Thankful For My Students

Today, I am thankful for my students.

I have a great bunch of students in my general biology class this semester. It's kind of a weird mix - half are non-science majors who put off their required science class until their senior year and the other half are freshman nursing majors who have to take my class as a prerequisite to their nursing classes.

Some professors might not like having these two very different groups combined in one class, but I really like it.

Every single one of them brings something unique to the table. They are all insightful and inquisitive. I find myself learning from them as they are (hopefully) learning from me.

Tonight, I got an email from one of my students. He sent me a link to this cool video of a white blood cell chasing down some bacteria.

He said he was trying to find out more about something we talked about in class and just happened to run across this.

He's an English major.



I am so using this in one of my future lectures!

This class is a great change of pace from the research part of my job. It involves a lot of instant gratification, something that's almost non-existent in research.

My students really recharge my scientific batteries and for that I am thankful.

Thankful For Old Friends And Round Two

Again playing catch-up...

Last night, I got the chance to talk to not one, but two, of my childhood friends on the phone.

I am so thankful for long-lasting friendships. There is just something about the consistency that comes along with childhood friendships that is very comforting.

Even though we live in different cities and don't talk nearly as often as we would like, there is always a common connection that we can tap into. It feels good when someone knows where you're coming from because they essentially came from the same place.

This second one stems from one of the conversations from last night.

I am thankful for round two.

Just when holidays start to become lackluster, you have a kid and everything is new and exciting again.

Now that Harper is three, she is in full holiday mode - every holiday - even arbor day. Which is awesome!

Her excitement is contagious and it makes everything fun again.

For example, she is totally obsessed with the leaves and turkeys right now. It's pretty much all she talks about. She's also very in to making holiday-related crafts (which I blame her school for- not that it's a bad thing, but it does put extra pressure on me to try to match the craftiness bar that has been set by the professionals).

So on Sunday, the three of us took a walk, collected leaves, and later that night (after I had time to think of a craft to do - as stated above, this is not my usual area of expertise) Harper used them to make a turkey.

Note the eyelashes. She wanted to make sure everyone knew this was a girl turkey. I tried to explain to her that girl turkeys don't have red wattles, but she would have none of it.

In any case, I am thankful that as a family, we get to do silly things like this to celebrate the holidays.

Thankful For Goodness

We sang this song in church today.

I love that first line.

You are good, you are good

when there's nothing good in me.

So often I feel like I have very little to show to God in the way of progress. I make the same mistakes over and over again. I take one step forward and two steps back. I forget truths. I forget lessons that should have already been learned.

But even still, God is good.

Today, I am thankful that there is a God and that it's not me.

Thankful For New Babies (No, I'm Not Pregnant)

Today I went to a lovely baby shower for a lovely friend. I have no less than 7 friends who are currently expecting. It's all very exciting!

So today, I am thankful for new little babies.

Babies are great for many reason, but they are particularly awesome for their ability to transform their unsuspecting parents into decent human beings.

Not that you have to have kids to be a good person - I know lots of people without kids that are awesome humans. But they usually have something in their lives that play a similar role as kids do - spouses, pets, dedication to their church or community, etc.

Babies take us out of our comfort zones. They expose our weaknesses. They take no prisoners.

I speak from experience when I say that babies pull you out of self-absorbedness. They force you to be patient. They force you to be flexible. They force you to monitor what you say out loud. They force you to watch ridiculously annoying cartoons.

While there are definitely days that I can sympathize with those organisms who eat their young, at the end of those days, I'm still thankful for my kid because I know that she is helping me to become a better human being.

Whether I like it or not.

Thankful for a Cushy Life and for Those Who Facilitate It

Wow...this blogging every day thing is challenging. Coming up with things to be thankful for is easy, but finding the time to write a coherent post about them is not. Sigh...

Yesterday, I was meaning to write a post about being thankful for how easy my life is.

Despite all of the daily stresses and obligations I have to deal with, my life is super cushy. I have everything I need to be happy and comfortable right at arms length. And if I don't, I can hop in my car and drive less than a mile to Target and get what ever I need as well as things I didn't even know I needed to make my life even more cushy.

This is not the case for everyone.

All too often, I am way too concerned with how I can obtain more creature comforts instead of how I can help other people get basic things like clothes, diapers, food, heat, clean water - things that I take for granted every day.

I am thankful for what I have and I am going to be more intentional about helping others get what they need to be comfortable.

On a similar note, today, Veterans Day, I am very thankful for the people who make it possible for me to have the cushy life that I do.

I am thankful for people who serve or who served in dangerous situations in order to preserve my way of life.

Rob and I have gotten hooked on a new tv show called Bomb Patrol. It's a documentary-style series that profiles Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units serving in Afghanistan.

These units go out into the field, locate, and disarm improvised explosive devices (roadside bombs) and any other booby traps set by the enemy. IEDs alone are responsible for the vast majority of coalition casualties in Afghanistan. 




It is not for the faint of heart.

Members of these units put their lives on the line to keep other soldiers and civilians safe.

I am thankful for their service and the service of all veterans.






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Thankful For Provision

Tonight I am thankful for divine provision.

As my medical bills have started to trickle in, I am very thankful that I have good insurance. Strokes are expensive. Think really nice brand new car expensive. Luckily, my insurance has taken care of 90% of it.

This still leaves us will a chunk of change to come up with - a chunk that we weren't necessarily planning on.

At the end of the summer, I was presented with the opportunity to teach a biology class at Belmont University. I was really excited about it because Belmont is a great school and I thought it would be a rewarding and fun teaching experience.

I was also excited about it because I was going to get paid. Not a lot, but enough that I was already planning the cruise that Rob, Harper, and I were going to take in the Spring.

At the time, I had no idea that a month after I started teaching, I would be racking up thousands of dollars worth of MRIs and echocardiograms.

The amount that we owe is almost exactly the amount that I am making moonlighting.

Almost to the penny.

Talk about provision.

It's almost like God had it all planned out...

We may have to take a raincheck on the cruise, but we have what we need.

And for that I am thankful.


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Thankful Two For Tuesday

Because I missed yesterday, here's a two-fer.

I am thankful for NPR.

I love NPR. I especially love listening to NPR podcasts at work. Some days, I literally spend hours with my face pressed up against a microscope. Listening to This American Life or Fresh Air makes that time infinitely more enjoyable and I feel like I'm enriching my brain (all while getting my work done which kind of makes me feel like I'm getting away with something...)

I also listen to Car Talk on occasion which comes in handy when you have a mechanically inclined husband like mine. The other day I told Rob that the wear indicators on my breaks were making noise. He was totally impressed that I even knew what wear indicators were.

I actually don't.

I just know that when someone calls into Car Talk and tells them that their breaks are squeeling, the guys usually say something about wear indicators.

So, thank you to NPR for making me smarter. Or at least making me sound smarter.

I am also thankful for scientific innovation.

My dad forwarded this video to me. It's from a story National Geographic did about a new way to deliver stem cells to burn victims. Doctors retrieve a patient's own stem cells and then spray paint them onto the burned area. The results are jaw-droppingly dramatic. Watch the video. You will be amazed. There are so many ways this technology could be used but something that comes to mind right away is what a blessing this will be for soldiers who are burned in combat.

I am thankful that there are smart people out there working hard to find new ways to heal people.