Fall

Fall, I'm feeling like the weather has finally broke and that Fall is going to stick around for a while. I just love fall. The feel, the smell, the sights. I feel like so many good things in my life have happened in the fall, so many good times. I'm sitting here in jeans, and a sweater studying for my A&P test with the windows open and listening to Jared Campbell, its just wonderful. There is a nice, light breeze blowing in the smells of a fireplace burning (one of my FAVORITE smells). Its just a good feeling, and good feelings are always a nice way to start a day. The only thing missing is a mug of hot chocolate or something. Yum.

Have a great day!

Well Hello

So it has definitely been awhile since my last post. My apologies for that. School has been treating me well so far. This semester has defiantly been different than last year, and I think that is a good thing. I have made so many new friends, and I just feel like I've branched out more. I love my old friends still, and it does make me sad that I don't see them as much as I'd like, but its okay. I've realized that my fears of not finding a "group" to be apart of once the seniors graduate this year have gone. I have found my group, and thats comforting. Its really cool to have a group of peers that share similar, yet different beliefs, and be able to have conversations/arguments about religion and things, and walk away being closer with them. This year is going to be different. Its going to be good. I can feel it.

So...You're An Ambulance Driver?

That is the question that I have gotten so tired of hearing.

Yea, I drive an ambulance. On a normal shift I take atleast 1 nap and drive over 200 miles. Sometimes I even get to go to playgrounds and parades, or even fairs. I get to drive fast and run red lights and stop signs every now and again. I get to go shopping and hang out at malls and stores, I even get to joke around and nearly pee my pants laughing. The kind of service I work for has me driving you're old decrepit ass around town, all at the expense of your insurance/medicare/medicaid provider who pays my 11 dollar an hour wages.

However, I don't just do the above mentioned activites. I love my job. I love being able to help someone who cannot help themselves. I enjoy that once in a blue moon occurrence of a true emergency call. I like helping nurses figure out why our patient's PO2 is so low when there isn't prior respiratory issues. Its fun to use my brain to get a 33 inch wide stretcher through a 32 inch wide door. I cherish when my patient looks me in the eyes and thanks me, or shakes my hand, or hugs me. And most of all, I like learning something new every time I go to work.

It's not like I just applied for this job and *bam* I got it. No, it doesn't work like that. To even get my EMT license I had to give up Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7-10pm for 6 months of senior year of high school. I had to tell friends that I couldn't hang out with them. It changed me, it changed the way I think and the way I look at things. I had to sacrifice a lot of things, many of which were social, just to get to the point I'm at today. Now this isn't a pitty party, its a plea. Next time I tell you that I just got off work and am really too tired to do anything, just take my word for it and please don't give me a guilt trip. You don't know what I've had to do at work. You don't know that I've had to drive lights and sirens against traffic from God's country just so I can get a very sick man to a higher level of care, with his wife in the passenger seat and his daughter in the back. You don't know that I've had to deal with stupid nurses and even dumber dispatchers all day. You don't know that I worked through lunch just so my patient wasn't left alone on the stretcher in the ER. You don't know, you simply don't. And you know what? It's okay. I don't expect you to. But please, just don't get on my back about canceling plans, or taking a raincheck. I know that me staying home isn't going to ruin your day, so please don't act like it. There will be other days and other plans, just please be patient and take me for my word.

Sincerely,
Scott L, EMT-B
AKA "Ambulance Driver"

Ugh

I hate summer colds. I feel like crap. Work tomorrow 9-5. Peace.

Point of View

The past 2 shifts at work I've had the privilege of having the same partner each time. Although we share different religious views, we have had some awesome religious conversations, and have had similar life experiences. Not to mention that we work well together. Well yesterday we had this one lady who was blind in one eye from having to escape from a house fire through a window, and the flames took her vision. She is a heavier lady, has many medical problems, the majority of which are rare. But as I was talking to her, she mentioned how blessed that she feels. She said that kids these days are getting themselves into so much trouble and things, that she is so glad that the 5 kids she has between her and her husband turned out well. They have steady jobs and great spouses and children. And it really just made me take a look at my own life and see how blessed I am. It opened my eyes to see that I really have nothing to be complaining about.

And as for my partner, just the conversations we've been able to have between the 24 hours total we've worked together are amazing. Its crazy how when you spend 12 hours sitting in an automobile with someone, how much you can open up to one another. And he said that the more he learns about Christianity and God, that the more he wants to believe again. So I'm prayerful about the conversations that we may have in the future. We're supposed to go shooting sometime, so we'll see what God has planned for this friendship.

