14 days left and still a lot to do, but reflect I will. I think that I (only though the power of God) have handled the first year of dental school fairly well. (1 minor meltdown, only a handful of pseudo-all-nighters, and the lining of my stomach is still intact! - the extra gray hairs and wrinkles are, however evident) There will always be things I could have done better, lessons I could have learned faster, or more I could have done, but what has happened brought God glory in many ways, taught me lessons in a lot of ways, and laid the foundation for the future. That is productive. Right now, it's really tempting to think about the summer and all the things I want to do that I was really bad at during school...like exercise, and quiet times, and Bible study, and cleaning, and hobbies, and just plain fun times with Erik. I really want those things to become such a part of my life in my time off that I can't as easily neglect them during my "piece of cake", "joke" of a 2nd year. I'm excited for the 1st years coming in and LOVE answering their questions on SDN and can't wait for orientation week in August. It's such and exciting time that fades all too quickly, but I can't wait to get a buzz off it. Ya know, get excited about dentistry again - at least in that fresh, unadulterated, naive way they still look at it. How soon reality sets in. Apart from the cyinicism that unfortunately befalls most of us post year one, I still am excited about how God can use dentistry in my life and the mission trip completely instilled that in me again. I feel that our decision to wait for kids so I can be obedient to this using of my talents is still worth it and the 3 more years it will take to finish this stage will fly by just as fast as this one has. I know that God will teach me everything I need to know - in life and in dentistry - to see that happen. Way exciting!
