Summer of Good News

According to Dr. Vaughan, it’s the “Summer of Good News.” In the lab, that means that we will have good results and we can move forward. However, for the visitor aka Felicity, everything about this summer is Good News.

If you did not catch the Jesus Juke there….I mean that this summer is all the work of the Lord. God is giving me an opportunity to experience His love and to spread His word in a way that I have never done before.

However, I think a little bit of back story might be necessary for those who are new to this blog.

At the end of October of 2014, I was studying hard for the MCAT. I was that crazy kid that took physics over the summer and started studying in the midst of Organic chemistry and was going to take the test during the semester. November 7^th, 2014 was the date of the exam, and I was living and breathing MCAT prep. My resumes were prepped. My grades were great. Every journal article that could possibly be discussed in an interview was read and annotated. Nothing was going to stop me from excelling and getting in to medical school.

But as I studied, I found myself becoming more and more miserable. Less and less of me wanted to go to the hospital to shadow. The only thing I wanted to do was read journal articles and go to class. I did not care for handing patients a drug and hope that worked anymore. I did not want to be a doctor anymore.

All I had been doing for the past ten years was gone.

All of the classes.

All of the MCAT study books.

All of the shadowing.

All of the independent studying.

All of it was worthless.

After ten years of planning and working, I was without a direct path. Being a type A person, that drove me insane. Why would God let me go down the wrong path for such a long time? Why would He give me all of these resources and leave me hung up to dry? I was upset and anxious beyond belief.

So I did what I always do when I get stressed.

I talked to my residents.

Around the same time, a bunch of my residents were studying for hard biology exams and writing their first real formal lab report. Being a junior in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, it was easy for me to help them get through that week. The more that I helped them, the better I felt about myself. Each student I helped brought my heart more and more peace.

Peace in the heart is a yes from God.

Feeling that Yes, I walked to my advisor’s office and told her that my new goal was to attend graduate school to ultimately become a professor in the sciences. She was excited to say the least. My parents immediately started helping me develop a plan. My friends were so excited. Life got so much better.

It took a lot of work, but I completed at least seven REU applications. I was accepted in to UTK, but I did not feel at peace with it, even though they were the only ones to accept me in to their program.

On the last day to turn in my paperwork, I received a call from Dr. Whaley at the University of Notre Dame. They wanted to interview me to be in their program. I was smiling from ear to ear for days. My father informed me that I actually had a connection to the research that I would be conducting, and after looking in to it, I could see that the Vaughan lab offered everything that I had been looking for.

There have been a lot of growing moments in the past few months. I have grown up a lot, and I have learned a lot. But what I have learned the most is that God really does have our backs.

He will open every door that you need.

I could not imagine spending my summer doing anything else. Being here at the University of Notre Dame has helped me see that my vocation to serve others is possible, even without medicine. Instead of being miserable as I study all day, I am excited. Every opportunity I have to learn a theory, a concept, or a technique is a joyful experience for me.

Because I chose to listen to the Holy Spirit, I have found myself here. Because I chose to take a risk and listen to God’s will instead of my perfectly thought out plan, I found a future that was more perfect than anything I could have imagined. Because of the faith I find in Christ Jesus, my life is better each day.

Sometimes God makes you wait. Sometimes He gives you an alternative path. Sometimes He asks you to grow. Regardless, God will never leave you alone, and He will give you the best future possible, but only if you listen to Him.