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Merry Christmas Eve!

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It looks like the next couple of days will be very musical over here on the blog! I meant to post this about two weeks ago, but this post became a casualty of final exam preparation… oops. Seems like pre-scheduling my posts as much as possible in the future to keep them consistent will be my best bet going forward! But moving on…

A couple weeks ago, I woke up to the song Lord I Need You playing in my head, and I couldn’t resist singing it over and over in both my quiet time and in my head throughout the day (isn’t it awesome when the Lord puts a song in your heart? Since He knows my love for music, it’s almost daily for me!). Later that day, I was browsing on Instagram for a study break and happened to visit Sadie Robertson’s profile (she’s the daughter of one of the main people on Duck Dynasty and actually recently published a book, Live Original). Lo and behold, she had just posted a video of the Daraja Children’s Choir singing Lord I Need You at her church that past weekend! Seeing as that was the weekend right before my final exam period began, the song was such a wonderful reminder for me to recognize just how much I need the Lord in my life, in all facets.

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Gentle Like a Lamb

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It’s a virtue.

It’s a weapon.

It requires true patience and compassion.

What is this “it”? Gentleness.

During the month of November, I’ve been studying gentleness as a fruit of the Spirit. The first thing I thought when the month began was that gentleness was a bit like patience: it’s a well-lauded virtue, yet still slightly overshadowed by “more prominent” virtues like love, joy, or peace. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After a few weeks’ study, I’ve grown to realize that gentleness is actually one of the most powerful virtues out of the nine fruits of the Spirit. And, in light of recent events surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, gentleness is a virtue that we could certainly stand to use more of in our society. Oftentimes, gentleness is put on the back-burner. On the virtuous extreme, everyone wants to exhibit grand gestures of love, kindness, or faithfulness; on the worldly extreme, the world screams, “Be loud! Be assertive! Stand your ground! Fight!” Meanwhile, gentleness is in the background, quietly waiting to be put into action, whispering, “Listen. Be gentle. Be calm. Be patient.” It’s not easily understood, but truthfully, gentleness is an important component of what makes a society – and an individual – truly great. Not “great,” as in a great, or fantastic, person to be around. But great – as in someone who is an influential warrior who wins in life for Christ and His kingdom. Continue reading →

Weekend Bits & Bobs: Budapest

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About a week and a half ago, a couple of my friends and I took a day trip into Budapest, and I’m finally getting a moment to share some pictures from that trip! Budapest – which is technically the two cities of Buda and Pest separated by the Danube River – is absolutely stunning with its Old World architecture around every corner. But then, that’s Europe for you, right? That’s part of why I love Europe – history (in everything) is alive and well and ready for the taking for visitors with a penchant for that stuff (me!). This was more of an exploratory trip for us, to help us figure out the metro system, the general atmosphere of the city, and what it had to offer. I’d call it a success, and I can’t wait to get back.

These pictures were taken with an iPhone camera, so the contrasts and exposures aren’t the best, but I’m planning on taking my big camera with me on a proper visit to Budapest soon (once I learn how to better use it, of course). Continue reading →

European Med Life

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It’s Labor Day for all my American friends and family, and usually I join in enjoying the day off with copious amounts of food, sleep, and HGTV. But today’s the first time I’ve actually put “laboring” into Labor Day, because it was the first day of classes over here at the University of Pécs Faculty of Medicine.

Yes, that’s right – I’ve officially began my journey as a European med student!

I know, I’ve been MIA from writing these past two weeks as I’ve gotten settled in (shout out to those whom I promised pictures and updates…they will come gradually). But bear with me; I’m a med student now (eek! I get to say that!).

Recently – as in, about two weeks ago – my Dad and I took all my packed bags (which was only 2 suitcases, surprisingly) and headed off on the long journey from Dallas to Pécs (rhymes with “h”), in beautiful southwestern Hungary. Med school is already a crazy ordeal; but to embark on that life change in a new country? Where I don’t speak the official language? Does that sound crazy? Yes? Well, sign me up! I’ve loved travelling since…forever. I’ve also loved medicine (and music and writing, but that’s a different story for another time) for practically my whole life, so in thinking of med schools, I wanted to go to an international school that would seamlessly blend these two passions of mine. And wow, the UP delivered. In my class group (about 15-20 of us), there are students from Jordan, Iran, Israel, Spain, Germany, Norway, Cyprus, Nepal, India, Canada, Argentina, and Nigeria. It’s the norm for students here to be multilingual; if you want motivation to learn a new language, just come here and make some friends. On my first Monday at the school, I met a 3rd year student who spoke nine languages. NINE. And he wasn’t kidding, because he broke out speaking those languages with various other students and patrons who passed by. I was, and am, in heaven just listening to the massive accomplishments of the other students in my med school class. Continue reading →

Rice

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Last week, I briefly visited my alma mater – Rice University! I didn’t have too much time to take photos (and of course, it was very humid, so my available picture-taking time was rapidly diminished), but I did have a short jaunt to a couple of my favorite places on campus. At least, on the north side of campus.

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It’s a special day for me to talk about Rice, as the memorial service for one of the students at my residential college there (Brown) is taking place today in Dallas. This student, who unexpectedly and tragically passed on Monday, was one of the few people I knew of at Rice who could bridge gaps and truly make friends with anyone he met. He was an enthusiastic photographer, and I often caught up on Rice or Brown events by looking through his photos. I only knew him as an acquaintance, so my heart goes out to his family and friends who had grown to know and love him deeply. Continue reading →