New plan for the blog

     Hello friends,
                       When I first created this blog, it was mostly to share how God is working in my life and at the same  time encourage other people to grow in Christ. I usually blog whenever I feel like it, or whenever time allows. Since I have a faith journal, I can become lazy sometimes because I know that everything in my day to day is recorded in it.


    This year I decided to study my Bible a little bit deeper, so I think it will be fair to share with you what i am learning. I have a few topics that I love but  in which I need more understanding. Some topics include salvation, the sanctuary , latter rain ,etc


      I became aware of  the fact that my blog has been visited not only by young adults but also by teenagers and full-blown adults. I have to make adjustments because not everyone can relate to me.
So I am thinking about starting interviewing few people in my life who can share their spiritual journey with us.


    I plan to write weekly or bi-weekly  about a specific topic and have at least one interview a month. I want to change the format of the blog without losing my content. I am not so comfortable with creating websites, I think having a blog was as far I could get. I am praying to find someone close to where I live who can lend a hand in making this possible.

    There is so much going on in my head and in my life but I am praying that I can use my time wisely and make sharing God a priority. God is a God of order and I want to do everything to represent Him well and to bring all the glory to Him. Keep me in your prayers and pray specifically for wisdom while I am taking this new road. I am a perfectionist, so pray for total-surrender to God,  I  want Him and only Him to lead.


   Here is  the little summary friends :
1)Share about a topic that I am studying once a week or every two week
2)Once a month present an interview in which someone will minister to us by sharing his/her testimony
3)Give a report about how many Glow tracts I've put in places frequently visited in my town.
If you want to learn more about Glow, click here.




    Your part in all of this:
1)Pray for me
2)Take the time to study on your own also
3)Read the posts and comment and share what you are learning
4)Share the posts on social media
5)Keep me accountable( send me a little message when I am slacking)


Blessings,
Stephanie

Being content

     First post of 2016!  No need to tell you how busy I have been. A few things have changed, I went back to university for my Intensive Care certificate, went to GYC at the end of last year, decided to ask my nurse manager to have all my Sabbaths off(another post to come), signed up to become a GYC ambassador, became more involved in my local church, became a member of a little Bible study group and so much more.


    Those changes brought along a lot of adjustments, after four months of studying, not having enough sleep, reading arrhythmias that look like Chinese to me, survived a preceptorship in the surgery and medicine ICU unit, I finally received my ICU RN certificate. Praise God!   I started working, became a little bit comfortable then I was told by my nurse manager that I need to fill in for a maternity-leave in the cardiac ICU ward. What? another adjustment?


   I am a orthopaedic and plastic surgery nurse through and through, I've done it for three years now. I can tell you all about the surgeries, the related complications, the treatments. I do not mind the bone sticking out, the tractions, the big incisions and everything that comes with it  but sounds gross to my sister and friends(even some who are nurses). I panicked when I learned that I was about to become a nurse in a cardiology unit, not any cardiology unit but the Intensive Care. I was about to land in foreign territory. Imagine, chest pain, heart beating to slow, heart beating too fast, heart doing whatever it wants, heart's arteries blocking. OK you get the picture! I love to fix things, I see the problem, I talk to the doctor, we decide on  a plan and we FIX it!


    Now, when a patient tells me that he is having chest pains, or when the monitor is showing all kinds of weird rhythms so very far from everything that I want it to show, I have to think and fast, I have to make a quick decision. My heart also decides usually to join in the game and races also.
Strangely enough, I love it, I love the challenge, I love that I need to be on my "A" game all the time, I love that I have to
depend more on Christ to give me wisdom, I love that my nose is more in the books, studying,  I love that my patient can see and understand that I want to do my best, I love that I am no longer comfortable.


