Burn your boat!
Before Mike and I got married, I had a pretty established plan for my life. It had primarily three components--marrying Mike, having a LOT of children, and then being a stay at home mom to those (four to seven...seriously) children. No part of my plan included working outside the home, and it most certainly had no place for medical school. There's still a part of me that really longs for the last part of my plan.

I am at peace with the fact that God has placed me on this path, but I am also very aware of the fact that it is beyond me. It is beyond what I would have planned, beyond what I would have attempted, and honestly, beyond what I would have been capable of doing, acting on my own strength. This, of course, is why I cling so heartily to that passage in II Corinthians where we are reminded that we are jars of clay, and the all-surpassing power is God's. Having just finished my first week of anatomy though, can I say that I feel like a pretty pathetic jar?

When I start to feel this way, I have been known to entertain thoughts about how great my plans seemed. I LOVE my kids; they are awesome. I love the idea of never missing a soccer game or spring concert and being there for every skinned knee....with a huge mom purse that has band-aids and antibiotic ointment and crayons and wipes and all of the other things that are the tools of the trade, when you are supermom.

Today's message was on being ready to give yourself in obedience to God's will and eliminating anything that might pull you back from God's will for your life. (Think of Elisha burning the plow when Elijah recruited him for God's work, I Kings 19.) Pastor Dave included an illustration about how these commanders of armies would always give the same command when they arrived on the shores of enemy territory. You know what it was? Burn your boats. Those troops were motivated to take the land when they realized there was no returning to the place from which they'd come. The point he was making was that "burning the boat" is what Elisha had done when he burned his plow, and that it is what we need to do when we step out in obedience. It was around this point that I realized I am fully committed no matter how hard it gets.....you know why? I burned my boat. When I joined the army, I burned my boat. I'm not going to be a stay at home mom; even if I quit med school, it's no longer an option. So....how about that for keeping me committed? That's not why I joined the army, of course, but it did work out that way....interesting realization.

With all that being said, I need to go overtake the enemy in the Lord's name....the enemy, in this case, being anatomy. Anatomy really is amazing, and I do have a healthy appreciation for it, but right now that appreciation is being overwhelmed by my need to conquer this course. So, for now defeat, and later appreciate ;)

-shannon

P.S. I'm pretty sure my blogs are going to have fewer (often no) pictures for quite awhile....I'm working on getting Mike to blog though....

No pictures...sorry =(
What's the point of blogging if I don't have pictures for you, right? Sorry about that....I will have pictures from my white coat ceremony soon, but I'm not able to get them up today. "Why?" you ask? Well, that would be because I started med school on Monday, and now, over the course of five days, have completed my first course, embryology. That's right, an entire textbook, cover to cover, in one week. My final is tomorrow morning.

Med school is so much more intense than I could have imagined. After the embryology final we start anatomy, which will last seven weeks, and class will start at 8:00 and go to anywhere from 4:00-6:30....of course, the second years students have already told us that there are no guarantees, and we stay until they tell us to leave, and even then it's advisable to stay longer. The light at the end of my tunnel is this.....after we finish anatomy, we start BIOCHEMISTRY! You may think I am crazy for saying this, but if you know me you will totally understand.....isn't God faithful? He knew how badly I'd need my biochem after finishing anatomy, and so He made sure our classes were so ordered ;)

Well, I need to study.....a LOT. I'm trying to adjust, but it is difficult. I don't have very much time with my family, and without my truly AMAZING husband, there is no way I would be able to manage....God gives us everything, and in this case everyone, we need to accomplish what He calls us to, and I am grateful for that. And very grateful that all He expects me to be is His jar of clay.

Please continue to pray for us (and for me a whole lot)....I am so grateful....so so grateful...and still hanging in there.....

-shannon

Exhausted, but SO VERY HAPPY to be Home!
Well, we made it! I survived OBLC, Mike made it through his crazy summer, the kids had an amazing time being loved on by so many, but we are elated to be reunited! WHAT A SUMMER! God is so faithful!

I posted a TON more pictures to facebook, so make sure to check the albums, by clicking these links (I'll add them to the side of the page too):
OBLC III:the final countdown
home and catching up...
birthday/birthday/birthday/anniversary/welcome home party weekend

Here I am in uniform and showing off the diploma that my hard work won me =)

My honey, my mama, and her dear friend came down to see me graduate...

Here we are, on the last leg of our flight home to our babies!!!!

Reunited with my princess and having some lunch the next day.... ....playing the long awaited game of putt-putt. (I love that he sticks his tongue out when he's working hard!)
Playing at the new park not far from home....I just love being a mom again....what a long summer it's been!
The weekend after I got home, Mike had a party to welcome me back and celebrate everything I had missed while I was away....Timothy's birthday, my birthday, our wedding anniversary...we celebrated HIM too....his birthday fell on the day of the party. As usual, we had lots of good cooking =)
I had to post pictures of me with the following two lovely ladies, because they've never made the blog, and they are both amazing friends!

I don't know how people make it in life without friends like these! Madeline, of course, had friends of her own there....friends you may recognize from Lisa's blog....these girls got to spend lots of time together....that of course is because their mom helped me out so much! I was happy to finally get to see her!

"Let's all jump into the pool at once!"
our birthday/anniversary cake ;)
and poor Timothy finally got his birthday cake too!
The biggest surprise of all was that Mike schemed with some friends of ours from Nebraska who drove all the way to come see us and spent the weekend with us.....thanks so much, Linda and Rick! What an awesome surprise!

Certainly, never thought I'd be hosting a LAN party.....but there you have it!

There were a couple guests that didn't make it to the party, and that would be my bff and her sweet little one. Monday, though, they drove up to South Bend and we had a nice visit together. Thanks for coming to see me! I missed you this summer! ;) Here's her little peanut with my two kiddos...having some fun...

Like I said, I posted SO many more pictures to facebook, so check those albums out, because this is such a small sampling.....I am so tired though. It's all I have left in me!

I can't wait to see so many of my family next weekend at the white coat ceremony. I love you guys, and I thank anyone who sent a prayer up on behalf of me or my family this summer. We made it, and all the glory goes to God. He sure does have some crazy plans for us.....we will continue to hold on and enjoy the ride!

blessings, shannon

P.S. Here are a few more video clips I posted to youtube.....enjoy!

I told you it would be on the blog, honey.,..here you go!

Madeline's best shot at our family's putt-putt excursion...not too shabby...

Timothy's best shot....not bad at all ;)