Coming to the end...or the begining?

Can you believe it? Five whole years. Well actually much more than that, isn't it? More like k-10 in Killeen, two years at TAMS, two years at Texas A&M University, and 5 years at UTMB Galveston. Total: 20 years. That's right, a 20 year investment in my education, not to mention the 10,000 times that in student loans I owe the government. And here it ends, on Saturday, June 4th at 10:00 AM. Crazy!!

Or begins? Now that I have this awesome degree (two actually- MD and MPH), what will I do next? I've got to use it for something, right?

Well, I haven't got a long term plan quite yet. Hard to believe. Here I am at the end of a 20 year enterprise and I'm left with so many questions, it feels like more questions than answers. Life has certainly brought some changes. Instead of completing my MD in four years I extended it to 5 and tacked on a Masters in Public Health. Why? I wanted to explore the world of global health and learn how to make a bigger impact on the world than traditional medical training would allow. And now, instead of continuing on to residency (which is the normal progression for most medical doctors), I am pursuing a research fellowship in global health.

What does that mean, you ask? It means a lot of things. It means I'm going back to Kenya again (yeah!!!). My first trip for the year is June 12th- July 1st, but I hope to go back a couple of more times. I'll be working with the HIV project at Kijabe Hospital, researching how and why people get lost to follow up or have trouble starting HIV care. Hopefully this will help us do a better job at taking care of people with HIV.

I will reapply for residency this year and hopefully match in Family Medicine, but where? Still thinking and praying about that one. Travis will start looking for a job in neonatalology now as well. He graduates from fellowship next June (2012).

Post residency: we want to pay off our loans, raise a family (got a good start on that one!), move overseas, and change the world. Really? Yes. How? I have no idea.

So that sums it up! A lot of dreams piled into this one special day, June 4th, 2011. Praise God for all that He has done, and all that He will do.

I'm graduating Medical School! View my graduation announcement here.

Officially and delightfully engaged

Travis and I wanted to get married before I graduated, and the only time that worked for both of our families was March! So we had to get cracking and let all of our friends know about our plans. However, one thing was really starting to get to us- we did not have a ring or official engagement!

I have been in Alpine Texas for the past month. Alpine is a beautiful city near the entrance to Big Bend National park. About half-way through my rural family medicine rotation, Travis drove out to visit me. He told me about a week before he came that I should be prepared, he would not have the engagement ring. It would not be ready by the time he drove out to see me. Well, I was hoping he would bring it then, how romantic would that be? So I was glad he told me he wouldn't have it so I wouldn't be disappointed.

My preceptor game me Friday off so Travis and I had a three day weekend. We spent Friday in Fort Davis, first horse back riding, followed by a nice dinner at a historic hotel, then the Star Party at the McDonald Observatory. That was Travis' first time to see the Milky Way! It was a beautiful, cold, clear night.

The next morning we got coffee and home made chocolate croissants from the farmers market, and headed off to Big Bend. We borrowed gear to camp out there. After setting up the camp site we started on our first day hike on the Window Trail. Neither of us knew what the window was. Along the way, we would see some rock structure or other and say, "Is that the Window"? But if you've ever done that hike, then you know that there is no mistaking The Window when you see it!

We made it to the window an hour before sunset- what an incredible sight! Above us the towering canyon walls, below us the slippery and abrupt drop down the edge of the cliff. The window was a 6 foot wide view of the entire valley and mountains west of the Chisos Basin. The wind coming through the window was deafening. You know that in a moderate rain, we would be standing at the start of a waterfall.

There, in that beautiful place, Travis turned away from the scenery to face me. He prefaced what he was about to say with "I will not make it a practice to misrepresent the truth to you, but I wanted to preserve at least a little of the surprise", and he got down on one knee to ask for my hand in marriage.

As he faced me, he blocked the wind and I could hear him perfectly. When he he knelt before me, the wind hit my face and blew the tears off my cheeks. I remembered how in college God spoke to me with a blast of wind in my face, telling me that He loved me and that I am special to Him.

Then Travis stood up and the wind stopped and it became completely silent. And I remember how Elijah went to the mountain to meet with the Lord, and the Lord's voice was not in the violent wind or the earth quake or the fire, but still and small. (1 Kings 19) We prayed together in that place that God would open our hearts and that we would always hear Him and walk with Him.

The Window at Big Bend will always be a special place for us.