    In the middle of all that, by being a Christian and seeing friends going on mission trips, doing more overseas, living on farms, moving out of the cities, leaving their jobs to become full-time missionaries, I felt that I was not doing enough. I felt ashamed being a nurse sometimes. I couldn't share the blessing that nursing represented in my life, I couldn't talk about how I love it when God uses me to comfort a patient or bring hope to a family who lost a loved one. How could I share my testimony with them when I am living in the comfort of North-America.  I should be with them, working day and night in a missionary field somewhere in Africa, Haiti, South America. Even closer home, I should be participating in any evangelistic effort that is going on in North-America( Pathway to health, Glow during the super bowl season). the truth of the matter is, being a nurse your schedule is not that flexible.



    I never felt content where God put me, I was more focused on everything that was going on around me, what other people were doing. If you have read my last blog of 2015, I have made the decision to love my Saviour differently and completely, so my focus had to change, I had to accept the reality that He put me where I am for a reason and I am called to serve Him and be faithful where I am planted. I am a missionary in the hospital where I work, in the church where I worship, in the house where I live, in the community that I call mine.


    I might never move to Africa, I might never have the opportunity to move back to Haiti, I might never live in another community but that is not what is important to God . The question will be, how did you serve Me and your brothers and sisters in the corner of the world with which I trusted you? did you point them to Me?


   This year, as I am dealing with another category of patients(mostly between life and death), I hug a little bit tighter, I hold hands a little bit longer, I say words of encouragement a little bit more often, I pray a little bit more frequently, I share Christ a little bit bolder, I study a little bit deeper. I am happy that a few of my friends are serving God, but instead of wasting my energy in questioning my calling and their calling, I am using my energy to pray for them, to encourage them and to work for God where I am established.
   All of that because by the grace of God I finally recognize that I am a missionary in this small town in Canada an I made the decision this  year to be content and faithful where He trusted me to be.

"His lord said unto him, Well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord."Matthew 25:21

Loving differently, loving completely

   
      In less than four days, a new year will be celebrated. In a few hours, I will be driving to Boston for the first part of my trip leading to GYC. I am packing my suitcase but I have been taking a lot of breaks because I have so many questions in my head.

    This year like every year since I've been in Canada has been really stressful, I am from Haiti, I am a Caribbean girl, everything is laid back. The majority of the country unfortunately is poor but I have never seen people so stressed about everyday life until I came to Canada. Proving that material possessions do not equal happiness. I fell sadly enough into this trap of busyness and stress

    I think an introspection is necessary for growth, as I ponder upon the 361 days of this year that I was blessed to be alive to see, my question to myself is : did you live those 361 days for the Lover of your soul? Academically and professionally, this year looks good, I must even add looks great. I receive a few awards, I had a scholarship allowing me to study while getting paid. But is that enough? Should I measure the success of my year based on recognition from mortal beings.
 
    I am disappointed in myself, because I got so lost in work and everyday life that I haven't grown as I should spiritually. I found myself crying because I needed to spend more time with Jesus but I was so overwhelmed with all the tasks that I accepted from the world that at a certain period of time it was hard to even know where to fit my Saviour.

    Why am I writing about this? Confession is good for the soul and it is important to me to be truthful.The christian walk is a journey, but unlike any other journey we must rely on one person and His righteousness, Jesus-Christ. Failing to rely on Him for every second is failing to walk in the path honoring this journey.

    I could find all the excuses that I want but one thing is sure, I need to love differently, I need to
 love completely. A love that will allow me to bring my Saviour where He belongs, first place in my heart and in everything that I do. I need Him to be a better christian, I need Him to be a better family member, I need Him to be a better nurse, I need Him to be a better human being. I need to love Him differently and completely in order to love those He loves differently and completely. I need to love Him differently not only with my words but with my actions, I need to love Him completely not only here and there but all the time.
   
        Brothers and sisters I am tired of chasing after the world, I want to live for Him and Him alone. I have chosen not to get discouraged after reviewing my year and my lack of growth in Him because that is what the enemy of our souls would like.When I see my brokenness, the state of my heart and the Saviour who is telling that His grace is sufficient for me and that His strength will be made perfect in my weakness. I can only cry, claim this promise and say with all my heart: Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.
    January 1st is coming and people will be asking me as always"what is your new year resolution", my answer will be my all year resolution is to seek Him first and to love Him differently than last year and completely with my feeble heart that He promised to make new.
 
