Goodbye Oakland

Today was my last day working at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in our Oakland campus.

When I go back to work Tuesday, I will drive to a different city, park in a new place, and walk into a brand new hospital, work on a brand new floor, with brand new rooms, room numbers, nurse phones, call buttons, playroom, elevators, lockers....everything. Even how we give meds are changing. More technology. More computers. More ROOM!

It's a good change and I'm excited.
We've been looking forward to our new building for SO long!
It feels like we've been building forever.
Now it's here and it BEAUTIFUL!

Seriously, go check it out. It's awesome.

It was just odd today working in a hospital that's all packed up.
The things we use everyday are packed up. We're working out of boxes, running all over to find simple things like pens, paper and monitor wires. So funny. It's great.

We're trying to get the census of the hospital down so it's easier to move, but someone didn't tell all the kids with asthma, seizures and gastro illness. lol. We're still pretty full. Almost at full capacity. :) I'm interested to see how this move is going to go.

We've been practicing for months. It will go well.

I just wish I could watch it!
I am off this Saturday when the move starts at 7am.
I'm excited I'm off, but a bit sad, too.

Not everyone can say that they helped move an entire functioning hospital to a new city.
But on Sunday...we'll be able to say that.
So cool.

WHOO! Go Lawrenceville!

P.S. - I posted new pics on the slideshow to the right. I had a ton of fun in downtown Carnegie....about a 1/2 mile from my house. AMAZING place! LOVE the pictures! Hope you enjoy them, too!

Sleepies

I just woke up from sleeping for 11 hours.
I feel rested for the first time in 5 days.
Hallelujah.

Cute Littles

I have two cute little ones today with cute stories so I thought I'd tell you all.

(I LOVE when I have cute kids.)

#1 - Five years old, curious about everything.

I took him to the bathroom cause he's hooked up to an IV pole and such. The pole is like 3 times his size, lol. The funny part is when we got back to the bed I was like, "climb up!" and he looked at me and was like, "Can we make the bed first?" Ok, that is really funny to me! What 5 year old asks if he can make his bed? And after I made it for him, he "fixed" it so it would be REALLY made. lol. SO cute.

#2 - 12 months, the cutest red cheeks ever.

So I went into his room and this Dad was feeding the kid. What I mean by feeding is that Dad set the tray of cream of wheat and scrambled eggs on the seat of a chair, opened all the containers and proceeded to let the kid stand and dig in. TOO funny. Dressed only in a diaper this child had a circle of eggs and cream of wheat on the floor around him. He was just grabbing handfuls of eggs/cereal and shoving it in...or down his front...or on the floor. He was covered head to toe. Hilarious. I laughed. I'll have to remember that.

4 days.
the end.

Lots of Random

I'm at work.
Couldn't think up a title for this post.

I have all ridiculously easy kids because I'm picking up charge at 3p.
So in two hours I'll be busy....but right now?
Bored.
Cute kids though.

I'm trying to stay busy and occupied and just you know...live life.
But the days are going slowly.
I have a small list of to-do's.
Nothing crazy.

5 days and two hours.
Bet you can guess.

Missing him.

Moving boxes and carts all over the place in the hospital.
Today they are packing up computers and more essential/non-essential stuff.
We're going to have to work from packing carts soon.
We're moving. It's official...really. lol.
I have two more days of work at the Oakland campus.
THEN, next Tuesday, Lawrenceville.

I'm ready.
MORE than ready for all of these moving shenanigans to be done.
Bright, open, pretty new hospital?
Yup.
I'm ready.

Just really at peace with everything in my life right now.
Life is great.
I am blessed.

Trying not to eat too much chocolate.
All that Easter candy.

Okay, for real.
This post is about nothing.
I apologize.

I really like falling asleep on my back porch swing.
And really hate falling asleep to my crazy creaky ceiling fan in my room.

But seriously, praise the Lord for fans at all.
I have a goal to make it to the end of May before installing my window A/C.
We'll see.
I tend to cave when I can't sleep at night.
I like my sleep.

okay, really done with the nothing.
Hope you're not too bored.
If you made it this far.

the end.

