Lately...

There's so much.... so much that's happened since January...

1. I finished my first semester in the nursing program- and bought a stethescope.
2. I went to the Viennese Ball with John.. that was soooo cool. Not only was I at the ball... but I actually had someone to go with, and it was really cool. :) I felt really pretty!
   
3. I spent my summer working at Camp Chetek, along with my boyfriend, John. It was an interesting summer... I think it was kind of discouraging compared to last summer, in a way- sometimes it felt like people were really cliquish... because most of them came from Maranatha, or the Maranatha Academy.. and because I wasn't from there... or even from a Christian college... sometimes I felt like I was really on the outside. Added to this was the challenge that I was given by John, that my focus needed to be campers... that it didn't matter what staff were doing.. and it didn't matter if it was "fun" to hang out with staff.... because my real purpose at camp was ministering to campers. That was hard... but worth it in the end I think.... it's just that overall, I'm not sure that working at camp was all that spectacular... and it'll probably be my last summer that I do so, before I get my RN.... the only way I'll likely be coming back is as a nurse... and probably as someone who's married- or at the very least, someone who is not dating someone at camp. It's a bit stressful...
   
4. Through a number of circumstances and failings on our part... John and I are struggling a little bit right now... but God is amazing and gracious... and in the aftermath of things that are tough, He's showing us how much MORE He wants for us, and how much He wants us to grow. Things are going to be a bit tough for aawhile.. but we're seeing God's faithfulness, forgiveness, and love.
5. I got into Chancellors' Hall this fall! I was 78th on the waiting list after I applied in November... but last month I got a call from the housing people saying there was an opening, and asking if I wanted it. I could hardly believe it. I've been wanting to get off of the campus meal plan ever since I got stuck with it to begin with... and this is just cool. It also solves any problems I would have with finding a place to stay for the summer next year- because I can have a 12 month lease, and have it all summer, too.
   
6. It has been decided by the nurse practitioner at the UWEC health services center... that I probably have something called PCOS- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This condition means that my estrogen and progesterone levels are all messed up because my ovaries don't work properly- and that means that as a result, without outside intervention, I have a high risk of uterine cancer. Enter in hormone pills to induce some menstrual stuff,some supplements to encourage my body to metabolize insulin better, and fine-tuning my diet to reduce my weight and manage insulin levels- which are connected somehow- it's not diabetes... but insulin resistance is involved in it in some way- though it's one of those chicken-and-egg dilemmas... being overweight, having PCOS, and insulin resistance are all interestingly intertwined here... and too much insulin results in my body converting some of it to androgen (the male kind) hormones... and then that royally confuses my body... *sigh* and I still have to go through some blood tests and stuff to determine that I have it.... but the nurse practitioner thought my chances of having it were about 99%.... so.... yeah. What I don't like is that it MAY mean that I have to go to a lower-carb diet... eww. I like crackers and bread and chips and salty stuff! Making it all worse is this bit of kind-of-high blood pressure that goes along with it- another symptom/result thing... so... reducing salt and exercising more....
   
7. Hmm... what else to say..... I'm going to school again soon- I move into my dorm on August 30th... and I need to go shopping for school supplies still. My room is a disaster area because I haven't decided to pack things yet... I'll probably wait til the last possible week to do that....
   
8. Being off of the meal plan this semester is going to be cool, because it's going to help me eat better, and control my weight... and having a kitchen, and a living room, and a bathroom and a room all to myself... is going to be cool.
   
9. I have been reading this book called "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge... is amazing. I read it and re-read it again... because it's sooo real, when it comes to women, and how we work. Not only how the devil tempts us, but also how God created us- the desires He gave us.. the way He created us to work, and the Question he gave us that we ask and want an Answer to, once and for all... it's really cool, and with the recent struggles I've been going through... it's been really amazing.. God knew I needed it right now- because I've owned the book for over a year, and it's only in the last week, when I needed it, that I picked it up and decided to read through it... not for a whole year since I bought it.. and I didn't expect it to help me when I picked it up... but... it's really convicting!
10. Anyways... I think that's about all I have to say right now... Pray for me, that God would keep working in me, and that He would just guide me through this bit of a bumpy maze right now... and also that He would continue to work in John's heart as well. Also pray that this health stuff of mine will get all sorted out and I will be able to have some sort of decent solution for it.
    

Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might!

~Danette