wordspread

Infection is an ugly thing. It starts small, but then all of a sudden festers into something ugly. We checked a few things off our list of "firsts as a married couple" this week, including a visit to the ER and a visit to the oral surgeon. Yes, a root canal was needed. Ouch.  A root canal is where they drill into the root of the living (but infected) tooth to wash out infection. More or less, they clean the root out, leaving the tooth dead, but... no longer infected. Naturally, as I sat there waiting for Mitchell to have his root canal finished, I started comparing this procedure to my spiritual life. Could there be something to learn from this? Of course. Our lives all start as being infected by sin. When we allow Jesus to transform our lives by giving Him Lordship and authority over our hearts, in essence, we're allowing our lives on earth to be "root canaled."  The infection (sin) is drilled out, and a new filling (forgiveness & the Holy Spirit) replaces ...

"... and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give." ~ Isaiah 62:2b ___________________ It has been a life-changing few months of life. 364 days ago was my last day living in Minnesota... and life has changed more than I imagined possible in this one year. Here are 10 big changes to start off this post:  1. Started my first nursing job on the medical/surgical/orthopedic floor at a big hospital in Grand Rapids (January 10th) 2. Met my first nephew, Peter Gordon Olson (February) 3. Spent a week in the Dominican Republic with a team of amazing Jesus-loving nurses (Early March) 4. Decided working full time nights is (was) a VERY bad idea (March 17th, my first all-nighter) 5. Met Mitchell, my now HUSBAND (June 27th) 6. Started a new job on a labor/delivery/postpartum floor at the Family Birthing Center at a small regional hospital (July 18th) 7. Started dating Mitchell (July 27th) 8. Celebrated 21 years of life (September 13th) 9. Finished orientation ...