Miles Smiles

Whenever I move to a new place and new people ask me about my family I always respond by saying that my brothers are my life heroes and my best friends. And it’s true. My brothers are my heroes because I learn so much from them in the way that they live their lives. They’re also my best friends because they’re extremely supportive and encouraging. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with 2 amazing brothers!

Today is Miles 23^rd birthday so I want to dedicate this post to him…

I appreciate how Miles is such a great leader. He has always been a leader- whether it was on the highschool football or quizbowl team, or if it was on the Wheaton tennis team, or for the Stars group (organization that he was in charge of at Wheaton for the mentally and physically handicapped.) Miles has a very unique ability to lead his peers and earn their respect with his confidence and humility.

I appreciate how Miles is such a hard worker. Miles has always worked extremely hard in his sports and in school. A good example of this is few years ago we were on a family trip and Miles was preparing for the MCAT so he would take half the day and study even though we were all on the beach playing with the family. That’s the difference between Miles and I…This past family vacation I was studying for my PT licensure exam and I could barely get myself to study because I wanted to be outside with the fam. I just don’t have the same work ethic and drive as him, and honestly I don’t know many people that do. Miles has always worked hard in everything throughout his life.

I appreciate how Miles is a great friend. I remember being at Miles and Emily’s wedding last summer and looking around at all the friends who care about him and appreciate him so much. Miles is someone who would drop anything in order to help out a friend in any way possible. Miles is one of the most loyal guys and I can tell that all of his friends feel that and really appreciate that about him.

I appreciate how Miles loves his family. He is a super busy guy trying to do med school well, be a good husband, and have a social life but yet he always makes time for Vince, my parents and I. He’s always making time to talk to me about life and give me encouragement and support on whatever I need. A good example of his love and sacrifice for his family is that Emily and him drove back to Ames for a less than 24 hr trip with the sole purpose being seeing me after I returned all jetlagged and sick from Kenya and before I moved out to CO the following day.

I appreciate Miles’ marriage with Emily. 1) I appreciate how he chose such an amazing wife because now he has an incredible woman to spend the rest of his life growing and learning with, but more selfishly I have an awesome sister-in-law ; ) 2) I appreciate how he loves and serves his wife. It has been amazing for me to see Miles become such a godly husband who pursues his wife and puts her first. I love seeing how their relationship is focused on Christ and it’s really neat to see a relationship that demonstrates the relationship between Christ and his bride, the church, so well. He lives out what Tim Keller says in The Meaning of Marriage “Marriage was designed to be a reflection of the saving love of God for us in Jesus Christ.”

I appreciate how Miles is devoted to his relationship with God. He has always been so faithful in spending time with the Lord every day. If you’ve seen Miles’ bookshelf before then you can tell that he loves digging into theological books. He is always reading deep Christian material in order to grow and be challenged in his faith.

I appreciate Miles’ hearts for missions. After spending one month in Kenya doing medical missions I’ve realized how much I admire his heart for doing the same because I realized how hard it is. He spent a whole semester in Ecuador apart from Emily (his girlfriend at the time, wife now) volunteering at a mission hospital because that is where his heart is. And now he’s going to Peru all summer to do more research and medical missions. It’s a big deal for him to give up his last summer ever to do that, especially when his wife doesn’t get to be there with him for the first month of it. The strong passion and calling he feels for medical missions is obvious with the amount of sacrifices he’s willing to make in order to serve on these trips.

My heart is full today with gratitude. I am thankful for my brother Miles and I am so proud of him for the man of God he has become.

(The above collage Miles made me for a Christmas gift recently! My favorite pic is the leotard one in the center)

Time to reflect

I have been continually overwhelmed by the Lord's provision and faithfulness in my life since this past May. Life has been absolutely crazy and I haven't taken the proper time to reflect on it but it's time to now. I need to look back and acknowledge the Lord's continual provision and faithfulness in my life. I have made 6 moves since May and in each place I didn't know anyone and I didn't have any idea where I would live but never once did God leave me sleeping on the streets or in my car, instead he introduced me to the most amazing of people that welcomed me into their homes and their hearts.

I want to rewind back to May when I moved out from Iowa City and finished my last ever PT school classes. I was so sad to wrap up that stage of my life and to leave my bestfriends but I was also nervous about moving to Chicago because I didn't know anyone there and I had no where to live for the 9 week internship. I contacted a lot of old college friends that I hadn't kept up with and one happened to have a friend that was going on a mission trip to Thailand the exact dates I was in Chicago for my internship so I was able to sublease from her. I was blessed to have an awesome roommate who welcomed me into her super fun group of friends. We had so much fun adventuring and exploring the city and I learned a lot professionally at my clinical!

Then came my next move which seemed a lot more scary because it was way farther away and I knew absolutely no one within a 10+ hr radius, and again I had no idea where I was going to live. I moved to Durham to work at Duke hospital and it turns out that an old neighbor of mine from Ames went to PT school at Duke and she knew of a girl who was also on a PT away clinical and needed a subleaser. I got to move in with 2 girls that I had never met before but they were great and they helped show me how Durham is such a wonderful place. I was able to meet terrific people and families in the area and I absolutely fell in love with NC and also with PT in a neuro rehab setting!

