An anniversary
D-Day. Watching the veterans on tv and listening to their voices on the radio as they revisited Normandy made me yearn even more to have met my old pen pal, my great-uncle Ray, who was part of the invasion 70 years ago. I hope and pray that one day we can take Normandie there, to teach her about his sacrifice and why it was made and to honor her brave namesake. In the meantime I hope and pray she gets to meet her Great Papa soon! I miss his sweet smile and hope he gets to hold his great grand baby this September when we visit the West Coast.
A job
At the end of March I started my first nurse practitioner job. What a blessing! Leaving my baby for days at a time has been emotionally difficult but we are deeply thankful for an income and for the means to start paying off my school loans. Several of my friends stepped in and took care of Normandie on the days when I had to be at work and Ben had to be at school. It made it so much easier to leave knowing my baby was in loving nurse hands! Now that Ben is done with school, he takes care of Normandie. Although both of us would rather trade places (me at home with Normandie and Ben at work), we both can acknowledge that this is a sweet time for Ben to spend with our daughter that might not come again.
I'm working as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a community health clinic in West Philadelphia. I'm grateful for my training at Penn that helped prepare me to face the challenges of providing primary care against the backdrop of urban poverty. More than a couple times I have found myself trying to hold back tears as the extent of a child's awful reality unfolds during a visit. My kids are incredibly precious though and I deeply enjoy partnering with their parents to try to improve life even just a little through any means I can. I'd say at least half of my patients are African immigrants which is such a huge treat for me. My rusty French has made an appearance a few times.
The view from my desk
A baptism
Normandie Mae was baptized on Mother's Day at our church, Tenth Presbyterian. What a special day it was. My mom flew into town for the occasion and our friends, the Barretts, drove up from DC to celebrate with us. My mom bought a beautiful dress for Normandie to wear, one that we hope can be worn again and again by little ones in our family for a long time to come.
Before the service
Dr. Liam baptizing Normandie
The dress that went on and on and on...
Right after the baptism
Playing at Clark Park with our dear friends
Normandie celebrating God's grace with her Mimi
So in love
The heavy grace behind my own salvation came a little more into focus when I beheld my precious baby in our pastor's arms as he brushed water over her head. She didn't ask or do anything that led us to this decision; we simply did because we love her and because we understood this to be our parental privilege based on Scripture. In the same way, I did nothing to deserve God's choosing, my life has everything to do with Him and His initiative of grace towards me.
My mom and I also got to spend a very special day together with Normandie at Longwood Gardens. SO BEAUTIFUL! I'm so glad we finally went.
A graduation
Two other HUGE things happened this month. Normandie met her Grammy and PopPop and Ben graduated from seminary!!!! We had a great time with Ben's parents and were so thankful they could be here, not only to meet and enjoy Normandie, but also to be a part of celebrating Ben and his amazing accomplishment.
The celebrations kicked off with a nice banquet at none other than Normandy Farms up in Blue Bell. You can imagine we had fun taking pictures of our little Normandie in front of the signs.
The celebrations kicked off with a nice banquet at none other than Normandy Farms up in Blue Bell. You can imagine we had fun taking pictures of our little Normandie in front of the signs.
Farmer Ben
The next day was his graduation ceremony. Of all the graduations I've ever attended, there's always mention of how great the graduates are or how hard they've worked to get to graduation or how strenuous the program was, etc. Ben's graduation was different. Perhaps it's because a degree from Westminster speaks for itself of the rigor and discipline it took to obtain it. The ceremony was instead focused on Christ and exhortation to use their training to serve Him. It was beautiful.
My handsome seminarian
It's been 5 years since I was married to a non-student. It's been so wonderful already for both Normandie and me!
All so proud of Ben!
A plan
It's been sort of a crazy time for Ben and I. We moved out to Philly 3 years ago (3 YEARS!!) to pursue/finish our graduate degrees. This is the first time in our marriage that we don't have any educational goals for the future. We could literally go anywhere (or stay) and we have no idea where we'll be celebrating Normandie's first birthday. Not knowing the future has forced us to take each day, one at a time. It sounds cliche, I know. But if you had told me 10 years ago that I would one day be a pediatric nurse practitioner, married to an amazing Godly man fresh out of seminary and mother to a darling baby girl, and practicing medicine in an underserved pediatric population (half of my patients being from Liberia no less!)....I would have thought, wow, God has way better plans than I could even imagine for myself. So taking one day at a time with a God who knows us and loves us is not that frustrating or scary.
At the banquet they honored some men and their wives who had graduated from Westminster 50 and 60 years ago. It was so humbling to hear how each of them had served since their graduations. It made me realize that Ben and I may have 50-60 years of ministry in front of us. And the thought of being by his side for wherever God has in mind for him, and raising Normandie in the meantime fills my heart with joyful expectation.
(taken on Ben's last day of seminary)
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