He is

Today is pretty much perfect.

Windows open, breeze flowing through the house, warm grass smell and soft rays of light bouncing off the walls.

I am wearing a sundress.

Justin and I texted back and forth for almost 5 minutes.
(and I was oh so grateful....if you haven't noticed, I miss him!)

The Lord is still on the throne and still good, no matter where in the world you are.

He is still just as mighty as He was in Daniel's time.

I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

for he is the living God,
enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
²⁷He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions."

Daniel 6:26-27

He is the same.
Then, now, eternally for infinity, father than our minds can fathom.

Hallelujah.
Amen.

Now if only I could put all this into a logical sermon flow....

#Hewillprovide

Girl Time

For all of you wondering what girl time looks like, here are some pictures.
Hope you have fun. We most certainly did! (!!!)

He is

He is so much bigger than me.

Just sitting here in my little cool, cute, comfy apartment here in Pittsburgh letting the realization of just how blessed I am wash over me.

I don't even know what to write.

This is do know.
He is bigger than just me.

Yes, He made me, created me, loves me and cherishes all the silly wonderful things about me that makes me, me. He cares for me, cares about me, loves me, intercedes for me and is gracious enough to open my eyes bit by bit and change me. Everything that I am, He loves.

But tonight I realize that it is NOT JUST ME that He loves.
It's everyone in the world.
It's every man, woman and child who are exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide in their lungs tonight.
It's the rich, the poor, the smart, the ignorant, the young, the old and everyone in between.
Those who believe, those who don't, and those who've never heard.

What am I even trying to say?

I'm trying to say that everyone should know! Everyone should know how great Jesus is, what He did for us, and how much HE WANTS US! How much He loves us. Everyone should know. Shame on me for not standing on every rooftop and signpost and proclaiming His name. (!!!) He's that good.

I don't know what else to say, but that I feel challenged by the Lord in such a good, loving, gentle way. He loves me so so very much. It's what I was made for...His Love. No wonder it feels so great.

Here are some things that lead me down this path tonight:

Message from Chris Davis at West Ridge this am. Check it out here.
This 20 year old American living in Africa taking care of 250+ orphan children
Luke 18:22

Yeah.

He is

I just wanted to take a moment and say that the Lord is good. We all know this, but today, I can just feel it.

I got off of night shift this morning, slept a few hours, went to a doctors appt, slept again, went to Awaken, came home, talked to Faith and Justin and just through it all, He is good.

I don't know how to explain it to you any other way than the Lord's presence is like a hot mug of coffee on a rainy day, a huge warm fluffy blanket wrapped tight around you in the cold, the first warm day of spring where the sun hits you right on the face and warms you up, an unexpected nice note on your desk or just the absolute certainty that everything is going to be just fine even when everything before you looks like chaos.

He is.

He is good, because that's who HE IS.

He is so many things, but tonight, I just wanted to say that He is good.

I'm gonna rest in that tonight and go close my little eyes.
Yay for sleep. Yay for Jesus. Good night.

New Photos

Hi all!

I just updated the photo slideshow to your right with some new photos from the last three weeks. I really love the colors in this bunch. Most of them are from an abandoned elementary school that sits about 500 yards behind my mom's house. Justin and I went exploring in it about three weeks ago. And no, we didn't break in, the door was unlocked. :)

True Obedience

I had thoughts this week on obedience. Or rather, the Lord gently reminded me about some thoughts.

Tuesday was a great day. I got home from night shift, slept a little bit, then got lots of stuff done around the house. People were coming over at 6:45pm to carpool to a concert and I was ready on time. Yeah!

However, all through the day, I felt the Lord calling me to sit down with him and just read His Word. I'd grab a piece here and there and just really kept putting it off. Finally, here was me sitting down at 6:30pm (almost 6 hours later) putting energy and focus into meeting with the Lord, praying no one arrived early so I could read.