Then my next move was to CO which I was super excited for until 2 months before it was supposed to start when I found out that the clinic I was scheduled to intern with (Steadman Hawkins in Vail) cancelled on me and I had to frantically look for a new internship and find a new living situation. Again, God provided. It turned out that I had very distant relatives that I had never met before that lived 20 mins away from my clinical internship. My empty nester relatives welcomed me with open arms for the 9 weeks I was there. I got to build some amazing relationships with people in Boulder and again learned a ton from my clinical. While living there I also got to build some connections in CO in attempts to eventually land a job there.

Then I took a quick break from the difficult but great moves across the country and I moved back home temporarily. This wasn't necessarily an easy stage though because I had to study for the biggest test of my life...PT BOARDS. I really didn't know if I was going to pass because I've never been a good test taker. During this time I was also applying for jobs because I really wanted to go to Kenya not feeling the pressure of having to apply for jobs over there. I was extremely anxious because I didn't know if I would be able to get a job in the state I hoped and dreamed to work in because over and over again I was told that there were no jobs available for new grads in CO. I applied for a lot of jobs during the time home studying but all of them said no because they needed someone earlier than I could work since I was going to Kenya. I had seriously completely given up on the idea of 1) getting a job before leaving for Kenya becuase I was running out of time and 2) getting a job in CO because I was told it was impossible as a new grad. One day I literally pulled out an atlas and made a list of every place I'd consider working but none of them was as exciting to me as CO. Thankfully I was able to pass my big boards exam and the same day I flew out to CO for an interview at a clinic I had job shadowed once as a student and had left knowing it was my dream job. I didn't have high hopes of getting the job at the interview because they had told me they'd never hired a new grad before because it was a job with big expectations. But a day before getting on the plane for Kenya they called me and offered me the job and I was completely surprised and ecstatic! It was my first PT job interview ever and I had landed my dream job in my dream location! The thing that was so unique about it was that it was after I finally surrendered my plan of getting a job before going to Kenya and finally gave up my dream of living in CO is when God opened up the door for the job. It's when I finally stopped saying "God I need to have a job before I leave and I need to be in CO. You need to make this happen," and I started saying, "God put me where you want me and when you want me there, I trust you."

Then I hopped on the plane to Kenya and I had the most humbling/challenging/rewarding experience of my life that I'm still learning and growing from and trying to process. If you want to know more about the trip then read my blogs from my time there or ask me about it because it was completely life changing. God provided for me in so many ways during my time there but one main way was with my housing situation. My parents left Kenya after two weeks working at the hospital/school and we were told it wasn't safe enough for me to stay in the apartment alone as a single white female so I needed to find another living situation. God provided a wonderful missionary woman who worked at the school up the hill and she had an extra bedroom and she welcomed me in with open arms. I was sick the entire first week I lived with her but she took care of me and encouraged me through some really rough days working at the hospital.

Since I left so quick for Kenya after being offered the job I didn't have time to find housing in Fort Collins and due to the lack of internet and phone service in Kenya I didn't have time to work on it while I was over there. Unfortunately, my start date at work was two days after I got home from Kenya so I didn't have much time margin. 4 days before I was flying home from Kenya my mom was randomly chatting with a family friend and she found out that they had family friends who lived really close to my new job location. She immediately called them and asked if I could live there for 2 weeks before I could find my own housing situation. The family completely took me in and helped me by answering all of my many questions about the new area. They let me stay there for over 2 weeks, 10 of those days being when I was extremely sick with a parasite and really overwhelmed with culture shock.

The 2 weeks of living with them quickly came to an end and I still had no idea where I was going to move in Fort Collins. But again...God is so good and he provides. I thankfully had some amazing friends who were working hard to find me housing. A friend of a friend messaged me and said she was thinking about moving out while at the same time her roommate was talking to the family I was living with at the time and said that she had a room in her apartment opening up. The two girls didn't know they were talking about the same person until right before I showed up to check out the place, haha. I just moved in last weekend when my awesome parents packed up all of my stuff in a Uhaul and drove it out to CO because I didn't have enough time to pack up and move out before my work start date. Now I get to live with 2 awesome young ladies in a great apartment in a perfect location, both close to work and the foothills ; )

Even though I'm overwhelmed with all the adjustments and transitions of another move and I'm still feeling very burdened with being back in the States and not knowing how to process everything I saw and experienced in Kenya, I can't help but give thanks to God for how he has continually provided for me and been faithful during this long period of moves across the country/world. I have moved 6 times to new places and in each place I had no idea where I'd live or who would be in my life to help/encourage me but God knew exactly what I needed and he provided for those needs. And now I am beyond blessed to have my dream job in my dream living location.

I don't know what you're going through right now- you might be struggling with health issues, you might be stuck in never ending school work, you might be facing tough pressure at work, you might be in the middle of relationship problems, you might be having a lot of family conflict, you might be in some really challenging stuff because this life on earth is full of challenges and difficulties but I just pray that you will be encouraged by the beautiful story of provision and faithfulness that God has written in my life and in the lives of everyone.

God provides. And he is always faithful. I encourage you to take time to reflect on how that has been true in your life up until now and also take hope in knowing that his provision and faithfulness will hold true for your future.

(Above picture was taken in Kijabe hospital- my dad did surgery removing the heterotopic ossification from the young female patient who had a burn 10 years previously, and I was privledged to do her PT and re-teach her how to bend her knee and walk. The Kenyan Dr. next to my dad was an ortho resident that my dad got to train and the Kenyan physio on the end was a young physio that I got to work with and train.)