Hiking with Danny

Monday, June 25, 2007

Another few days off and I made sure to get outside, this time with my roommate Danny. We went to Gunpowder Falls state park just north of the city. It was an amazing day and the location could not have been more beautiful. There was fog just over the river, which made everything look enchanted. The pictures do not do it justice. We also found wild lilies in one of my favorite colours, rusty red, growing everywhere. You can see them in the last picture. Of course I had to pick one and take it home with me.

And, of course, it had to rain on us a little. It seems that every time Danny and I hang out it rains. Today it only sprinkled on us, which is a far cry better than the time we had to take shelter in the Lincoln Memorial while it poured so hard the lights went out. I am truly going to miss Danny, and our rainy adventures, when he leaves in two weeks to return to California.

5 Days Off!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

I did not realize how badly I needed a break until I had one. Not only did I enjoy the time off from work, but I enjoyed getting to know my new city, exploring the surrounding areas and spending time with friends, old and new.

Saturday, June 16, 2007
I went hiking in southern Maryland with a group from church. I had always thought that I wanted to live outside of the DC area, now I can remember why. It is gorgeous here! The weather was perfect and the hike delightful. Enjoy the photos!

Pictured L-R: Ha Eun, Annsley, Me, Grace, Scott, Lily, and Jin Sun

After our hike, I got to meet up with an old friend of mine, Greg, from Houston who is currently living in Tunisia. He is here raising both prayer and financial support for his ministry there.

Sunday, June 17, 2007
Sunday, Scott and I walked to the farmers market before church to pick up some fresh produce. This is a weekly outdoor market where local farmers and businesses allow you to sample their wears as well as enjoy a good breakfast. The rest of the day was filled with church, lunch with church friends and a nice nap.

Monday, June 18, 2007
I went to visit Salee and the girls. I am not sure Salee realized how much I miss her and am excited that we get to be within driving distance. Rachel and Rebekah are adorable!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007
I spent the day with my friend Megan, and graphic design student and friend from church. Target is addicting! We met up for dinner with another friend, Gretchen, and walked down to the Inner Harbour and Fells Point, for half-priced burgers and walked back again. I love being outside here and people walk everywhere. What a blessing!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007
I have a new talent after today. I can make pizzas from scratch. Megan and I teamed up with Melissa and Adam Grace to bake pizzas for our church home group. It was a lot of work, but so much fun. I am always grateful to work and fellowship at the same time. The Lord has truly provided for me through this church and I am excited to be spending time with my new friends.

Thursday, June 21, 2007
Back to work. However, I spent the evening watching "Young Frankenstein" sitting on a hill outside with friends. Every Thursday night during the summer, the Visionary Art Museum hosts an outdoor movie night with new movies each week. This is such a random city. It has some of the greatest things to do outside during the summer. I also went to the Latin Festival on Saturday evening in the park one block from my house. I will try to write about the events I get to participate in as the summer goes along.

Grace Life Church

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25

I am not sure why I am so often amazed at the way the Lord is constantly providing for me, but He has done it once again. He provided me with one Christian co-worker, Scott, who happened to have just found this wonderful church called Grace Life Church. It is a young church filled with lots of students and young professionals all earnestly seeking after the Lord. The church is led by a gifted teacher, Pastor Roger Kim (aka PR), with a heart passionate for the city of Baltimore. His vision is to plant two more churches in the city of Baltimore with in the next two years and possibly a couple more within five. I am excited to see what the Lord will do through this church and how he will use me during my stay here in Baltimore.

Check out the church's web site to learn more about the church and meet some of the people I am spending time with. http://www.gracelifechurch.com/

Beginnings

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3: 5-6

Beginning anything can be a daunting task, but when everything is new, life takes on a different perspective. New home, new job, new people, new town, new everything. Same old me! I can't say that things were easy my first month here. But if it had not been for Jana, things could have been so much worse.

Home:
I lived with Jana and her son, Christian, for the first month of my time here in Maryland. I had not been successful in my search for a place to live prior to my journey east. So, Jana, the sister of a friend of mine in Houston, volunteered to let me live in her fully furnished basement for free. (It does not get any better then that.) It was a great place to stay and the Blakes could not have been more hospitable, but it was an hour drive to work and I could not stay there forever.






