Goodbye Aspen

Oh my gosh, life has been wonderfully crazy! I LOVE IT! Please forgive me for just now updating the blog.

Okay, so let’s wrap up Aspen. There truly aren’t adequate words to describe this incredible experience. Right now, as I ponder those 2 months, I can’t help but smile at how much God taught me in such a short time. It’s funny how the Lord works, because I never actually intended to go to Aspen. It definitely was not in MY plan. But, through other people’s decisions and a spontaneous moment, the Lord changed my life. “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” –Proverbs 16:9

For me, a constantly busy and overly involved person, God began to teach me about the peace and serenity in free time, mostly free time with Him. I worked adult hours, and all my new friends had about 3 jobs and therefore were going to work around the time my last patient left. This free time (because I didn’t have friends, lol) gave me such interrupted time with the Lord: time to read, study, podcast, and learn from wiser Christians. I now understand why Paul praises the season of singleness and the undivided time with God.

My best friend Tara came to visit, and it was PHENOMENAL! Despite the fact it took her 20 hours to get here thanks to the weather, we walked in 2.5 ft of snow at 2 am because the taxi couldn’t make the hill, and she had to take a shuttle from Denver because the flight was canceled, it was totally worth it (for me anyway). It was my birthday weekend, and I was quite homesick. We had a blast just catching up on lives, scoping out Aspen, skiing, staying up late talking, taking pictures, making random friends, and slipping on the ice in our cute shoes. Tara is definitely an irreplaceable friend!

My birthday week was so great! More cards, flowers, balloons, letters, and gifts from home were sent than I deserved. It was such a humbling and loving feeling, especially because I was far away from everyone I really knew. My Mom sent me this HUGE basket of food, and my coworkers said “oh wow, you are from the south.” haha. The clinic threw me a party, and we went out to celebrate a few times. Patients brought in cakes, balloons, and presents. Then my welcoming new friends from church took me salsa dancing! They honestly were an answered prayer.

Tying up the loose ends from work was decently easy. Although my coworkers have a special place in my heart, I was ready to move on to different challenges. Saying goodbye is always difficult though, and I might be terrible at discharging patients because I like them too much! Aspen Sports Medicine took great care of me, and we definitely celebrated. And, I will never drink sake again….

Saying goodbye to Pam and John probably was the most difficult part of it all. The experience of living with phenomenal people that basically adopted me for 2 months was definitely the work of God. They both are ALL IN for Christ, and their lives reflect their devotion. Every single day was filled with encouragement, lessons, advice, wisdom, and examples. Pam and I had such a heart-to-heart right before I left, and it couldn’t have been more perfect. Honestly, praise God. Seriously, I’m not sure what I would have done without them. I tear up just a bit thinking about them!

Then…My family came to pick me up!!!! Is that not the most adorable thing you have ever heard? Yes, parents, brother, sister, in-laws = Family Vacation!! Oh my gosh we had a blast! Besides being just fantastic, our family is just so fun. It was an opportunity to share my new life, new friends, and experiences they have heard so much about via the telephone. We enjoyed the mountains, fun Aspen-y places, homecookin’, shopping, and just talking. The same ole thing- we all stayed up all night laughing. I LOVE IT! Seeing my family was just the icing on the cake for the entire experience. They made everything wonderful again (yes, that’s from a song).

Basically, in a nutshell, an experience of a lifetime directed by God.