissing balls. Have a great day!

 

December 12, 2009

Should a Christian woman who desires a family become a physician?

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Biblical Femininity, Marriage and Family, Missions, On Being a Homemaker
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A few days ago, I listened to an interesting interview on the True Woman blog  in which the following question was discussed: Should a Christian young woman with a desire for marriage and a family set out to attend medical school and become a physician? Carolyn McCulley linked to it and invited comments and feedback regarding the issue on her site. Since a small comment box hardly sufficed to contain my opinions, experience and thoughts on the matter, I thought I’d respond with a post.

This is a question I’ve been asked before, and it is an important and valid concern.  I left my internal medicine residency when I was pregnant with my first child to be at home full-time, in lieu of continuing for further specialization beyond my general practitioner licensure, so I’ve thought about the issue a lot. I have a daughter, and I often consider how I’d advise her if she considered following her father’s and my footsteps. Here are some of my thoughts and opinions on the matter, given my current experiences and understanding of Scripture. This is not a “yes” or “no” question, so I will divide this into some of the topics that need to be thought about.

 

1.      Single women who are considering becoming a physician or other profession are often cautioned to wait because they desire marriage and children. But is it really advisable to avoid education and career because you might start something that you later stop? We live in a broken world, in which the healthy desire for marriage and family isn’t always completed this side of heaven. So why should a woman who is single sit around waiting rather that reaching beyond herself for more opportunities to impact lives with the love of Christ? Often we desire the path of our lives to be clear and strait, so that we can see the end of it and walk knowing what comes next. But God frequently shapes our path in a manner that is twisting and curved, and the weather is sometimes foggy. Often we cannot see ahead except to take the next step of obedience, and only then are we to see where to go from there. 

Such was my path into medicine. I initially considered a research field in virology, and loved philosophy, to the extent I obtained two degrees while in college (Grove City)—Philosophy and Molecular Biology. They were two different worlds, which I now find merged in my grappling with bioethics. Anyway, in college I took a trip to East Africa with a handful of other pre-meds, our anatomy professor , and an MD, who’d formerly worked there as a missionary. We went to a different village every day, each of us doing rudimentary exams in huts and under trees, then presenting and reviewing each patient with the physician before offering treatment and praying with patients. Sometimes there were hundreds of people waiting to see our little group, following us from village to village hoping to make it into the clinic. It was there in the bush of Tanzania that I knew first what the next step of obedience would be. Of course marriage was a desire for me, though at the time I had no prospects, and no reason to expect any.  I knew then that if I were ever to have the opportunity to have children and family, I would want to stay at home with them as much as possible. I really didn’t know how that would be possible, as it appeared to conflict with what seemed to be a calling into medicine, but after much prayer I moved forward into the only obedient step that was visible. After entering medical school, I was quickly gripped by the realization that I had already entered the mission field. I invited other female med students to study the bible with me and my roommates, a nurse and an occupational therapist. That first year of medical school I saw four of my female classmates come to faith in Christ.

2.        A Christian woman considering medical school should honestly evaluate what her motives are in seeking this kind of career. Prayerfully seek to differentiate between God’s calling and her own desires. This is, of course, very hard to do at times. Books and books have been written about it, which would likely be helpful to read, after the Bible of course.

Is there a desire for respect, identity and independence? A desire to be called “Doctor” and wear a long white coat? When I was in the act of leaving my residency, another female physician told me she could never do what I was doing because “My identity is being a doctor.”  But remember the temptation to base your identity on the roles you fill cannot be escaped simply by staying at home. The homemaker may be tempted to elevate her skill as a cook or a mother and disciplinarian over her identity in Christ. If a woman finds that she is seeking a career only as an avenue to building an identity she finds appealing, then her motives are amiss.

