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Hey, what can I say? I'm a man of few words. And a picture is worth a thousand words. 
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| Lots to update on my life, but this is a quick lunch-break, websurfing, this-is-crazy! post.
Uh-oh
Don't tell the NFL that Evergreen's having a party too.
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| Courtesy of Lori. This one really tugs at the heartstrings. More to come about my college reunion and a whirlwind trip to San Antonio... stay tuned.
The Heart
"Tomorrow morning," the
surgeon began,
"I'll open up your heart..."
"You'll find Jesus there," the boy
interrupted.
The surgeon looked up, annoyed "I'll
cut your heart open," he continued,
to see how much damage has been
done ..."
"But when you open up my heart, you'll
find Jesus in there," said the boy.
The surgeon looked to the parents, who
sat quietly. "When I see how much
damage has been done, I'll sew your
heart and chest back up, and I'll plan
what to do next."
"But you'll find Jesus in my heart. The
Bible says He lives there. The
hymns all say He lives there. You'll
find Him in my heart."
The surgeon had had enough. "I'll tell
you what I'll find in your heart.
I'll find damaged muscle, low blood
supply , and weakened vessels.
And I'll find out if I can make you well."
"You'll find Jesus there too. He lives
there."
The surgeon left.
The surgeon sat in his office, recording his
notes from the surgery, "...damaged aorta, damaged
pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration.
No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy:
painkillers and bed rest. Prognosis:, "
here he paused, "death within one year."
He stopped the recorder, but there was
more to be said "Why?" he asked aloud.
"Why did You do this? You've put
him here; You've put him in this pain; and
You've cursed him to an early death. Why?"
The Lord answered and said, "The boy,
My lamb, was not meant for your
flock for long, for he is a part of My
flock , and will forever be.
Here, in My flock, he will feel no pain, and
will be comforted as you cannot imagine.
His parents will one day join him here,
and they will know peace, and
My flock will continue to grow."
The surgeon's tears were hot, but his
anger was hotter. "You created that
boy , and You created that heart. He'll
be dead in months. Why?"
The Lord answered, "The boy, My lamb,
shall return to My flock, for He has
Done his duty: I did not put My lamb
with your flock to lose him, but to retrieve another
lost lamb."
The surgeon wept.. The surgeon sat
beside the boy's bed; the boy's
parents sat across from him. The boy awoke and
whispered ,
"Did you cut open my heart?"
"Yes," said the surgeon.
"What did you find?" asked the boy.
"I found Jesus there," said the
surgeon.
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| Guess it's about time to update...
The first month of work has been hectic, but good. God has truly blessed me with a REAL good situation - I can honestly say I'm very happy at work. It really is so amazing that God has brought me this far. I finally cleaned out stuff from my parent's home (found stuff from high school - crazy!) and I found my old med school application folder. I shredded most of the paperwork (it has my SSN - identity theft, y'know) but saved all my rejection letters - all 17 of them! It's a reminder that I myself did nothing - it's where God chose to lead me. Where I am today is only through God's grace. It's so humbling that God put me into a situation where I can serve people who are hurting. But truly, you gotta give credit to the man above (I feel like a rap star now). I'm just the doctor; God's the healer.
I gotta say - it's so awesome FINALLY being done with training. The funniest thing is that I still find myself saying "we" to the patients, instead of "I."
Me: So when we do the surgery...
Patient: You and who else?
Me: I mean, when I do the surgery...
It's hard to break a 6-yr habit of being under someone else's supervision and having to say "we."
So many other praises to share..
1. The commute has not been bad at all. 40 minutes to go 30 miles in LA - I'll take it anyday.
2. One great thing about joining a young group is that things aren't set in stone yet. There were some forms in clinic that I didn't like, so I made some new ones, and we're already using them. Plus, I'm working with a friend from residency, which makes for better camaraderie. We run things past each other in clinic and help each other out in the OR too. We never got to work with people our own level during residency, so this is a lot of fun. Plus, I'm able to bring different equipment into the OR. That's part of the fun of the job - trying out new toys.
3. Everybody's been anticipating our arrival. It's been great walking into a welcoming environment. All the primary care physicians are sending us patients already. Apparently, there's a big need in the Pomona area. It's great - they're sending us good cases, good operative cases, not just chronic low back pain (the bane of our existence). I was dreading coming to work the first day and seeing a full day of LBP.
4. I'm joining BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) finally. I'd heard about it since I think the early 1990s and even went to an intro meeting last year but couldn't commit the time, since I wasn't really my own boss and my schedule was so erratic. I'm really looking forward to this! I've heard so many good things about it. And there's a bunch of people from Evergreen, so hopefully it'll allow me to get plugged in more.
5. Speaking of being my own boss (although I'm still technically an employee), it's neat being able to control my own schedule. If I have a meeting, I can tell them, "Don't book any patients past 2pm." If my tee time's at 1pm, I can say, "Clear my afternoon!" (jk about that last part, although if anyone wants to play, lmk. I can make, uh, arrangements.)
