Heaven?

That'll Do Pig

Welp...

Oncology is over. The final was today, and that is a good thing. I'm tired and ready to stop for a little while. I feel ok about it. I dont think I destroyed it or anything. It's more like that old guy in the movie that said, "That'll do pig. That'll do." That's about the way I feel about right now. Im good with that.

I now know that if a ferret walks up to me with bilateral symmetrical alopecia and pruritus, I can tell him he COULD have an adrenal disease. Im sure that will come in handy real soon for me.

Orthopedics is the only thing between me and summer time now. One more stinking test. Then I'm half vet. This is better than one quarter vet (which is what I've been up to this point).

Here's something. I was driving home from school today around 5ish, and this small bird was just standing in my lane. I think we can all safely say that most birds remain aware of their surroundings and flutter away when the big loud moving machines approach them. Not this one. He stood there. That lane was his. So I was faced with a decision at that point. Did I want to do the whole "dodge the entire animal in the road" maneuver, or should I try the "just keep going and hope it stays between the 2 tires" routine. I chose the swoosh between the tires routine. I'd say it was a success. The bird wasnt doing that tumbling around thing when I passed, and I didn't hear any crunching.

I have to say. That was one bold bird. Either that or he just had some zoonotic disease affecting his nervous system. I like to be a glass half full kind of guy, so Ill just go with the zoonotic disease.

We don't want those birds getting too gutsy. We need to keep those little guys in their place.

Butt-Face

I took a killer cardio final today.

It was hard. Very hard. As I read through the test, I had to keep telling myself that my professor, who was sitting in the back of the room, was NOT a complete butt-face. That he was simply trying to make me a good doctor.

When I walk into an exam like this one, I always take a brief moment to notice my professors demeanor and attitude as he greets me and extends the test packet my way. I use this quick encounter as a reminder of the big picture to all this school stuff--that my knowledgeable teacher is making an effort to help me learn what they know so well in veterinary medicine.

I try hard to take those few seconds and really appreciate why the professor is there and how that professor is trying to help me. I try to picture him sitting in his home late at night rubbing his eyes, tweaking on his lectures and thinking of ways to help me grasp the material. I try to picture him putting just as much effort and concern into preparing his material and test questions as I do when I study for his exam. I try to see how he truly does care about my well-being as a future veterinarian.

And then the test packet slides into my hand. And I see that instead of a test packet, I've been handed what appears to be a small book--weighing close to...50 lbs or so. This is my first hurdle.

I try to prevent this seemingly absurdly lengthy test obscure my perception of how my professor is trying to help me in life rather than hurt me.

I take the walk down the aisle to my seat, and in that time, I've done the best I can to regain a positive outlook on the situation. I sit. Take a breath and take a quick moment to prepare myself for what I may find inside of this book--I mean test packet.

"Ok Adam. you may find some tough ones in here, but don't get worked up about it. The teacher has your best interest in mind." This is what I tell myself.

Then I have a looksy.

Ok... Mhhmm.

Ok.... I'll just come back to this one...

Maybe that one will come to me a little later.

Mhmm.

Ok. Ok.

The teacher is trying to help me. The teacher wants me to do well.

He isn't out to trick me. He isnt out to trick me.

This one is tricky, but Im sure he didn't intend for it to be.

Ok.. this one is a little stupid but ok.

This isn't good for me.

Stinkin'

Dang it!!!

Butt-Face!!

By this point, my imagination has done a little rewiring. I'm now seeing my professor in a dark room tapping his fingers together and thinking of ways to make this the most uncomfortable and nearly impossible test known to man.

I'll tell ya. This is hard. It wears me out.

For the record. I am very grateful to be at school and I really dont think of my teacher as butt-faces...most of the time anyway.

Welp--bird just crapped on my screen. Must be time to go inside.

Hm... looks like he was a little dehydrated too.

Vet school wisdom from a vet student on a study break.