Perhaps, however, a woman has been through significant illness herself, and has vast resources of compassion to channel toward the ill through her life experiences. Or perhaps God has given her a distinct desire to serve people through comfort and healing. Maybe there is a strong pull towards the mission field in a developing country, and she realizes how practical the hands of a physician would be in that setting.  Muslim women will often only see a woman physician. There are many women medical missionaries who have been used greatly in these settings.  In fact, some of the first women physicians entered the field for those purposes. I have read numerous biographies of such women and perhaps I’ll post about them in the future.

3.      Student Loans. I can tell you that there are woman doctors who are working incredibly hard with kids at home, simply because they are trapped. Their hearts’ cry is to be at home with their kids, but loan payments are too high for them to get by on only their husband’s income. We aren’t talking about tens of thousands of dollars here, people. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Obviously debt should always be avoided if at all possible. But it is hard to ignore the fact that in our society the means most students use to seek higher education is via student loans, and such loans are often described as “good” debt. These concepts are discussed in great detail in many other places in print and online, and I won’t attempt to further delve into the issue here.

But think outside the box for a moment. Do we not believe it is possible for God to call a woman into medicine to serve Him, even while accruing debt, all the while praying and trusting for God to be her provider and the provider for her children? Any woman who enters a career should carry on with the thought in the back of her head that God could call her to leave it for a time, or even permanently, when and if she marries and has kids. She should pray and plan for that day, even if it appears far off. I can attest to the fact that God answered that prayer in my life, something I prayed about even as I applied and interviewed for medical school. He is my provider, and provided a way for me to be at home through my husband’s provision.  Some ask me: Doesn’t it feel awful, though, to have to be on the receiving end of that? Don’t you wish you could help economically? To that I would answer: Isn’t this another way for my husband to love me like Christ loved the church? To pay my debts? What an allegory of His grace which would not be possible otherwise.  

Also, can I look at the spread of the gospel in my medical school class as something that I can put a price tag on? Can I regret my loans when I look at how God used me (despite myself!) in the conversions of others? Also, when looking into future third world missions, an organization called MedSend is well known to help new physicians take positions on the mission field by paying their loan payments while they are abroad. So that obstacle is removed for many.

4.      Seasons. A lot of us Christian women physicians like to think about our lives and our careers as having seasons. And trusting that God works through those times.  I am now in a season of life where I have the pleasure of spending my days with a beautiful little girl. I read her books as long as I can hold her attention. I tell her stories. I teach her sign language and take her to the aquarium. I look forward to the day she can talk to me more.  Occasionally during this season I’ll do something medical. I may teach physical diagnosis at the medical school for two hours a week next semester while my daughter naps, for instance. But when I had a child, there was no doubt in my mind that after my husband, she was my first calling. I have heard other Christian docs tell me that they view their choice to work full-time as their “ministry” though they have kids at home. They are financially able to cut back on work hours, yet choose not to, pointing out that their kids are healthy and doing fine. From my perspective,  no ministry calling is as high a priority as my family, and there is no other mother for my child besides me, though there are many other physicians that can take my place at the patient’s bedside. I do not know how I could teach my daugther about God ”when I sit in my house and when I walk by the way, and when I lie down, and when I rise” (Deut 6:7) if the majority of every day was spent away from her.

5.      People often infer or ask me if I think my education was wasted. My first response is that I don’t believe in a God of waste. He had his purposes for my time as a full-time physician, and He has already used that time in big ways. I’ve had the joy of treating patients all over the world, and sharing Christ with them as I dispense physical remedies. I also have the unique situation of being better equipped as a help-mate for my husband than I would be had I never practiced medicine. He is almost done with his training as an adult Hematology/Oncology physician. Every day he takes care of cancer patients. This is a field where success is measured in weeks and months of life extended, rather than years and decades. The emotional and spiritual intensity of this field is immense. There isn’t a way to explain what being the bearer of bad news feels like, especially telling people they are dying, or that they have cancer, and then treating them as they deny it. I’m grateful I know better how to love him, that I have insight into his work. In many ways my reading in bioethics is another way to deepen my ability to support his work.

