It has been way to long

After moving home to school, I have been asked a lot how it is going and if I am enjoying it...well today I shall give everyone the answer!

Saying goodbye to New York in January was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life. I think it was even harder to do then saying goodbye to Daleville. But, even though that was one of the hardest things I had to do..it may have been the one of the best things.

Not only was I starting a whole new major in March but I was also going to have to face having a long distance relationship, plan a wedding, and search for a church family. With the long distance relationship I was able to learn how much I could really love and miss someone. It showed me how much Ted truly meant to me! Also it showed me how strong we really are as a couple and how to really work together in so many different ways! And obviously we are doing great to this dayyyyy and I don't think I could be any happier now that he is only 15 miles away from me rather than 500! The wedding planning...is going! Only 17 days left!! The search for a church family, is still in the process.. I wish I could just pick up Grace Baptist Church and move them to Muncie, Indiana! So yeah.... I well Ted and I now are still on a hunt to find a church to call family!

School...the big question!? I LOVE IT! In the spring I had an extremely rough start! As you all have heard I had a class I hated and also 3 other classes that were just boring to me. But, this fall I am taking all Child Life focused classes and I LOVE every minute of them! Two of my classes involve labs on which I go to a preschool lab/childcare for three hours in the morning and play with the kids and also write observations and put together activities! I do the same thing three hours in the afternoon with infant and toddlers! These labs happen on Wednesday which are long but wonderful days! I am also in a parenting class that I love and am raising a virtual child, which is a lot of fun! My other class I am taking is social work. This class is fun too, but can be very heartbreaking at times. I have just recently received an e-mail that says my grades are high enough to be considered to be part of the Family Consumer Science Honers Society! This is super exciting and I will find out more about it next week!

The next thing I have to say about school is mostly why I am writing this blog post! Today I was able to attend a metting that had a Child Life Specilast come and talk to us about the feild! I really wanted to go to this to just make sure I knew what I was getting into and to see if this is truely what I want to be doing with my life! She talked to us on how a Child Life Specialist can work from in a dentist office to a pedi rehab center to a family councler with children with developmental disabiblites to a childrens hospital! This was so exciting to see that there are many fields to which I can go into! She mentioned this camp that she has founded where you spend a week with children who have spinal cord injuries and you just make it fun for them because most of them just sit infront of a TV all day in a hospital setting. This was very eye opening and a way I can do an extra practicum for 140 hours and make a difference in a child's life! It is something I really want to look into! She also talked about how Child Life Specialist job is to remind medical staff that play is very imporant, to advocate for child's cormfort and the feeling of being safe, to make the hospital a postive experience and to accomony the child anywhere they want us to come! <3 She also said that she will be a connection for us to keep for life! This is my first proffessional connection I have made in the Child Life setting! eeek!

The down side of this meeting was she did tell us how very very very competitive this field of study is in Indiana. She told us that Riley, Riley North and Payton Manning Child's Hospitals only accept one intern a semester. While Fort Wayne accepts two. This is a little scary. She also told us that our internship we have to do before we graduate has to be 500 hours! She also said some internships will not take you if you do not have over 150 volunteer hours in a Child Life Center..... :O <--- this needs to be fixed in my life because I am standing with ZERO! She warned us that if we do not have a lot of experince we will have a very hard time finding a job...

So after I have a little freak out session in my head on how stressfull this could get and how far behind I am, I was reminded that this is where God wants me to be and what he wants me to be doing...He remined me this when she said

"A Child Life Specialist looks at a child as being well

first while the Medical Staff looks at the

child as being sick first."

This statement melted my heart...and knew that me, myself and I have always looked at a child in the eyes of a child is just a child no matter what else is going on. The deserve every right to be a child and to play and be happy no matter what they have to overcome or have to face! So I will hold this in my heart and consonantly remember my little motivator to keep me going! Bracey will always stay on my study desk and phone so whenever I am feeling run down or stressed I just have to look at their smiles and know....this is why God put me on this earth! <3 

Also I need to remember that no matter who tries to knock me down and tell me how hard it can be to find a job or internship or whatever... that I do not put my faith in their words but in God's plan for me!

Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded you? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be you dismayed: for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path.

love always,

Me :)