Habakkuk 3:17-19

For those of you who are not aware of this...finding a job is really, really hard these days. I have just started my job hunt (and by just started, I mean I've been typing "dietitian jobs in Iowa" into a search engine for countless months, but now I'm actually looking at what they're asking for in applications and filling them out!),  and it is already 102398228376 times more stressful than I originally thought. Senior year of high school, I was told that "the world will always need dietitians", so I thought since I was interested in nutrition, this would be the career for me! I still wholeheartedly believe that, and I know full well that the world will always need dietitians, but there need to be jobs available for these RD hopefuls!

Following a few days of research, "getting my feelers out there", sending a few job applications out, and finding out that my dream job in my dream location can't be funded right now, I had a minor breakdown. Josh and I have many late-night talks about what we hope to be someday, dream up our perfect lives with our imaginary children, talk about what we would do if we ever won the lottery...you know, normal stuff. A few of these nights (maybe more than a few if you ask Josh) have slowly melded into "what-if" discussions, though, too. Like what if our kids grow up and tell us they think we're weird? or What if we have to live in apartments for more than another year? or What if we NEVER WIN THE LOTTERY!? 

But our discussion last night was full of worry about what if I can't find a job in dietetics in Iowa? Or what if I get a job, but it's in Dubuque and we just signed a lease for an apartment in Iowa City? Or what if Josh's job is always in a different area than mine and if we want to live together, we can never both have a job we like? Or why would I make him quit his job so I can follow my dream, but at the same time I ask him to sacrifice his? 

Worry, worry worry. I'll admit, I got teary-eyed. He told me that no matter what happened, we would have each other, and that's better than a job anyway. Of course, our relationship is more important than a career. I will say that forever. Still, I can't help but worry that all I'll never be able to be the dietitian I want to be. I was all set to turn out the light and pout silently to myself, when I remembered that we hadn't read our devotion story of the night. 

Devotions started for Josh and I over a winter break a few years ago. It was our "New Year's Resolution" that we stole (unbeknownst to them) from his sister and her husband. He said when he was in high school, he remembered that Michelle and Aaron always read devotions before bed and would say goodnight. I thought it was an awesome idea, since both Josh and I value faith and wanted that to be number one in our relationship. So we went with it! We read our "bedtime story" either over the phone or in person almost every single night for the whole year (even when I was in Alaska!). But once the year ended, the book ended, and we couldn't find one that we liked until recently.

My best friend's sister in law has been posting pictures of the devotion book that she has been reading. Every time she posts anything, it seems to apply personally to her life. I found out which book she had and decided to start our bedtime story tradition again.

So back to me pouting. I opened up our Nook, and immediately started smiling. Here's what it said:

You are feeling weighed down by a plethora of problems, both big and small. They seem to require more and more of your attention, but you must not give in to those demands. When the difficulties in your life feel as if they're closing in on you, break free by spending quality time with Me. You need to remember who I AM In all My Power and Glory. Then, humbly bring Me your prayers and petitions. Your problems will pale when you view them in the Light of My Presence. you can learn to be joyful in Me, your Savior, even in the midst of adverse circumstances. Rely on Me, your Strength; I make your feet like the feet of a deer, enabling you to go on the heights.

And the scripture after that:

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Like every other good and perfect thing that has happened in my life, I need to bring this job hunt before God. I prayed daily for the internship to Alaska, my internship at Iowa, my future husband, and so many other things that the Lord has provided. (Random side story, but I once prayed for my 8th grade boyfriend to hit a home run in a baseball game, and it happened! The poor kid was--let's say...better at football than baseball-- but as a result of two errors, and the fact that he was a super fast runner, he got that home run!!! Coincidence?? I think NOT!)

All joking aside, I am so thankful that God uses so many people to bring me back to Him when I have wandered astray, and when I have forgotten how important our alone time is. And who knows, maybe someone reading this post (if anyone even does) needed to hear how God is on the move, and it will lead them to spend more time with God. All I know is I am so thankful for a God who loves me all the time, and for all the people he has placed in my life to remind me when I forget.

Thirsty for more?! Loving this song right now:

Special Project(s)

For the past few weeks, I have been working on different projects in my internship--apart from clinical, management, and community rotations. The projects were assigned to us by one of our internship directors, Bridget. I was on a team with two other interns, Cindy and Amy, and we were told that we had to complete four tasks in two weeks:

• Create a handout for patients who have a sodium or potassium restriction. Patients are put on these restrictions for a number of different reasons, and find it difficult to order off the menu when they do not know how much sodium or potassium are in certain items. The handout was supposed to make this process easier for the patient, and for the call center employees who take their order.
• Enter values for missing nutritional components in CBORD. CBORD is a computer database where all information about food items and recipes is stored. Most items are linked to a nutrient profile on the USDA website, but some had to be entered in manually. Because the hospital has signed on to Michelle Obama's Partnership for Healthier America, it has to prove that we are abiding by certain guidelines. Those guidelines state that trans fat should not be existent in at least 60% of food items by the year 2015. However, with the food items that were entered in manually, most did not contain values for trans fat. Therefore, a day and a half was spent looking on food labels and on our food distributor's website to find these values. You'll be happy to know that most did not contain any trans fat :)
• Re-evaluate the current in-room dining system and request changes, if necessary. Bridget told us that the management staff was hoping to open the in-room dining menu to make it the same as the already existing patient menu. In addition, they wanted to know if it would be cost-effective to offer this service to all guests of patients. We found that financially-speaking, this was likely a possibility. Logistically, it would be difficult in terms of space, work load for current employees, and the need for a larger work force in order to make this possible. We put together a presentation and get to show it to Doug and Bridget tomorrow afternoon.
• Make instructional videos. We made two videos: Coumadin and Your Diet and Ordering from A La Carte. We wrote, acted, directed, and edited these videos--and I am pretty positive they are obviously done by amateurs--but the point is...we did our best! We even made a Blooper video, which was the best part of all. (The point of me writing all this was originally to upload the blooper video, but it doesn't work because of the type of file :( Sorry!)

Overall, we had a very productive week. We were able to complete all our assigned tasks rather quickly and for the most part, had a lot of fun doing so!