My education is also used in my discipleship of medical students. They tend to listen to those of us who have gone before them, for better or for worse. Also, I feel better equipped than any school to educate my daughter, and perhaps I will end up homeschooling, though I don’t know for sure yet. I read an Indian proverb once that said this: “Educate a man, and you educate an individual. Educate a woman, and you educate a family.”

Many recommend that women physicians who step out of full-time clinical work keep a hand in it by seeing patients even as infrequently as once as month, since the skills and knowledge can fade and be lost over time. To work this small amount is rarely possible. For about a year I spent a half day a week seeing patients in a Christian free clinic for the poor, while my daughter spent most of the afternoon napping at a friend’s house. Kind of like my own version of “mom’s morning out.” Currently, however, I’m not practicing at all. But I don’t believe in a God of waste. He has and continues to use my education in ways that are unexpected and exciting, and even if I never practice traditional clinical medicine again, I rejoice at the path He led me down, and rejoice in my current calling as a homemaker as well.

6.      In the interview I listened to, referenced above, one speaker mentioned the concern that women who enter medical training are investing their most physically and relationally fertile years in a time of intense training. Indeed , that time is quite intensive. But medical school doesn’t have to be a relationally barren time. I can say that the many years I spent in medical training were incredibly fruitful relationally. For one thing, I met my husband in medical school! He claims it was over a dead body in gross anatomy, but I think we first met in Sunday School. Either way, we were co-laborers in our class along with the other Christians we met there. The group of us found ourselves thrown into the kind of close relationships with non-believers that are forged only through shared adversity. At the end of each year, we took a medical missions trip together to a third world country, inviting our non-Christian friends to join us. Many came to be transformed and are now following Christ. I am grateful to be a part of small group Bible studies and discipleship with female medical students for eight years now. Currently I meet with a group of women students to teach Romans along with a pediatrician friend of mine on Tuesday nights.

The concern about fertility is valid. I spoke with an OB friend of mine recently who lamented that a lot of her friends in medicine didn’t realize that fertility rates actually start to drop after the age of 30. So women who wait until they are out of residency at 29 and then start to have kids could face more trouble.  But pregnancy during residency is not without risk. I stopped residency when I was still pregnant for that very reason—I was dealing with more risks than I was comfortable exposing my child to, and my residency program refused to switch me into outpatient rotations that would have resolved my concerns. This is one reason that I have trouble encouraging women who are married and planning on kids to start out in medical training.

7.      Some have raised the concern that women who enter traditionally male careers by becoming physicians, lawyers, or engineers might have a difficult time avoiding the qualities that success in these careers tend to foster. That these women would be more likely to lose femininity by becoming assertive, tenacious, driven, and that they would hold authority over men. To me this seems no different than the common struggles all Christians have who are called to be “in the world, but not of it.” I have seen Christian female medical students spend their afternoons hand feeding ill patients with the kindness and hospitality of Proverbs 31. I have watched women physicians who cultivated the mind of Christ quietly serve by washing the dirty feet of AIDS patients. I have worked next to a medical missionary as she gave her life away to lepers in northern Tanzania. By entering the profession of medicine, women can bring tenderness, compassion and gentleness that is not possible in a profession that is male-only.

Women everywhere and in every walk are tempted to grasp at autonomy, to reject submission. This issue is not unique to the professional women, and cannot be avoided by avoiding a professional life.

So those are my thoughts about the issue at hand. No role we fill, whether we kneel at the bedsides of the ill and treat their disease in the name of Christ, or spend our days caring for the tiny needs of our newborn, can fulfill the deep need for true identity that can be found only in Christ.

No one else can decide for an individual the path God is calling her to. She may wish that there was simply a sign post along the road or a Christian authority she can turn to for direction. But those would rob her of the opportunity to learn trust and deepen her relationship with the Lord by walking through the decision process and drawing closer to the heart of God.

