Life is good

I'm just sitting here tonight reflecting on what a blessed guy I am, and I thought I'd put a few of those thoughts down on paper... er, I mean a screen, I guess. You must forgive me, I'm sort of into lists right now. It helps me keep my day straight at the hospital, which leads me to #1 (these are in no particular order)

1. I have a job I really enjoy. Looking back, I really don't know how I ended up in medicine except that the Lord must have had a hand in it. I mean, I didn't even want to go to college for goodness' sake. The only job I had before this was in a concession stand! Now, I have just today finished my first clinical month of residency. I was on the OB service and worked a good amount of hours, but I never got sick of it. In fairness, a better test will probably be how I feel in February after not seeing the sun for a few months, but things are going really well right now. As a bonus, I've been talking to several people within the program, and it looks as though I'll be able to spend at least a month or two overseas in my 3rd year of residency -- perhaps back in Papua New Guinea!

2. I have a great family. Stephanie and Caleb are great, end of story. I wouldn't change a thing about either of them. Okay, so maybe that's not quite true, but I sure do love them both exactly as they are. I am so happy to see them at the end of a long day, and they are happy to see me. Stephanie is still pregnant, and getting bigger by the day! We are now all hopeful she can keep this up for another couple of weeks, which will significantly shorten little Thane's NICU stay.

3. I have a great family. I have really enjoyed being back in Nebraska the past couple of months with my dad, his wife, and all my brothers and sisters. I've kind of given my dad a hard time in the past about not being super involved when we were kids, but the guy did his best and loves us all, even if he doesn't always come out and say it. He and Pat have been real supportive of us and great to Caleb, and Caleb sure loves them for it. It has been so much fun hanging out with all my brothers and sisters and their kids. Now that Andrew and Brittanie are all moved in (great wedding by the way! and here's a shout out to their pastor Jonathan. What's up man!), everybody but Joe and his family are in the Omaha area. We always seem to have a fun time when we're together, and it is great for Caleb to get to know his cousins. Hey, we all know the kid needs a little more social interaction!

4. A God who loves me, and Everything else. To be quite honest, I'm getting tired, so I'll have to cut this blog a little short. I could go on and on about our good friends, a place to live, my wife's cooking (which has improved significantly in the past 6 months!), and a bunch of other stuff, but I'll spare you. One thing that amazes me more everytime I think about it, though, is the way the Lord keeps loving me and reaching out to me. He really is with us all the time, which I guess is why life looks so good and full of promise right now. Crappy stuff happens and life deals some big disappointments. I think everybody and their dog understands that. As I've mentioned in a previous blog, though, it's just really nice to know I'm not in it alone. And, if I keep my head up, I might just learn something.

Yep, I'm a lucky guy. If you'd ask just about anyone in Papua New Guinea, all of us are pretty darn lucky.

Oh, and for some icing on the cake, Nebraska beat Western Michigan on Saturday. You gotta love all the new T-shirt slogans: Bo knows football; Got Bo?; My Bo Friend's back; Boses leading us to the Promised Land. Great stuff. Go Huskers!