Tonight I still need to pack for Rockbridge. I'm so nervous and unprepared. This trip is so disorganized on so many levels, that I can't begin to describe. The kids are awesome and I'm psyched to go to camp, I'm just worried that I'm going to muck things up being a leader. I don't think that I'll be terrible, but it'll be a trial by fire for sure. So please, just pray for me and the kids I'm taking to camp.

<3 2 <3

My days lately have been filled with exciting expeditions in Newark, DE, and Elkton, MD. Including random trips to awesome playgrounds and many ghetto parks and some nice marinas. From people with fried fish stuck in their ears who need to go to the ER, to sweet old ladies who just need to go home...I really love my job.

The Best Month Ever.

So where to begin. Ever since school let out, I've been basically going non-stop until now. I was home for only a week before I left for North Carolina and for Windy Gap which I called "home" for a month. I can't even put into words everything that happened in that month. If you want a full run down of what happened, just ask. But it feels wrong to put it into writing because I don't feel like I can do it justice that way. I don't feel like I came home the same person that I started as, and that is okay because that is something that I asked God to do. I took the past month to grow in my faith and to really get away from the distractions and temptations of home and to just allow God to change me into the man that he wants me to be. 

The first week we were there was so long and exhausting I was sure that the next 3 would just kill me. But after I got through the first week, I was so excited for the weeks to come. The first week, we had a Capernaum group come and they were so inspiring. Young Life Capernaum is for mentally and physically disabled kids and they go to camp at the same time as the able-bodied kids and do most of the same things, even the ropes course, zip-line, swing, slide, and Nascarts. Just seeing their leaders interact with them and watching the able-bodied campers just really start loving on them towards the end of the week, and really seeing past their disabilities was just awesome. One of our Summer Staff bosses, Coop, has cerebral palsy and throughout the month he just really opened our eyes and hearts and allowed us to see past the disability and see Gods creation that is underneath. 

At the start of week 3, one of our lifeguards, Ben, cut his foot on a rock in the lake and had to get 4 stitches. That put us down to 2 lifeguards (we're supposed to have 4, but only had 3 plus Jen who acted as a "harbor master" and could only rotate to 2 of the 4 positions) and we had our biggest group of 400 campers and the rowdiest. Well during the time when Summer Staff ate lunch, the pool was the only thing open for the kids, and I was on the stand for that hour. It was one of the hardest and most frustrating hours of life guarding that I have had in my 3 years. After I got down from the chair, I had to eat lunch out back of the dining hall b/c there wasn't any room in the dining hall for me and as I was out back, I just reached my breaking point. I was so angry and frustrated and burnt out that I just cried a bit and then prayed a lot. And after that mini-meltdown I felt calm. I later talked to Andrew one of the Summer Staff coordinators and he told me that the only way that God can change us into what He wants us to be, is if we're broken. If we're not broken then we're not really ready to change, and that when I broke down that afternoon, it was so that God can finally change me. That was one of the really defining moments of the month. I really feel more secure in my faith now and realize that we cannot do anything by ourselves and that we should turn to prayer for everything. 

The last thing that I'll mention was the night of camp. Andrew and Bethany are from Florida and have been dating for 2 years. Andrew goes to the Naval Academy in Annapolis and Bethany is still in Florida going to school. Well they both came to camp and I really got to see what a Christian couple is supposed to look like. Andrew is such a godly person and they just have the kind of relationship where you know that God is at the center of it and that they're meant to be together. I'll let Bethany tell the story from here:

"On our last night of Summer Staff at Windy Gap, a Young Life camp in North Carolina, Andrew proposed. I knew it was probably going to happen sometime this summer but knew that it would definitely not happen at camp, which was what I was secretly hoping for. I specifically remember telling a handful of people how amazing it would be if that happened at Windy Gap, but knew that he didn’t have a ring or had no way of getting one while we were there so I wasn’t expecting it. He started planning it during the first of four weeks we spent volunteering together there. He called his parents the end of week two and they shipped the ring to camp, he called my dad for permission the end of week three, and worked out all the details throughout the whole month. 