So, I set out trying to find an affordable, safe place to live. Not an easy task in Baltimore. Though it may be less expensive than DC and NY, it is definitely not cheaper than Texas. As for safe, is that really possible in the 2nd most violent city in the US? Living on my own was not exactly an option with those two as the most important features of my new domicile. Thus, I finally settled for answering "room for rent" adds on Craig's list. It is kind of like pot luck in college, but you get to interview them first. I moved into one of Baltimore's familiar row houses with Berkeley, a first-time home owner and not-for-profit grant writer, and Danny, a gay, traveling, pediatric nurse. Both are very nice, but I chose this place as I did not have to sign a lease. I am hoping to make friends here and move in with a new friend looking for a roommate. I will wait for the Lord's leading in this. As for safe, I guess I am as safe as it gets for inner-city Baltimore. I just heard gun shots outside my house this evening, but as long as they are not directed at me, I guess I am safe.







Job:
Let's just put it this way; I get nervous every time I pick up a chart, wondering, am I going to be able to take care of this patient, or will I kill them trying? ER is quite a difficult job with so much to learn. People tell me it gets easier, and I am counting on that. All I need is experience. Great! That is why I am here. My co-workers are wonderful and the attendings are patient with me. Hopefully, I will have some great patient stories to tell as time goes on. My first month here all I did was drive to work, work, drive home, sleep, and repeat. Not a great way to live, but it was all I had energy, or time, to do. Things have changed now that I am closer to work, but that is for another posting.


People:
Have you ever noticed that you ask the same four questions of almost everyone you meet? What is your name? What do you do? Where are you from? How long have you been here? Try having that same conversation over and over with everyone you meet and never getting much past that. After a while you begin to feel very shallow and can't remember whose responses went with which person. Unfortunately, no matter how much you long for deeper conversation, you really have to go through those first four to get to the nest stage, friendship. I am ready for the next stage.



Town:
Baltimore really is not a hard place to get around in, thanks to mapquest. I am not sure what we did before the age of the internet. I just google Target, and can look up the address of the nearest store for my shopping convenience. The only bad thing about this place is that it is all row houses and not many trees, and it is not safe to go out at night. The good thing is that you can walk to just about anywhere you need to go and the weather is so great you want to be outside. Almost everyone I spoke with who had ever lived in or near Baltimore about moving here told me how much they loved this city. I refuse to pass judgement on the place till I have been here long enough to speak with any knowledge. Since my first month I lived out of town and really only worked and slept, I have not had much to go on.

Baltimore Bound

That is what I wanted to write in shoe polish across my rear window as I headed east on March 30, 2007 at 5am.

It was such a big move for me, and I felt like everyone should know. I was moving, all by myself, to Baltimore, the second most violent city in the US, where I knew absolutely no one. Shouldn't everyone think that this was as equally amazing and momentous as I did? I was leaving Texas, family, friends, and everything familiar, to set off on my own path. (I was also trying to escape the terribly hot Texas summers.) Leaving almost everything behind, I packed only what I could fit into my Explorer and took off not knowing when I would return.

And Texas was sad to see me go. Or at least that was the way it felt as she displayed all of her beauty and uniqueness in the wildflower lined highways. I felt like she was trying to charm me into staying. There is nothing so beautiful as Texas in the spring.

Other states on my drive were not without their own charm. During my drive through the mountains in Tennessee, I had to call home and ask my mother why my family, ever so long ago, had not ended their journey west in eastern Tennessee. I love mountains, and Tennessee has some beautiful ones. Maybe, when this is all over, I will look into settling there.

I drove 17 hours the first day, staying the night in a small Tenn town. That left a shorter, more manageable drive for day two. I, unfortunately hit DC traffic at 4pm that Friday and sat inching forward for about an hour or so. It is a good thing I was not in a hurry to get anywhere. And, at least, the traffic was not as terrible as my last DC encounter picking Brittney up from Reagan airport at 5pm on a Friday afternoon. (5 miles in 1.5 hours, aarg!) None the less, I now avoid DC on Friday afternoons.

I ended my journey east on Kent Island, part of the eastern shore, and settled into the basement of a now dear friend, Jana.