 

December 11, 2009

A Christmas Essay by C.S. Lewis– “Exmas”

Posted by Homemaker, MD under From my Bookshelf | Tags: |
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… and beyond this there lies in the ocean, turned towards the west and the north, the island of Niatirb which Hecataeus indeed declares to be the same size and shape as Sicily, but it is larger, and though in calling it triangular a man would not miss the mark. It is densely inhabited by men who wear clothes not very different from other barbarians who occupy the north- western parts of Europe though they do not agree with them in language. These islanders, surpassing all the men of whom we know in patience and endurance, use the following customs.

In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound they have a great festival which they call Exmas , and for fifty days they prepare for it in the fashion I shall describe. First of all, every citizen is obliged to send to each of his friends and relations a square piece of hard paper stamped with a picture, which in their speech is called an Exmas-card . But the pictures represent birds sitting on branches, or trees with a dark green prickly leaf, or else men in such garments as the Niatirbians believe that their ancestors wore two hundred years ago riding in coaches such as their ancestors used, or houses with snow on their roofs. And the Niatirbians are unwilling to say what these pictures have to do with the festival, guarding (as I suppose) some sacred mystery. And because all men must send these cards the market-place is filled with the crowd of those buying them, so that there is great labour and weariness.
But having bought as many as they suppose to be sufficient, they return to their houses and find there the like cards which others have sent to them. And when they find cards from any to whom they also have sent cards, they throw them away and give thanks to the gods that this labour at least is over for another year. But when they find cards from any to whom they have not sent, then they beat their breasts and wail and utter curses against the sender; and, having sufficiently lamented their misfortune, they put on their boots again and go out into the fog and rain and buy a card for him also. And let this account suffice about Exmas-cards.
They also send gifts to one another, suffering the same things about the gifts as about the cards, or even worse. For every citizen has to guess the value of the gift which every friend will send to him so that he may send one of equal value, whether he can afford it or not. And they buy as gifts for one another such things as no man ever bought for himself. For the sellers, understanding the custom, put forth all kinds of trumpery, and whatever, being useless and ridiculous, sell as an Exmas gift. And though the Niatirbians profess themselves to lack sufficient necessary things, such as metal, leather, wood and paper, yet an incredible quantity of these things is wasted every year, being made into the gifts.
But during these fifty days the oldest, poorest and the most miserable of citizens put on false beards and red robes and walk in the market-place; being disguised (in my opinion) as Cronos. And the sellers of gifts no less than the purchasers become pale and weary, because of the crowds and the fog, so that any man who came into a Niatirbian city at this season would think that some great calamity had fallen on Niatirb. This fifty days of preparation is called in their barbarian speech the Exmas Rush .
But when the day of the festival comes, then most of the citizens, being exhausted with the Rush , lie in bed till noon. But in the evening they eat five times as much supper as on other days and, crowning themselves with crowns of paper, they become intoxicated. And on the day after Exmas they are very grave, being internally disordered by the supper and the drinking and reckoning how much they have spent on gifts and on the wine. For wine is so dear among the Niatirbians that a man must swallow the worth of a talent before he is well intoxicated.
Such, then, are their customs about the Exmas. But the few among the Niatirbians have also a festival, separate and to themselves, called Crissmas , which is on the same day as Exmas. And those who keep Crissmas, doing the opposite to the majority of the Niatirbians, rise early on that day with shining faces and go before sunrise to certain temples where they partake of a sacred feast. And in most of the temples they set out images of a fair woman with a new-born Child on her knees and certain animals and shepherds adoring the Child. (The reason of these images is given in a certain sacred story which I know but do not repeat.)
But I myself conversed with a priest in one of these temples and asked him why they kept Crissmas on the same day as Exmas; for it appeared to me inconvenient. But the priest replied, “It is not lawful, O Stranger, for us to change the date of Crissmas, but would that Zeus would put it into the minds of the Niatirbians to keep Exmas at some other time or not to keep it at all. For Exmas and the Rush distract the minds even of the few from sacred things. And we indeed are glad that men should make merry at Crissmas; but in Exmas there is no merriment left.”
And when I asked him why they endured the Rush, he replied, “It is, O Stranger, a racket, using (as I suppose) the words of some oracle and speaking unintelligibly to me (for a racket is an instrument which the barbarians use in a game called tennis ).
But what Hecataeus says, that Exmas and Crissmas are the same, is not credible. For the first, the pictures which are stamped on the Exmas-cards have nothing to do with the sacred story which the priests tell about Crissmas. And secondly, the most part of the Niatirbians, not believing the religion of the few, nevertheless send the gifts and cards and participate in the Rush and drink, wearing paper caps. But it is not likely that men, even being barbarians, should suffer so many and great things in honour of a god they do not believe in. And now, enough about Niatirb.
C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock,
“Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus”
(1st published in Time and Tide, 1954)
 

