Ok everybody, time for the big announcement!

I am hoping to go to the Philippines in February 2015. I will be there for two and a half years while studying to be a midwife. Here is the link to the school's website: Newlife International School of Midwifery.

When I graduated I had no idea what I wanted to do next or what God wanted me to do. You know how everybody asks. I did not know how to answer. So I searched and explored different options. I do think I should have gotten some kind of job just to make some money for whatever I chose but I did minister to my Aunt Margie which made a little money. I wanted to make the right decision. You always hear about christians or missionaries that just know how their life should be used. Looking back now I think that there were quite a few ways I could have decided to serve God that he would have been perfectly fine with.

When I settled on the path of mothers and babies he put other things in place.

• He helped my family be supportive
• gave my Aunt Becky the words to help me consider midwifery and not just lactation consulting
• showed me that there are many mothers in third world countries that need help (It is a real door opener for Jesus)
• and made sure I saw the ad for Newlife school.

I never felt "the call" but I have peace about it. I enjoy helping people in this way and find the birth process amazing.

So now that I have somewhat of a plan, I am ready to answer questions and ask for help. I still might say 'I don't know' but you can ask anyway.

Students combine bookwork with volunteer clinical work. All students are duly enrolled in the Newlife school and the National College of Midwifery so I will graduate with an associate's degree in midwifery and be eligible to take the NARM exam. If I pass the NARM exam I will be a Certified Professional Midwife as opposed to a Nurse Midwife. It is cool that Mom went to the Philippines when she was younger and now I am going but I will be in the south while she was in the north. Most of the ladies that come to the clinic have at least a basic understanding of English but I will be studying Visayan while I am there.

Some ways you can help?

• # 1 is pray for me. I know there will be many hard things to get through, homesickness, culture shock, getting used to blood and guts, etc. I went to a birthing assistant class in Circleville on Friday and met another girl who might be going to Newlife as well so maybe I will know someone.
• I need to "observe" 5 home births and 2 hospital births before I go. If you know anyone having a baby you can give them my phone number. I can arrange a meeting and let her decide if she wants me at her birth. Of course it would not be set in stone. If she says I can come and then is uncomfortable I do not mind sitting in the next room the whole time.
• Ask me to take your pulse and bp when I get a blood pressure cuff. :) I could use some practice.
• I have applied for several jobs and have not gotten any. I will keep trying but if your children need babysat or you know a place that is hiring please tell me. I need somewhat of a flexible schedule because of the births as an observer.
• Pray that God will give the people at Newlife wisdom weather to accept me or not. They have about a 3 to 1 ratio of applicants and accepted students. Obviously I am hoping to get in but I also do not want to go if it is not what God wants or if there are others who should go instead.

Thank you to all my family and friends (Beka you are family.) I am not naturally a go to it person. More of a servant which is good for midwifery but I would not even consider this without your prayers and support.

Aunt Becky

For some reason when I was down at the barn the other day I got to thinking about my aunt Becky and decided to do a blog post on her.

My first memories of Aunt Becky are when she would let me go into her bedroom and turn off the light. She had glow stars covering the walls and ceiling. I loved it.

The other thing that makes me think of Aunt Becky is the book 'If You Give a Pig a Pancake' because she had it on her bookshelf one time when she baby sat us. If there is one thing that makes a good babysitter it is reading books-lots of them, maybe more than once.


Now that I am older and not so impressed with books and glow stars, I like to look at her facebook page. You can tell she really loves her family, has a good sense of humor (she dose not just post the cheesy stuff) and is always smiling. She has got lots of pictures of her two little boys and encouragements for her husband.

It was she that first made me think about midwifery. She may not even remember but I told her I was thinking of becoming a lactation consultant and she was so enthusiastic. After saying how wonderful it was, she said, "and a midwife too? They go hand in hand!"
Another lady asked what I was doing since I graduated and when I told her the same thing, she just looked at me and said, "Why not just be a nurse?" You can imagine which one I thought about more.
Thank you Aunt Becky!

My favorite sites for CLEP biology

So right now I am studying to take the CLEP biology test towards becoming a Lactation Consultant. Here is my list of links:

Speedy Prep-this site does cost some to set up an account but it is definitely worth it. I have not been on the new site. The old one just has 400-600 questions per subject. You answer the question and then it tells you the answer right away with an explanation. It will save the questions you missed so you can go back and try again.

Free University Project-this site has a list of links that cover all the areas that the CLEP test does. Some of them are online biology books, some are study guides, etc.

howjsay-this is a talking dictionary that has hundreds of words, even the strange science ones. It's good to hear how to say a word. I can remember it better.

http://www.johnkyrk.com/DNAanatomy.html -this site has 3d animations of several different things, not as many as I would like but the ones it has are helpful

The way I've been doing it is first I read through the Free University part corresponding to the first speedy prep part. I look up anything strange in howjsay, Wikipedia, YouTube, or the 3d animations. Then I answer the questions on speedy prep. I keep going this way till I have done the first hundred questions. Then I go back and retry the ones I missed.
This is the best way I have found.

One of my biggest favorites

The other day I did nothing but science. Over the past year I had decided that I want to be a midwife and lactation consultant. One of my faults is second guessing myself too much. There are so many things I could be or do. Is this the right one? Is there a "right one"? I have not been as diligent working towards it as I probably should be but the past few weeks I have had several full days of Biology. By the end of this last day I was feeling like I was being bombarded with information. So many new words and concepts that I really only see two or three times each and then am expected to remember. Needless to say I was feeling pretty unsure of myself.

 

BUT, that evening I got to visit my newborn cousin for the first time and I was reminded why I chose midwifery and lactation. Because babies are so special. Because new life is amazing. Because God loves them so much and I can easily see why. Yes, I have found my calling. I can work hard for this.

 

This little one got her beautiful big eyes from her mommy.

The two good pictures by my sister-photographer Ann.