I've been enjoying my time to relax around home for the past couple of weeks, but oddly enough still re-acclimating once again to life in Michigan. It's obviously a little chillier here than the Dominican Republic, and I've had to get used to English, seeing only white people, and our abundance of big shiny cars once more... I hadn't realized in my time away from the US just how much the word "green" has become the latest fad. Weird. (I still haven't figured out whether the majority of the users of this "new" word really are interested in being legitimate keepers of the earth, or just falling for the latest fashion.) I've also had to jump from being surrounded by overt Dominican politics (crazy caravans and such leading up to May 16th presidential elections, and the public health office and anything governmental was just... corrupt) to our more suble or tame politics in US election time. I've even had to jump from educating myself about all the candidates in the Dominican Republic to the ones I can actually vote for here in the USA in November.
I really love Spring, and being with my family
to enjoy it. Yesterday, my dad and I saw a brand new fawn toddling about in the woods near home, right after we had picked more huge white morels than ever in our lifetimes. And, the other day, I saw a BEAVER for what must have been the first time ever! I was taking a drive with my parents through the national park at Port Oneida , and we stopped for a minute to see a box turtle sunning itself on a log in a swampy area. We looked the other way to see a growing trail of bubbles headed right for us. It freaked me out a bit, because the bubbles were growing rather intense, and it no longer seemed like another turtle underwater. Suddenly, a BEAVER popped her head out as close to the road as she could get and sort of greeted us, lifting her tail a bit to leave no doubt in our minds to her true identity. We were so amazed that she had swum right up to us, that we were crazy with excitement. Even above our hubbub, she didn't seem to mind and simply looked at us, taking her time to swim away several seconds later. Sadly enough, I wasn't able to escape allergies this year as I had hoped. I thought that maybe I'd be skipping over them competely! The cottonwood trees are letting loose this week, making things a little difficult. They're completely covering some hills and valleys in the woods as if they were a summer snow. It's crazy to see! It's wonderful being home when lilacs, lily of the valley, and the ajuga that cover the hillside are in bloom. I had forgotten completely about the lilacs, which happen to be some of my favorite flowers. They startled me when I saw them that first day in Detroit!
I felt finally ready yesterday as I began work day #1 at the migrant clinic, and look forward to all the summer's adventures and learning experiences there. It's orientation this week, which has proven a bit draining after sitting through even two days of material. I have the most random mixed job title at the clinic, and the supervisor keeps joking about adding more to my load. My main duty will be outreach nurse assistant and interpreter, and also the main receptionist and extra interpreter at the clinic. I hope that role boundaries don't get too hairy, but rather that I can be effective in all my roles.
It's been good to have my mind on something else, because re-adjusting to life here hasn't been the easiest. My emotions have been all over the place, and I've had to figure out a lot of financial and logistical things for grad school and such in the fall. I know that God will take care of it all. There's just been a lot on my plate all at once. Thank goodness I didn't get too far in my little weepy corner, though, as God stopped me and said that he'll take care of me. Matthew 6:25-34 was the main message in church on Sunday, and it was the most perfect thing that could have been presented to me at the time. God is truly amazing.
"I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today."