       If I am not able to write in this blog for the new year, brothers and sisters, my prayer for you and I before everything else is:

Let us love Him differently and completely this new year.

   Have a blessed end of the year with your family and friends.

Remember to pray for the young people who will be attending GYC in Louisville in a few days.

 *Pictures from my friend Alexandra Lerebours

Thankful...just thankful

This post is going to be a little different, it is being written in a hurry, I still have my Sabbath clothes on my back. I am happy, I am smiling, my heart is bursting with joy, I am thankful.

Sometimes people do not understand why we seventh-day adventists need a whole 24 hours to dwell in the presence of the Lord. Not that we do not spend time in the presence of the Lord during the week but the Sabbath is special, it's like a special date.(I will share more about the Sabbath in another post).You wear you best clothes, you can't stop thinking about the Saviour who is waiting for you in the sanctuary.

Every Sabbath is special to me but this Sabbath is in my top five. I had a hard week, a busy week, a confusing week but when the Sabbath came, I was happy to disconnect from my studies, my work, my problems and focus on the lover of my soul. I decided to leave my burdens at his feet and just concentrate on Him.

He blessed my with a powerful sermon today about how near He is to us, how much He identify with us.He showed me His love by using my brothers and sisters to give me a hug, to encourage me, to remind me that they are praying for me.

Friends, I love to study my Bible but sometimes to be honest I am overwhelmed, I feel like there is so much to learn and so much that I do not understand(yet). I had a problem understanding the concept of early and latter rain, one of my brother in Christ and his wife took less than 30 minutes during potluck to go through the Bible with me and verse by verse help me understand what is the early and latter rain. My pastor then study with us a few chapters in the book of Daniel.

It might be weird for some people that I love spending a whole day in church but to me a day spent sharing the Word of God with my family in Christ tops everything.
I am thankful for special blessings on Sabbath, i am thankful for children of God who are not ashamed of Him and long to share Him and lift Him up. I am thankful for the truth revealed in Jesus. I am thankful for the Sabbath, the reminder of God as our Creator and Redeemer.
                                 

Stop and listen

    I am learning to be more attentive to God's voice, learning to stop, take a deep breath before I act or react. Recently I had a very difficult or so I thought patient. He was mean, really mean to me. The way he was speaking to me, the words he was using were really hurtful. He was refusing his medications every now and then. I tried to smile every time that I entered his room but I always felt like he was on a mission to extract every single ounce of happiness from me.

    One afternoon, two hours  before my twelve hours shift ended, I entered his room. I heard this voice in  my head telling me to ask this patient how does he feel regardless of how he is acting towards me. I was about to leave the room, I stopped and looked at him straight in the eyes and asked him "how do you feel, dear?" He was caught by surprise, he took a deep breath and answered"Can I talk to you? I am sad, I am really sad and that makes me mad" I was in shock...he was opening up to me.

     I spent around 30 minutes in his room and he explained his situation to me. My heart breaks for him. He said to me"Finally someone listened to me, sorry if I projected my anger and frustration onto you, I am going through a really hard time and I am all alone" I left his room with a lump in my throat. So many people are hurting but we are always in a hurry.All my patient wanted was someone to spend a few minutes listening to him, someone to make him feel less alone...even for a few minutes.

    I've taken care of him for a few days, but because I was always in a hurry, because he maybe felt like I did not care enough, he reacted the way he did. The minute I listened to God's voice telling to stop and go past his insults, I was able to connect with him, he was able to feel comfortable enough to share his pain with me. Life is not easy, a lot of people are in pain, they want us to stop and listen, even for a minute let's make it our priority to see them with the eyes of God. We should be less judgemental and more caring, we should want the character of Jesus, who loves us,listens to us, holds  us when we are going through trials and tribulations.

    Whatever the job you are doing, whatever your profession, please take the time to pray for the people who will cross your path during the day. Take a look around, make connection, stop then listen, rejoice, mourn, encourage, most important thing of all point to Jesus, the healer of the broken-hearted.

...Love s patient, love is kind...it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs...1Cor13