December 10, 2009

The results of a slight case of insomnia

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Blogging, Travel Stories | Tags: , |
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A new domain for one thing!

 The last couple weeks have been hectic, to say the least. All my early December plans of preparing for Christmas were scattered by our trip to New Orleans for my husband’s hematology conference. It was almost an entire week long and though New Orleans wasn’t on my list of top ten places to visit, it had it’s redeeming qualities after all. Namely, the coffee and beignets. Oh, and a couple charming second-hand book stores. Regardless, my toddler and I were happy to be able to join her dad rather than spend all week missing him, even if it did mean days navigating a strange city with a toddler. Things I’m glad I brought: a sound machine (white noise for baby), an umbrella stroller, a wheeled thing that attached to the carseat to wheel it around the airport and between taxis. Oh, and I’m glad I bought an extra ticket for the baby. We didn’t have to worry about turbulence and her squirming to get down.

So here I am, having a bout of insomnia, and determined to get my new location set up on wordpress and migrate my blogger posts over tonight, which seems to be working so far. I was having trouble with the 3 column format I was using on blogger, and it wouldn’t let anyone leave comments! And we all know bloggers love comments (at least I do!). Anyway, the insomnia. Probably because I’m excited my husband bought me the early stocking stuffer of a domain name for this blog, which he gave me early. So of course I  couldn’t sleep, thinking of new designs. The photo up above is my current set up, my floppy ragdoll cat, Polly, a purring warmth on my feet. And a mug of chamomille green tea. And the rain  falling quietly against the window. Sleep can’t be too far away…

 

December 2, 2009

The ultimate career

Posted by Homemaker, MD under From my Bookshelf
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“The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career. “

— C.S. Lewis

 

November 22, 2009

Thou Fount

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Worship
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Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love.


Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.


Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood;
Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.


O to grace how great a debter, Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, life a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

 