With Vet School...

Just give it your best effort.

Best Effort is NOT the same as:

1) Covering ALL the material that they COULD test you on.

2) Feeling confident that you looked over everything enough times (or even once).

3) Feeling confident that you understand everything you DID look at.

4) Talking to every person you know for input or notes or study guides or old tests, etc.

5) Exporing EVERY option of prep or study material and choosing the "correct" one to use.

4) Meeting your expectations.

5) Succeeding

Best Effort IS:

1) Literally doing WHAT YOU CAN (Nothing more, Nothing less) and giving yourself permission to NOT DO EVERYTHING you would prefer to do.

2) Accepting that you will NOT cover every note (or even page) you were given in class.

3) BEING OK with having looked at this, but not really that.

4) Being willing to adjust and adapt to your circumstances (whether it's one test in particular or vet school in general). You may not be able to prep the way you would prefer, but hey, what else can you do?

5) Stopping for a moment. Thinking about what you need to do. And picking 1 or 2 possible ways to get it done. And ending it with that. Make use of God's grace if you happen choose the 2 wrong ways to do it.

6) Be ready to be flexible when things come to your attention, but DONT be "tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by everywind of teaching" (Eph 4:14). - yeah, i know this wasnt used in the right context, but it sounded right so I went with it.

7) God know's youre not perfect like He is, and He doesnt want you to even try to be. He just want's you to DO WHAT YOU CAN. And leave the rest to Him.

PS: Remember, YOUR level of "SUCCESS" is not always going to be an accurate reflexion of YOUR BEST EFFORTS. In most cases, I think they are. But in the vet school setting, I would say that there is room for exceptions.

In vet school, it's ok for YOUR BEST to simply be YOUR BEST and not necessarilly your PICTURE PERFECT VERSION OF "SUCCESS". Learn to let yourself NOT BE PERFECT ALL THE TIME. Because we really aren't.

Adam facts

It's funny how you never stop learning things about yourself.

Lesson 1)

Im really good about going the whole day with my fly down and not realizing it until everyone else in my day has had a chance to see it first.

Lesson 2)

I will never have a comfortable walk-through experience with a Walmart greeter.

“The Message of Jesus” – Andy Stanley (North Point Ministries)

“The Message of Jesus” – Andy Stanley (North Point Ministries)

The Calling of Matthew

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?”

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

(Matthew 9:9:12 – NIV)

Melts in your mouth!

Seriously. If this is the message of Christ, are you truly living it out? Or do you call the shots when it comes to showing others the way to follow Christ?

This is the Jesus that people need to see more often--especially today!

If you're living out your faith any other way than what you saw above, you probably need to step back and reevaluate whether or not your doing anything productive with your faith these days..

Sometimes God takes your CheeChay...

I noticed a little something a couple of days ago that I thought was worth mentioning.

Some of my family got together recently for Christmas. My 2ish year old niece was one of the ones there. This is only her 2nd Christmas, but she's got a good handle on what happens around this time of year--everyone she knows brings her a pwesent.

Well Olivia definitely got some presents that day. One of them was a miniature horse doll type of thing. It was just like the real thing, except for the fact that it was small (like the size of a beagle), and made of plastic... no circulatory system... or bones... or soft tissue parts. It was a doll, so... it did have really soft hair though. Anyway, this horse doll also came with its very own saddle and blanket, a saddlebag, a halter, a hair brush, and a carrot. So needless to say, this horse doll was pretty much the coolest thing made.

Olivia's equine (that's horse) awareness recently blossomed ever since she rode one of our real horses (named TJ) at the house one day. This horse has everything--circulatory system, bones, plenty of soft tissue, and nice gut sounds. So needless to say, after the wrapping paper was ripped away, Olivia immediately saw what she thought was TJ now standing in the living room waiting to be saddled up and ridden between the couches.

