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Late at Night in Estes Park

Sun, 17 May 2009 05:18:01 GMT

12:46 AM - Estes Park Apartments
I was sound asleep in my bed. A vehicle clipped my brother's parked Jeep Cherokee, sending it smashing into a neighboring Mazda MX-3.

12:46:30 AM
My brother came into my room, "Stephen! Stephen! Someone just hit my car!" He caught me at the end of a sleep cycle so I got up almost as if I had not been asleep. "Call the police!" I exclaimed as I put on my sandals. We walked outside to assess the damage and wait for the police.

12:53 AM
My brother calls my stepdad. Thankfully, for him it's only 6:53 PM since he is working a contract in Hawaii.

1:10 AM
The police arrived to take pictures and gather information. One police officer informed us that there was a car in the ditch down the road. It was probably the car that hit my brother's jeep. Most of the debris in the parking lot was from the offending car. It appeared to have taken more damage. The police officer explained that the car in the ditch had broken a tie rod.

1:25 AM
The police officer wakes my neighbor up to give him a police report number for his damaged MX-3. I do some Spanish interpretation to facilitate communication between the police officer and my neighbor.

1:45 AM
Previously very sleepy, now wide awake, I began to blog about the past hour.

Free Day in Honduras

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:02:26 GMT

Our last Thursday was our free day/site-seeing day. Friday is when we flew home. I wasn't totally into the idea of a site-seeing day. At first I would have rather had another day of clinic. However, after a few days of clinic I could see where the group could use a break. I could use a break. Also, we had seen so much of the poverty and devastation. It would be good to see some of the nice things about Honduras, too. One of the nurses had a distant relative who owned coffee in Honduras (her stepmother’s cousin). He took us on a tour of the factory where we saw how they roasted the coffee and packaged it. It was a neat experience. He was also very generous in giving everyone free coffee to take home. I sampled some of the coffee in his office. I never liked coffee until I had that cup.

Another Honduras Story

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:54:48 GMT

Warning: this story might gross some of you out. All of us took a kid out to McDonald's or Pizza Hut. These kids live in houses made of metal, cardboard, and scrap wood. In one neighborhood at least one wall in each house was part of the sloping rock the house was built on. They don’t go to McDonald’s or Pizza Hut all that often. My kid had a lot of fun playing at the playground at McDonald's. Everything went pretty well until right before we got off the bus to end lunch. I asked my kid Jose what he thought about the bus ride. Then he had a bad look. His cheeks puffed up. I quickly grabbed a cup. I caught most of the throw-up, but then the cup was full. I asked the guy in front of me for a cup but he didn't have one. So I caught the rest with my hand and a happy meal box. Some also got on the seat. I guess he doesn’t like bus rides. I was glad that none of it got on our clothes. I learned that you should encourage kids to look out the window while riding the bus instead of playing with something in their laps. Also, you probably should not give them too much soda. The nursing students complimented me by noting how I didn’t freak out and said I handled it “like a nurse.”

Practicing Spanish

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:45:10 GMT

What an incredible week I just had! I just got back from an 8 day medical missions trip to Honduras. It was an interesting trip. The team was made up of pharmacists, pharmacy students, nursing students, nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, a journalism student and a few other volunteers.

It was a challenging experiencing. We split our group into two teams and went to different places. Sometimes we would go to places in the city but most of the time we went out to rural places outside the city. The conditions of the pharmacy and number of volunteers were actually better than it had been for past teams according to Dawn, the pharmacist. However, the tough part for me was that I was one of the Spanish interpreters for my team. We counseled each patient about the medication they were receiving and answered any questions they had. The first day I was mentally exhausted from thinking in Spanish so much. I didn't expect to be one of the main interpreters. I took Spanish 4 years ago and I'm not that good! However, my team needed me. It was an excellent opportunity to depend on God for strength. As the days went by I gained more confidence and skill in my Spanish ability.

Honduras Picture Links

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:33:50 GMT

Emiko and Others' Pictures

Ron's Pictures

Honduras Prayer Requests

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 02:30:22 GMT

I recently went on a medical missions trip to Honduras. Here is the list of prayer requests I sent out to a bunch of people before the trip and how God graciously answered each one.

1) That God would be glorified and the people of Honduras would know the love of Jesus through our service. Pray that God would bless our work and that we would be able to effectively treat hundreds of people.
We saw and treated over 1700 people with anti-parasitics and vitamins. Some of those people were also treated for gastrointestinal disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, pain and more. In addition, we were able to bring over 35 families a week’s worth of food and pray with them. We also provided school supplies, book bags, clothes and toys to hundreds of children.

2) Some of the people going on the trip are not Christians. Pray that they would hear and believe the gospel as we work with churches in Honduras and God gives me the boldness to share the greatest true story ever told.
Pastor Moises and the other brothers and sisters from the church were very open about their faith and prayed often. I thought that I would also get to share some with my roommates or individuals along the way. Instead, God had bigger plans. While taking a lunch break from the pharmacy, I started talking to Pastor Moises about the gospel. I told him about how I believed that the gospel wasn’t just something a nonbeliever should believe to become a Christian, but was essential for the believer, too. The gospel is the foundation of every day of the Christian’s life. We constantly need to be looking to God’s grace. Moises liked what I said and suggested that I preach in his church the next day! I agreed and for about 10 minutes I preached a message based on 1 John 4:14, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” Everyone on the team heard the gospel along with the 200+ Hondurans there in church on Sunday.