Sad.

As I sat there, realizing how very little time I had left in which to even say hi to the Lord this quote came to mind: "Delayed obedience is not truly obedience at all".

Yeah.
Conviction.

Hearts that are truly submitted to the Lord in everything, including schedules, plans, hopes and desires, wants and needs, react immediately to His command or request. True obedience is loving, immediate and joyful, not delayed or done grudgingly or in anger/discontent. (How often and easily my heart forgets this!)

So, as it ended up, I spent most of those few precious moments repenting of not coming before him sooner. He was still faithful to bless me with an amazing scripture/thought in Acts and a few things for later this month. He's always faithful, even when we are not. It was a good reminder for me.

The End.

Hello again!

So this post comes to you from...my couch. In between taking deep breaths trying not to eject the contents of my stomach from my mouth.

Ugh.

Yeah, I went the whole winter at Children's without getting so much as a sniffle...but Gastro season is upon us and I've got it. Yuck. BUT, it could be worse. I only feel like vomiting and have not actually done so yet, amazingly.

I've been really busy and just otherwise....preoccupied recently, hence the lack of posts. (smile) Really preoccupied. The Lord has been restful and sweet lately, Awaken at church has been super good lately, work is busy getting ready to move and I've been spending any time the both of us have available hanging out with Justin.

I've grown pretty attached to him, which is good, since he's my boyfriend. :)

Oh, that is such a sweet and beautiful story thus far. And I am waiting for him to come over and some of you have asked, so here is a Reader's Digest version of the story thus far.

We met over the internet at first last May. (lol...yeah, I know) We then talked over the internet/facebook/email through until about August. Things got busy then, and we actually didn't talk until we ran into each other (by accident) in November at the young adults ministry, Apex, at his church. My friend Nikki wanted to go check it out for the first time and didn't want to go alone. I got the night off and went with her.

Justin and I saw each other, and we both recognized each other, almost right away, but didn't actually talk until the end of the night. We almost bumped into each other, for real! We said hi, I realized just how TALL he is, and he offered to show us the church, an offer which I accepted, of course! :) I had plans to Facebook him when I got home, but low and behold, he had beat me to it!

We went on our first date a few weeks later in mid-December after a series of emails and Facebook's. We went to North Park Clubhouse in Robinson and bowling in Crafton after. We had a great time. I was amazed at how much we had in common. Then, to my great delight, at the end of the date, he laid out his convictions about dating, and said that he would really like to hang out with our friends in groups, become friends, and then see if there was anything romantic there. I agree and thus it began!

We hung out in numerous coffee shops, outings with our friends, church events and the like over about two and a half months, January to mid March. He was completely serious about just being friends and truly treated me as his sister in Christ. I had a hard time adjusting to that at first, because I just wanted to figure out whether I like him or not and be able to "know"! I just didn't know how I felt about him and I even at one point said to Justin, "I just don't know about you, Justin Good." However, the Lord slowly showed me that the only thing I had to figure out here was if we could be friends. Once I realized that, I relaxed and began to really enjoy hanging out with him. And I found out later that even though I was embarrassed over saying to him that I didn't know about him, it was really a confirmation to him from the Lord. He said that he just wanted me to know if I could be his friend and he didn't want to sway me unfairly romantically or emotionally before it was time. He wanted us to be friends first, and I really really respected that.

I remember learning about him, his life, his family, the choices he's made in life and just realizing how much I respected everything about him, how he loved the Lord, how he loved his family and yeah. I began to realize how great he is. I started to really look forward to seeing him and was disappointed when we couldn't hang out. I remember the day when I told a friend, "I think I like him. (pause) No, I like him."

