Rachel’s Blog

Post 1- January 28

I’m typing this first blog entry at cruising altitude on my last residency interview flight.  Tony (my husband of eight years) keeps asking if I am excited about my departure for PNG in three days, but, honestly, things have been so busy that I haven’t had time to get excited.  So, now that my anesthesia exam is taken, my international medicine test is done, my things are laid out and ready to pack, I find my mind beginning to clear and my anticipation beginning to mount.  I have not been out of the country for a mission trip for over two years because of medical school, so I am really looking forward to exploring a new area of the world.  This will be the farthest from home I’ve ever been, and the long flight will definitely be an adventure!  Most of all, I am looking forward to the opportunity to learn about a new culture, meet new people, and learn more about tropical medicine by working in a local hospital.  I hope that God is able to use me on this trip, although I have always found that I am blessed just as much, if not more, by the people that I meet.  My local pastor frequently uses a great quote from John Wesley (the founder of the Methodist Church) that I think are great words to live by every day, which I have included below.  Thank you all for your prayers, particularly as I travel. 

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” –John Wesley