3) Health and safety of all the volunteers.
Out of the whole team of about 30 only one person missed one day, which is pretty impressive for a trip in the US, let alone a foreign country with different food and germs. Also, everyone stayed safe.

4) Everyone getting to Honduras on time with no lost bags. Our checked baggage contains all of the medications, toys and clothes for the orphanage.
No bags were lost or delayed even though we arrived in Houston late from our first plane.

5) Pray that I would be wholly dependent on God.
From having to interpret Spanish to speaking in front of hundreds of people, all my strength was from God.

Every Moment of Every Day

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:44:32 GMT

Every moment is a battle. Will I delight in God or worship an idol? Just because I had a good time connecting with God in the morning through reading the Bible and prayer does not guarantee that the afternoon will be easy. The devil and temptation do not work 9 to 5 shifts. At first I applied this discovery by not despairing in the evening if I missed my devotional time in the morning. "After all, many Christians lived for centuries without personal Bibles," I reasoned. Then I realized my error, that succumbing to sin late in the day did not mean I needed God's Word less, but that I need it more! I need God's grace every moment of every day. One of God's means of grace is His Word (broth written and preached).

"With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." -Psalm 119:10,11

A Trip Down Memory Lane (i.e. Ninth Street)

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:19:39 GMT

Recently I attended my high school reunion. It was nice to chat with friends and go to Elmo's, which was and still is one of my favorite places to eat. I have a lot of good memories from that diner, both in Durham and Carrboro. Besides catching up with some friends, the highlight of the weekend was discovering that one of my friends had a tattoo of the school's emblem on her shoulder blade. And I thought that I loved that school.

Presitigiously Out of Place

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:46:26 GMT

Tonight I went to a dinner hosted by the Pharmacy Foundation of North Carolina. The purpose of the dinner was to honor donors that have contributed to the foundation as well as to honor faculty and students. I was invited because I received a scholarship through the foundation. I opted to leave my suit jacket at home because of the hot weather and I figured I would take it off immediately upon arriving anyway. After walking in I learned that most did not take this into consideration. I felt a little under-dressed but was relieved to see a few others without jackets. Still, I felt a bit out of place.

When I saw how nice the room looked with its fancy lights and woodwork I thought, "Where am I? How did I get here?" The wait staff was plentiful, filling my water glass at least four times throughout the course of the evening. I suppose I drank a good deal of water in lieu of partaking of the open bar. More silverware and dishes were sitting on the table than I am custom to using. Thankfully I had watched enough movies and remembered some of the things my mom and sister have said about such things. I did not blunder by using the dessert fork for the salad or the salad fork for the main course. As the harpist began to play, the first course came out out. It was a tasty salad with a small crab cake on top. I should have asked the other guests what kind of dressing we had because it was good and I would like to have it again. The main course was Filet Mignon with Gorgonzola sauce served with steamed asparagus and mashed Yukon potatoes. A triple chocolate torte with half a strawberry on top provided a rich ending to the meal. I realized that to serve the approximately 190 people at the dinner must have been expensive. To say the meal was pretty nice would be an understatement, but the food was not my favorite part of the evening.

After Russell Mumper, a new professor at the school of pharmacy, gave a ten minute speech thanking the donors for providing the facilities in which we have our classes and conduct research, Dean Blouin gave some closing remarks. He related a conversation which he had with his wife:

I asked her, "If you could start over and do anything differently, would you?" Now this was a dangerous thing to ask from a husband coming home 8 or 9 o'clock at night.
    But she replied, "I wish I was a Carolina graduate."
    "Why is that?" I asked her.
    She said, "When I come to Alumni dinners and see all the people, I see a sparkle in their eyes. Their total dedication shows that there is something special going on at Carolina."

Gradually throughout the evening I had felt more comfortable as I chatted with the professor to my left and the third year student to my right. However, during Dean Blouin's talk is when I fully felt a part of what everyone in the room represented: a loyalty to UNC and a commitment to excellence. Our leaders want to be the best pharmacy school not only of the nation, but of the world. I am excited about all of the new research and education improvements going on. I hope it does not go to our heads but produces better pharmacists and improved health care to the glory of God.

Duct Tape and Shower Curtains

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:22:06 GMT

The past couple of weeks certainly have been a week of transition for me. I am just getting settled into my new apartment, Friday I finished up my last day of rotation at Chatham Hospital, today I start my new job as a computer lab manager, and tomorrow classes start.

There have been some trying turned humorous times like the morning after we moved in where I woke up to hang the shower curtain and then get ready for church. I found that although my roommate had bought a curtain, he did not have any rings nor were there any left on the rod above the bathtub. My roommate came to the rescue with a roll of duct tape in hand. He wrapped the top of the curtain over the rod and duct taped it.

Last night was a good way to start off the year. I went to Fall Fest which is a big club fair/block party minus the alcohol. They had two stages and thousands of people were there. I got to catch up with some people I haven't seen all summer; watched some breakdancing; listened to a pretty cool band called Lakeland; enjoyed bhangra; and signed up for the listserv for an environmental club that helps make hiking trails, assesses stream quality and more.