There was one problem though. This doll was never made for riding. In fact, soon after Olivia hopped onto the toy horse (even after we told her to hold off on that), the legs started bending in ways they were never intended to bend due to Olivia's body weight. We told her to back off the horse and not to try to ride it. This was for petting and stuff.

This was where my "lets over analyze a tiny kid's thought process" skills came into play. At this point, I noticed Olivia was dead set on riding that toy horse even though we specifically told her she couldn't do it.

And why shouldn't she be able to ride this horse? It was her gift after all. We gave it to her and said, "Hey you! Yeah, you! Little tiny kid! Here is a miniature version of that big black horse we taught you to ride several weeks ago. Ya know? The one that you sat on that day at that place with the people? With those hats and stuff?"

Can you imagine what was going through that kid's mind as we barked these new and unexpected rules at her? Maybe something like this:

My sis: Look Oli! It's TJ!!

Olivia: Shweet! It's CheeChay!! Just like da big CheeChay, except tiny size CheeChay!!

My sis: Isn't that neat Oli? Your very own little TJ!!

Olivia: Mmm...kool-aid. I ride CheeChay!!

My sis: Put his saddle on him!!

Olivia: Mine! I ride it! cheeechay shhishca bennspaddle bine!

Me: Kid, we can't understand you!

My sis: Adam, be quiet!

Me: I think she's gonna try to ride it...

At this point in time, everyone is watching Olivia because she's cute and stuff. Everyone in the room is on the edge of their seat, watching everything she's doing and is about to do with the tiny horse doll. Surely she has something nice and babyish cooked up to amuse us all.

Well, what does she do?

Olivia: CheeChay! I ride it!

Me: What is she sayin?

Dad: Up... looks like the legs on that doll are bending the wrong way.

Sis: Olivia, get off the horse!

Who is right in this whole anyway?

We gave Olivia a new toy to enjoy and play with. It was intended to be hers.

On the other hand, we can see that Olivia isn't using her new gift the right way. She ruining it, and she doesn't even see it.

So... what is the most appropriate action? If she has been informed over and over again, and she still refuses (whether she realizes it or not) to heed our warnings, we need to take it from her until she understands how to use her new gift properly--the way it was intended to be used.

Sure, we could spare her the disappointment by allowing her to do what she wants with her new doll. After all, her mind is clearly registering her current activity (riding the doll) as FUN, therefore, the gift is serving it's purpose. Why can't she continue to do with it what she feels is utilizing it in the manner in which it was intended?

The answer is common sense!! She's going to COMPLETELY RUIN it! Sure, she's having a good time now, but what kind of parent would sit back and watch their child do something that would cause them sadness in the end? The parent provides the gift for the purpose of watching their child get out it what was intended--nothing less.

What would happen is this: She would get on top of the horse and have a great time. But as I sat and watch it all unfold, I can definitely tell you that her time of fun would have lasted no more than 10 minutes. After those 10 minutes of bliss, Olivia would soon find herself sad and without. And we just sat back and watched it unfold. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the flaw in this parenting methodology.

So here's why I said all that.

If it's common sense for the parent to spare the child a long term loss rather than an short term loss, why is it so hard to wrap our minds around the idea of a loving God doing the same for us? He is the epitome of love. He loves like nothing else in creation. How much more is he going to look out for the long term happiness of His most prized creation (people)?

We don't understand why we had to lose that certain romance that we "just knew" was right for us. We don't understand why we were denied a chance to attend that one certain college we always wanted attend. We can't see the ultimate purpose in losing that certain loved one.

We can't see all these things. And when we lose them, it hurts us. But to keep our ultimate happiness intact, God takes away certain things (or maybe even throws something else into the mix). Either way, we need to understand this concept: God knows what He's doing. We need to always remember that He will always give us the ABSOLUTE BEST, even if we can't see it at that exact moment.

Romans 11

³³Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
³⁴"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
³⁵"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Dang this was long...

Comments or critiques?