Saturday night, June 21st, after all the campers left we had an all camp meeting. He showed up late for it in the nicest clothes he brought with him. I thought that was strange and when I asked he said it was the only clean outfit he had left, which made sense. During the meeting he said that we should go for a walk up the hill, the one where we would hang out and talk every day, so we could have some quality time together before the night got crazy. I thought that was a little strange as well, because we hadn’t been told the plans for the night yet so I wondered how he knew that it would be okay for us to go off on our own and that we weren’t doing something else. I started to get suspicious when he was so persistent that I find a place to put my backpack down. After the fourth time he asked me to put my bag down I gave in and walked towards the leader’s lounge, which was where all of our bags and blankets and pillows were being stored for the night. Once I got there, I saw Laura and Kelsey, two of my dear friends from this month, and told them I thought something was up and they played it off so well. I walked away feeling so silly, like, “what if it doesn’t happen and I see them again in ten minutes, this was no big deal we really did just go on the hill and talk and I got bent out of shape for nothing. I’m going to feel like such an idiot…”

So after my wonderful friends managed not to blow it, I came back outside and met Andrew at the bottom of the hill. I was expecting it to happen then, so when we got up the hill and really did just walk around and sit and talk for a few minutes I was a little disappointed. I told him that he got my hopes up because he was acting funny and I thought he was going to propose. He was so calm cool and collected and said he could see how I would think that, he was sorry that I was disappointed, but that he really did just want to talk for a few minutes by ourselves before we hung out with the group for the night. After we were on the hill for about ten minutes (looking back I remember he looked at his watch an awful lot) we walked back down to meet everyone. I kept thinking about how silly it was for me to think he would propose then, especially since I knew he didn’t have a ring or any way of getting one (He got me good).

So, In the center of camp there is a small lake with an island in the middle of it that extends from the snack shop porch. The plan for the night was to meet there at the snack shop and get free drinks and food and just enjoy each other and have a little party. So as we are walking through camp I was wondering where everyone was and why it was so quiet, and when we got closer to the island I saw a few of our friends holding tiki torches and candles around the lake close to the stairs we were using. Then I heard Ryan Long, the musical guest for the month, singing and thought he was doing some sort of special concert for us and we were late for it. Our friend Tyler was closest to us while we were walking by and I asked him what was going on and he had the hugest smile on his face and said absolutely nothing. Andrew immediately pulled me away from him so we could keep walking towards the island. A few seconds later I saw all of our summer staff friends with tiki torches and candles spread across the entire lake. It hit me when we actually started to walk on the island and I realized what song Ryan was playing, it’s a beautiful love song called Changing Me that he wrote for his wife. It was all so wonderful and so perfect! It all happened so fast from there. When we got on the island he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him and of course I said yes! He slipped the ring on my finger and then all of our great new friends rushed over to congratulate us. The fact that Ryan Long agreed to sing was incredible to me because he has been my favorite musician for six years, since the first time I heard him play at a Young Life camp. I just couldn't believe he agreed to do something so special for us...

We probably hugged 500 times in 10 minutes and after all that hugging we got the go ahead from the crowd that it was okay to “make purple” and kiss (boys are blue, girls are pink, and at Young Life camp it is stressed heavily that there’s no “purple” at camp). Ryan Long continued to play the love songs of his that Andrew requested, Changing Me, Faithful Man, and Mine (and yes, he is on i-tunes so you should download them). During Ryan’s song Mine, we went towards the edge of the island to listen and when the song was over, our good friend Ben hollered to Andrew, “who’s is she?” and he yelled right back, “Mine!” After we were done mingling on the island we actually did go into the snack shop for a party, but it was our engagement party. We were toasted with Welch’s sparkling grape juice by our friends and summer staff coordinators and had an amazing time! Then the empty glass bottle was used to store messages from everyone in (which we read tonight and they were incredibly sweet, so thank you guys!) It was such a fairytale and I couldn’t believe, and still can’t believe, that we are engaged! 

It couldn’t have been more perfect and I’m so surprised how everything came together so flawlessly.The effort and thought that went into it was so special and seriously, it couldn’t have been any better. It was the best proposal ever imaginable and I am so incredibly happy to be engaged to such a wonderful man, the love of my life, and the person I couldn’t be happier to spend the rest of my life with. I love you more than yesterday but less than tomorrow forever and always, Andrew James Lee. 

Thank you to everyone who played a part in such a special night in our lives. Earlier that day playing frisbee golf at camp, we were all sad to leave and someone said it was the worst day ever. I heard Andrew yell right away that it was the best day of his life, of course I rolled my eyes not knowing what was to come, but it really was the best day of my life up until now. We loved having everyone be such a big part of that for us. And thank you to all of our wonderful, supportive, and encouraging friends and family who have been with us all along. You guys are great! Be prepared for June of 2010. =)"

I just feel so blessed that I was able to be a part of such a beautiful proposal and cannot wait to June 2010 : )  Well thats it for now, I'm excited to see everyone again and hangout with ya'll!

Later.