November 21, 2009

Shadowlands

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Along the Way, Travel Stories
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So far the weekend is off to a good start. Currently my husband is sorting out his garlic bulbs on the coffee table in preparation for planting them later (he’s got quite the green thumb), and I’m trying not to watch the news, which I’m currently overloaded on.
Last night we had our community group (a bunch of medical residents and students and friends) over for a movie night. Usually we meet on Sunday nights and I make a huge dinner over which we discuss the mornings sermon and sunday school lesson. The church we attend is quite large (so different from the small churches my husband and I grew up in) and we need these smaller groups within it to foster true community and accountabilty.
So back to last night. We chose to watch the movie Shadowlands. Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis and the story of his marriage to Joy. I’ve watched the movie countless times, and even saw the play on stage in London last Febuary…and I love it. To counter the guys hestitation in watching a movie certain to invoke tears from all females in attendance, my husband suggested that they all bring pipes (despite the fact he’s an oncologist?) and take a smoke on the porch afterwards in honor of ol’ Jack.
Highlights from the movie are some of the words from Lewis’ writings. I’ll say that you can feel the awkwardness between Lewis and Joy at early points in the movie. Anyway some of the favorites:
“The pain now is part of the happiness then.” -stated by cancer ridden Joy, as they sheltered in a barn in the golden valley during a rain.
“Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” -said by Jack (what Lewis went by since he hated his first name Clive) during several lecture he gave during the movie.
I loved the shots of Oxford. My husband and I went there while in England as well, and even tracked down the Eagle and Child pub where Lewis met with The Inklings, the little literary club he developed with friends like Tolkein. It was funny to walk through the pub to the back room. People were enjoying it with friends as a normal night at any English pub, and I wondered if they knew the conversations that had been carried on in that back room decades ago, and how far the ensuing stories and ideas now reached.
So anyway, that was our friday night. Also making friday day great was the fact that I finished the first draft of a large writing project I’ve been working on. More on that later. So other than my baby girl falling and scraping up her little cheek this morning, the rest of the weekend looks promising. See that photo at the top of this post? That’s from Magnolia Gardens, one of the oldest gardens in the country. I live about 5 minutes from it and several other equally stunning southern plantations. Being a local and a member of the Artist’s Guild here (I paint a lot) I have access to all these great places that make me feel like I’m either walking through time or Narnia or something like that. So perhaps later this weekend we’ll do a little exploring…
 

November 20, 2009

Book Review: Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Book Reviews
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Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain: Uncover the Hidden Potential in Life’s Most Common Struggles

By Paul Meier, MD and David L. Henderson, MD

This book is written by two Christian psychiatrists who are also on faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary, and throughout the book they draw on their experiences in biblical counseling and psychiatry to discuss the pain we all experience throughout life, digging for deeper meaning by looking for God’s purpose in it. They divide the book into seven sections about seven general types of pain, each with four chapters followed by discussion and application points. The sections are as follows: Injustice, Rejection, Loneliness, Loss, Discipline, Failure, and Death.

It is rare to find psychiatrists who are Christians, so to have this book from two of them is indeed something to appreciate. Their writing is clear and the examples they include drawn from their life as well as the people in scripture are compelling. I enjoyed their use of allegory in explaining some of the spiritual and emotional principles. For example, in the section on rejection they discuss people who tend to become too transparent early in relationship as being well-diggers, and people who remain guarded and superficial in relationship as building walls. They then applied biblical truth to these issues. I would recommend this book to people who are having a hard time understanding God’s purpose in the hardships they face, as well as anyone in a “ministry” position such as a bible study leader, pastor, missionary, as well as Christian doctors…really anyone who counsels people biblically and struggles with wanting to do it well.

 

November 15, 2009

The Cranberry Challenge: Part 3…Cranberry Scones

Posted by Homemaker, MD under Along the Way, From my Kitchen
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I think this is my favorite cranberry recipe in this use-three-pounds-of-cranberries-while-they-are-fresh challenge. Scones are so great. They are comforting like my favorite southern breakfast food, buttermilk biscuits. But they are just a little more civilized and fancy. Scones bring back memories of my 29th birthday, when my husband and I were in London. He suprised me with high tea at the Ritz in the famous Palm Room. It was unreal–a once in a lifetime thing for a girl from the most rebellious state in the colonies (SC!). There were silver tea services and tiny tea sandwhiches which kept multiplying. The best birthday present: I found out that very morning I was pregnant with our first child, but had to give up caffeine all at once, meaning the withdrawal from my 6-cuppa day fix was just starting to kick in by the time I ordered my chamomille…But those scones…unreal and oh so london.

I think the key in making successful scones is using very cold butter. I’ve tried other versions of scones in the past without paying attention to the temperature of the butter, which turned out to be a terrible mistake, resulting in scones which were really more like slightly-less-sweet cookies. In any case, I found this scone recipe here. I changed it up a little, of course. Pecans are always my go-to nut in these recipes so I used those instead of walnuts. They turned out great. Of course I was glad I could enjoy them with coffee again, though the little cuddly toddler snuggling next to me made those caffeineless months well worth it!!

 

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