Possibilities

I often find myself in wonder when I look at individuals that have spent their entire lives within a 20 mile radius of where they were born. I know back in the day there weren't always a lot of options as far as travel was concerned and spending one's life in the same place was pretty much the only way to survive. And for many today, families, jobs, and a million other things make up and going hard. But to the young and unattached, in a world where plane tickets are cheap, access is easy, and possibilities seem endless I wonder how so many never go explore it. Even more shocking to my wanderlust soul is that they don't have the DESIRE to! I know my view is biased and everyone was not made with the same desires as me. I sometimes wonder why I'm so obsessed with the next adventure and I think it is partly due to the fact that I haven't found my place yet. I've been able to visit a number of great locations, but I want the one where I sink in and feel like it is where I'm meant to be. I think I adapt pretty well to my new locales, but I'm always looking forward...Where to next? And I wonder if I'll always be this way. Is it because we were made for a world beyond this one that is doesn't feel quite like my home? Or because I haven't found that person that makes it home? Or maybe just because I thrive on adventure and challenge, the new and exciting. Likely some combination of all three.
What I do know is that it makes me both love and be totally overwhelmed at the thought of becoming a nurse. One of my favorite ways to procrastinate as of late is to look at pediatric grad nurse programs across the country. And I'm realizing even more now than when I first began that I can work anywhere. That is mind boggling. How do I even begin? It it thrilling. I can begin anywhere. Anybody have any suggestions? (Mom, I know, UCDavis)

On a more concrete note, I'm back in school after Fall Break and life is good. I made it through classroom training and onto the floor at my new job and am fascinated by the traumatic brain injury patients I'm working with. Rehab is proving to be an entirely different world from acute care, with lots of independence promoting activities and the opportunity to see patient's condition improve rather than digress. My psych nursing skills are coming in handy and my biggest challenge so far seems to be in remaining serious when patients respond in very silly ways. At the same time, it pulls on my heart strings to see patients that have had their lives changed in an instant. Twenty-somethings that will never again have their eyes shine and smiles flash like they do in the photographs that adorn their walls. This past Friday, I was feeling the weight of loss, anger at the injustice after reading the chart of a young college student who had gone into cardiac arrest while playing a pick up game with friends. Seeing such young potential snatched, I found myself asking, "How does it happen God?" I didn't get my answer, but I did get my reminder that God was there. Fifteen or so students, friends of the patient came through the door. They had taken their fall break to fly across the country to visit their friend. They gathered around the bed with love, laughter, and compassion. Then they took turns visiting personally while the rest went into the therapy room, one with a guitar in hand, to sing songs of praise to our God. And He was near. In another room I found a family praying. And He was near. And we bathed a patient that night with Jesus tatooed on his arm. And He was near. And the sadness subsided, when I remembered yet again that there is a world beyond this one in which we live.