Reflections on the year...

2011.

Seems too soon to be drawing to a close? How to describe it?

A crazy year; a year full of so many unexpected events.

A year that will forever stand out as a unique chapter within this life story.

The year started off...with an inner battle to muster endurance for the last semester of nursing school. January was flavored by what quickly became the theme of the year...by much vacillation that comes with weighing difficult decisions. At the time, I was to decide whether or not I would complete nursing credits in Alaska or Los Angeles, knowing that my decision would likely impact where I would first find employment as a RN.

Looking back...I realize that all too often I make decisions more profound and difficult than they need to be. When life is held by a Sovereign and good Author...things have a way of working themselves out...how often I've fumed and stressed for naught.

Phil. 4:5-7...the Lord is at hand.

February.

I turned 24. In the words of the Dixie Chicks, "But time makes bolder, children get older, I'm getting older too, well, I'm getting older too..." Life has been a bit of a landslide this year. Girl world is fading and coming more and more into focus is the world of womanhood... Oh, the coming of age story...a little bit strange when it is your own.

Isaiah 40:6-8...the flowers fade, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.

March & April.

Applying, applying for jobs. Here, there and everywhere.

Pediatrics. Intensive Care. Emergency Room. Medical Surgical.

California. Oregon. Washington. Idaho. Wyoming. Alaska.

To where, and how was life going to swing?

How many countless nights did I fall asleep wondering in angst,

crying out to God for direction, for discernment...

Learned a thing or too about friendship in these tumultous months as well.

Forever thankful for the life lessons and refining fire shared at Gandesa house.

Isaiah 49: 16...

"your walls are continually before me.." He know us as we will be.

Acts 17:26...

He has determined the allotted periods and the boundaries of our dwelling places...

May.

I ran a half marathon. An exhilirating achievement!

And I graduated from Biola University!

Five years of life. A life-transforming, life-giving, eye-opening chapter closed.

2 Corinthians 12:9...

His grace continues to prove sufficient...

June.

I studied hard...and passed the NCLEX! RN, BSN, PHN!

Erin Radke, RN....

No longer just a-yet-to-achieve dream, but a new reality loaded with responsibility...

I received a job offer & I decided to move to Alaska.

Read my first blog post if you care to know more details.

Psalm 139: 7-10...

No matter where, even there, Your hand shall hold me.

July & August.

Moving details, packing. Whirlwind. Road trip to Washington. Alaska-bound vehicle broke down. Had the privledge of standing as bridesmaid for two friends. Trip out to Illinois and then back to San Diego. Many tear-filled good byes.

Not only did Biola's chapter close, California's did as well.

Hebrews 13:8...No matter how chaotic, God remains constant, faithful.

September.

Settling into the bustling metropolis of Glennallen, AK.

Learning how to live alone. Learning how to be quiet. Learning how to cook. Making new friends.

Learning how to embrace a much slower pace of life.

Overwhelmed by the beautiful short autumn in Alaska.

Adopted a mountain lion of a kitten.

Psalm 46:10...Be still and know...

October.

Flirtation with death. Rolled my pick up truck off the side of a mountain.

Came out unscathed. Totaled truck, not a scratch on my person.

Life is so precious.

Psalm 121...

My help comes from the Lord...who keeps my going out and my coming in...

November.

Embracing my job and all the highs and lows of working at a rural clinic.

Learning...so many things. Learning how to be okay with the slow days, to be grateful for the crazy days, growing in practical skill, learning a broad range of "administrative" tasks, learning how to live life the friends I work with.

Trying to get involved in the community as much as possible while still working full time. Teaching Sunday school, helping with Awana, trying to rally a new youth group...

Playing in the snow.

Getting to know a man named Tim.

Psalm 16:5...

"The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; He holds my lot."

December.

Life has picked up a rhythm. I live in Alaska and the shock factor of this is beginning to wane. Thankful for the opportunity to have shared an early Christmas with the family.

Mostly looking forward to all that lies ahead in this Alaska-chapter.

Thankful for the season, thankful for all the new adventures life has carried this year.

Thankful to be alive.

Thankful for Life that is offered freely and graciously by the Son of Man.

Thankful for Christ,

"though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking th form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross..."

Dying and rising over death for our sake.

Lord, help me to never minimize, normalize or overlook the gravity of this gift. May He receive all glory and honor due Him. May my life be a fragrant offering before Him...in the mundane...in the pivotal crossroads...in my relationships...in my nursing care...in my conversations...

May my everything be rightly His.

Amen.