Rejection

Thank you so very much for applying and interviewing for one of nine positions on the dietary staff of Camp Hamwi 2011. There were over 60 applications. You have not been selected this year. Candidates were chosen based on food service, childcare and camp experience, as well as the way in which you conducted yourself during our 30-minute phone interview and how you answered the questions. Sincerely, Jenny Shrodes Jennifer C. Shrodes, RD, LD Diabetes Nutrition Educator

First thoughts:

I was hoping to get the position in order to beef up my resume. I know God has other plans. I know it's a growing experience. I was kinda banking on it though. As a dietetic major working where a dietitian might find themselves is a requirement. A 200 hour requirement at that. There are 3 general areas that are stressed to us: food service, community, and clinical. This one girl in my department has like 500 hours split between all three areas and she still has another year. I know I should not compare myself, but I have a lot of hours to do since I only have a whooping 0 hours now, and I only have one year left! ahh!

Second thoughts:

God is so good. I would have felt like I could go anywhere for my dietetic internship with that on my resume. I would have given all the credit to the diabetes camp experience and not God. I know, God wants my story to be inspiring like Ben Carson's. He wants my chances to be low, really low, and then he will get me into a really hard DI program. Cool. This is going to be good. I am glad they rejected me. Everything is going to be way better than I hoped for or dreamed for. Thank you Jesus.

Third thoughts:

I didn't have a chance. I probably had to be Betty Crocker, have food service experience since I was 2, have taught a food service class, have straight A's, have diabetes and have overcame it and taught classes to camp age kids while owning my own food service business that caters to diabetics...just to be considered for the job. Yeah, I shouldn't worry about it.

Fourth thoughts:

What? I can't believe I thought that (second thoughts)! that is so selfish of me to think that God is going do everything for me and my plans. Wow, I need to be humbled. I know that he wants me to be happy. He does it because he loves me and not for the sake of bettering my cause... It's all about Jesus.

Chin up, and praise God for the good in your life. Rejection happens. God is there to catch us and show us that it's not the things, or the opportunities, or the diabetes camps in life that make us who we are. We find our identity in him. Praise God.

"But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations" -Psalms 33:11

Be My Valentine?

I am so weak, and He is so strong. I am dirty, He is clean. I am broken, and He fixes me. I am ugly, He is beautiful. I am guilty, and He is innocent. We are not the same fundamentally, yet he loves me. I solve problems through seeking; He already knows the answer. I am the problem, He is the answer. I am fast passed, He is slow. I run, He walks. I go short distances, He goes long. I live, He died. We are so different, but He is all that I need and want. I am always gone, He is always there. I sometimes will, He always will. I have my conditions, He has none. I need him, He wants me. I was broke, He paid the price. I get lost, He finds me. I am the lock, He is the key. I cannot love him even near the level of love He shows me. Although, I love Him, and He loves me. I do not deserve Him. I never did. How then does this work? How can we be? If we just accept and have faith enough to trust His simple plea to our hearts, we will be more like Him. What a promise! What a man! When we find ourselves at our weakest points He lifts us up to His highest point. This love cannot be matched. We will never be able to love on the same level He loves us. How then can we stand back and question? Is it because we have never seen it done before? Are we willing to be vulnerable to Him? I am. I have heard His knock upon my heart with a voice saying:

Forever and for always would you be mine?

Bucket List: What I Want to do Before I Die

1. Follow Gods lead.
2. Fall in love, get married, and have a family.
3. Go on a long mission trip.
4. Backpack the Appellation trail.
5. Go to New York City; watch a Broadway. Walk down time square as its snowing while wearing a black p-coat, hair in curls underneath a white hat, wearing a red scarf, and acquire a red nose from the cold.
6. Run a marathon.
7. Learn how to play the bagpipes.
8. Visit Europe.
9. Visit Alaska.
10. Lead someone to Christ.
11. Dance an Irish jig.
12. To live a true authentic Christian life.
13. Road tripping across the US and seeing the national parks.
14. See a moose close up in person.
15. Have the perfect shower
    
16. First kiss in the rain
17. Take a trip down the Amazon.
18. Get lost for 2 days.
    
19. Hear a lion roar.
    
20. Cross a dangerous rope bridge.

After watching the movie Bucket List I was inspired to create my own. I really like this quote by an influential American author, teacher, and civil rights activist, Howard Thurman, when he says "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." This quote influenced me to write a list of things that I have done...

1. Swam with wild dolphins.
2. Shot a gun.
3. Slept in a canoe on a lake all night.
4. Got SCUBA certified.
5. Went skinny dipping
6. Rode in a 4-person plane with an pilot in-training.
7. Jumped off a 30ft trestle into water.
8. Spent 2 days as a refugee.
9. Got up the first time wake boarding.
10. Cut 30ft of grass with scissors.
11. Skied on a double black diamond in CO.
12. Ran a mile in 5:29.
13. Scored a goal off a header.
14. Broke my nose in 2 places at the same time.
15. Traveled to Rwanda.
16. Found a 4-leaf clover.
17. Went ice skating on our creek.
18. Stood up for my faith.
19. Swing danced at a senior citizen prom.
20. Ran across a glass bridge.

"whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. " 1 Corinthians 10:31