So the results are in, and this fabulous dental hygiene trio won the costume contest at the Career I ( my old Sunday School class) Halloween party. Britt is far left in the Colgate Plus White toothpaste costume. My friend Zach is chillin as a homemade (yep, he literally constructed this beast, with a shoulder harness and all!) Oral B toothbrush. And I am the lovely box of floss on the right. If you look closely, you can see that I have a hinged flip top, floss, and the floss cutter attached to my costume (all compliments of the Zach Cordell creativity institute) . We had so much fun. There were some other great costumes...such as the lovely and literal Hawaiian honeymoon couple (Meg and Matt). Don't get scared, they didn't gain any weight (it's just a costume!). lol. Maybe some of you guys remember "happy trees" on PBS by my buddy Bob Ross. Well, my friend Clark paid a remarkable tribute to him. Clark, by the way, is our resident CPA and karaoke star. He's hilarious! Karaoke is a waste without this man on board. Clark actually one second place in the costume contest.
Natalie, my other roommate and running buddy and her boyfriend Brad came as...can you tell? Look at him first, then see if it comes to you. He's an outlet, and she's a plug! See the electrical cord? How funny is this? These two are so much fun. They both are playful and somewhat hyperactive. Never a dull moment...

Renewed and refreshed, I return to the daily grind after my fall break spent in Huntingdon with fam and friends. It's always such a good time getting to see all my immediate family (of eight between two households) and most of my extended. Since I've grown enough to glimpse their value, I always get hit with overwhelming gratitude to God for how many amazing people He surrounded me with as I was growing up. It's so rare these days to have biological and step-families love the children with the same furvor and intensity. I know it exists. I have it. I don't deserve it, though. They offer so much to learn from: work ethic, self-sacrifice for a greater good, wisdom-both general and spiritual, and unconditional love. I have a lot to live up to. But God is definitely big enough to pour life and love out of this broken vessel.

Switching gears...I got to watch Huntingdon thump Gibson County in high school football. It was nice to be for a team that shows up and plays like they know what's up (unlike TN). I was so proud of the boys. It was also a great opportunity to run into old friends. And on Saturday I watched the Union girls' soccer team play. Daron, one of my sisters, is on the team. She's had a lot of trouble with her calves. There's a pain of unknown origin keeping her from being able to play her best. It's really frustrating because they've tried a couple things already. She's a trooper, though. I'm very proud of her, as well as of all my siblings. I don't know that I worded that right, but hopefully you get the picture.

Things in general are good, fast-paced, but I'm surviving. This past week, after Bible study on Wednesday night, God started showing me a lot of areas in my life He wants me to let Him integrate. This has been one of those great growth experiences where each step brings a sweet freedom with it. He's blessed me with the understanding that He still wants to make God-sized changes in me. Our Bible study, The Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee has been rocking our faces off. He talks about four lies that Satan gets us to believe, and then four truths from God's Word that combat the deception. One of the truths is that because of the Holy Spirit's work of regeneration, we are no longer bound to our past, whether it's good or bad. Our identity lies solely in Christ's love, sacrifice, and redemption. So if we allow anything else to define our self worth, we are being deceived and living less than the fullest possible. It's really freeing to think that I can wake up tomorrow and (because of the power of Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead) be loving and compassionate to those whose path I cross. Those who know me know that's not always natural for me. But God's big enough.

So I'm studying...and stressing. I had to head to Nashville for some pharmacy meetings this week, despite two major tests that are looming. So now it's crunchtime. The meetings went well. It's always good to build relationships with successful practitioners so I can envision how pharmacy should be practiced post-educationally. It also assures me that I picked a great career. Things are busy, but rolling steadily along. No nervous breakdowns yet in the year of the ASP presidency. God has been faithful (for some reason I still get surprised by this) in molding and shaping me in leadership as well as providing me the flexibility I need in times of crisis to maintain sanity. Living with my girls here in Memphis is still a blast, and I love it. It's not really conducive to the academic life, but I manage. Teaching the freshman girls of a private high school here for Sunday School is great. I'm really enjoying getting to know them and hopefully impart some Biblical wisdom. If nothing else, I want them to have a Christian influence who loves them, knows what's best for them, but isn't hounding them as a parent would. I still love Germantown Baptist and will miss it dearly when I move to Nashville next year. When I was driving in for the meeting on Wednesday night, I started getting super excited about my new life there come May. I like newness and big changes for the most part, and I eagerly anticipate this one. And not just because it means I'll be done with the didactic portion of my education. I'll sorely miss my homies here in M-town, but God is faithful. I was praying for my future church home and group of friends in Nashville on my way back to Memphis today and was overwhelmed with a sense of assurance from God. Here I am busting out into tears on I-40 about feeling God let me know that He's got it all worked out (psalm 139:16), and that it's gonna be awesome. I'm excited. Now about therapeutics and kinetics...