6. I re-joined the choir at Evergreen. We led worship last weekend and I had my first solo. I'd led worship at my home church before, but that was a lot smaller, and I had grown up there so it was a lot more comfortable. This church is a lot bigger, so I was pretty darn nervous. My voice cracked the first time (ack!) but it went a lot better the 2nd service. There's something about music and harmony. God is awesome. No matter how disjointed and unprepared we feel, when the time comes, somehow through God's grace, it all comes together. It just makes me realize that God DID create us to worship Him - that He allows us imperfect, broken beings to create such a joyful noise and lead the congregation into glorifying Him. And most of all - it's FUN!  So far, that's been my community at church. I'm trying to find a small group now. It's cool, we're starting practices off with a devotional about worship - how it's not just about the singing and the audio, but it's about the whole being. Our entire body (thoughts, actions, heart, and finally words) should glorify the Lord.
7. I have a roommate who I actually interact with (not like last year for those of you who knew my living situation). He's one of my brother's best friends, and I've known him for like 20 years. He's actually leading a small group for Newsong and they're meeting here, which is fun too. It's neat to see God at work in so many little ways, with so many different people.
Some other random tidbits...
8. One of my patients told me about the latest Survivor and that his favorite was a big Korean guy named Yul. Hmmm, I thought, I knew a big Korean guy named Yul from college. Sure enough, it's the same guy. And apparently, he's doing really well on the show. Way to represent! I'm tired of seeing Asian guys portrayed as either ultra-competitive or ultra-feminine in the media. This was part of the reason I boycotted ER. Asians were either backstabbers or they fainted at the sight of blood. P'shaw, totally unrealistic.
9. Speaking of medical shows, I'm feeling a lot of peer pressure to watch Grey's Anatomy. It's neat - I'm meeting a lot of new people these days, but the typical conversation goes like this. "So what do you do?" "I'm a doctor." "Oh! Do you watch Grey's Anatomy?" There's something about McDreamy and McSteamy and McNugget and Filet-O-Fish or something like that on the show.
10. I went to an Apologetix concert last weekend. They're a Christian parody band. Now, I need to clarify. They're not a band that makes fun of Christian music, as someone in choir thought. They're a Christian band that takes popular songs and "Christianizes" the lyrics. Think Weird Al meets Jesus. Here's a sample:
Meshach
Parody of "Love Shack" by The B-52's
(Daniel 1:7, 3:1-30; 1 Peter 4:12-13)
Hey, there's three real famous guys in the Bible you know
And the in-between guy's name is Meee-shach!
Meschach, yeah, yeah
I read about them in Daniel one day
Look in chapter 1:7 babe
And then you can go get their names
They got treated harsh by the king of the world (go get their names)
When they didn't bow down to his gold statue (go get their names)
They got in a crisis and just about perished from burnin' up
Hey, king, your joke's not funny
Well-a Meshach was an Israelite faced with
Mean King Neb'chadnezzar
Meshach, baby – ah Meshach baby
Meshach, baby, Shadrach, Meshach, baby, Shadrach
Ah, babe, Abednego’s last
Simon says, kneel and pray fools
You must do as the law says!
Well, sittin’ way back in the middle of a field
There’s a 90-foot statue; ya gotta pray to that
Glitter on the statue didn’t make the guys pray
Even if they got scorched, they would trust in Yahweh
Well-a Meshach was an Israelite faced with
Mean King Neb'chadnezzar
Meshach, baby – Meshach baby
Meshach – Neb’chadnezzar’s mad
Meshach’s no scaredy cat
Huffin’ and a hissin’ guess he wasn’t bluffin’
Nebuchadnezzar shoved ‘em in the hottest of ovens
But hold on kiddies
Cause everybody’s movin’ around and around and around and around
Nebby got confused and said, “I thought we threw them in with
Ropes tied ‘em up – now guys how’d they get out?
There’s four bodies movin’ – there’s another dude in there and
Come here, Meschach – want you to come back!”
Often a crisis looks as big as a whale and you’re about to get nailed
But God isn’t far, He sees you now buddy
So come on and pray – you’re cool, stop running
CHORUS
Wait, wait, wait on the Lord, baby! Talk a little louder soldier
Wait, wait, wait on the Lord baby! I can’t hear you!
Wait, wait! On the Lord, baby! Wait, wait! On the Lord!
Wait, wait! On the Lord, baby! Batman!
Girls, what?!! Same tune … trust me
Meshach, baby, Shadrach (Ah, baby, trustworthy chaps, yeah)
Meshach, baby, Shadrach (Ah, baby, trustworthy chaps)
(Hope you learned a lesson standin’ in the oven with a-Meshach) Here's me being a groupie. This guy can rock! He played his electric guitar with drumsticks during one part of the concert. Whoa.
That's it for now! My 10 year college reunion is next weekend. Yikes - how time flies!
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