Things were going well and then in early March, one evening driving home from somewhere in the North Hills, we were both talking just about how great and perfect life was right now and how great the Lord was to us individually. Justin said that he thought one reason life had been great so far for him in 2009, was that I was in his life. We were driving into the Fort Pitt Tunnels and he looked at me and expressed that for him, he felt like things might and could head into courtship and he wanted to know if I felt the same way. I knew enough to know at that time that I wasn't 100% sure, but that I definitely didn't want what we had to end. I wanted to see where it would go and what the Lord would develop from our friendship. We talked for a long time in his car in front of my house. Then, when he walked me up to the door we talked for a while in my entryway. Then he asked to pray for us and I agreed. He told me later that he felt like he was tripping over his words, but to me, it was a beautiful, heartfelt, loving, just perfect prayer. I honestly was blinking away tears at the end. I just felt such peace from the Lord. I floated that entire weekend at work. It was awesome.

So, Justin really wanted to talk with my parents before we officially began to court. I was all in favor of this idea. :)It took another two weeks for us to work out a date we could talk with both sets of parents. And the talks were two weeks away and would be 14 days apart. I truly began to fall for him during this time and I just felt the Lord all over everything. Those 3-4 weeks while we were waiting to talk to my parents were like the longest ever! I honestly liked him so much and just felt like I would EXPLODE if we didn't talk with my parents soon! However, I did not explode and we made it just fine to talking with my parents. Justin was amazing and talked to both sets alone for over an hour each. He's my hero for doing that. Like I've told him numerous times, I did not envy him that job. He said he was excited for it.

The first time we ever touched or held hands was the night that we went to my Dad's and we all joined hands to pray over dinner. All I could think was "oh my gosh, we're holding hands!" lol. We talked to my mom last and the drive back to church to pray was so...awkward and happy. :) We were just beating around the bush and then Justin looked over at me and said something to the effect of "Kristen Lorenze, you are amazing, will you be my girlfriend". I nearly shouted "Yes!" When we arrived to the church, we got out of the car all awkward and we hugged for the first time. That night was also the first time he put his arm around me. And oh my, did it just feel right. I just had this overwhelming sense of the Lord and His peace all over me that night. I was grinning ear from ear.

Since then, we've been hanging out, talking more, holding hands and getting to know each other. We've been just learning how to be relaxed, silly and normal around each other. We are just becoming such great friends and I love it. I love the fact that we can be silly now, because we spent a lot of January-March talking about details about our lives, but also about hard topics. We talked about our views on family, submission, Holy Spirit, Jesus, church, kids, timeline for relationships, the fact that I feel called to have tons of kids and the fact that he feels called to missions. We really tried hard to cover all the things that are and should be "deal breakers" before we were really emotionally attached. And it was great. We had several very rational honest conversations.

I am so grateful to Justin for leading in this and in our relationship, because I feel like I can really enjoy our relationship now, because I know that we share the same views on the really important topics.

And now, he just got to my house. He brought me flowers, gatorade, a movie and Mylanta, lol. He's great. I just think he's wonderful and I am so grateful to the Lord for everything thus far. He is good.

For My Mom

Hi Mom. This update is for you.

1. My computer is still broken. I AM going to work on fixing it this weekend with Justin.

2. Speaking of Justin - we're courting. It's wonderful. He's wonderful! (Amazing, really.) I am so so happy. If you want to know more about the story and us thus far feel free to ask me. :)

3. Squishy's Mom is slightly broken. Something is wrong with her transmission. She's at the shop today. Please PRAY that the Lord gives Squishy's Mom (and I) favor in the shop and with any repair.

4. I am hanging out with Justin this weekend and anyone else that happens to be around. Call me!

5. My phone is working, so far no more technical difficulties on that front.

6. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC (the place where I am employed) is moving on May 2nd across town. Right now, we are all super busy like little ants getting ready to move. We're all working overtime and schedules are packed. I just keep telling myself that in 30 days it'll be over. At least the moving part.

7. I still really like the sunshine and ice cream, so today, even though I am at work I am going to head out and grab some Rita's. YAY for me. Boo for you if you can't get out today!

8. Jesus is, as always, good and wonderful, sweet, beautiful, need I go on? I love Him. He is good!! (!!!) For real. I am learning to trust Him and walk out in faith. It's good.

That's all.
Better mom?

:)