Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Unseen

So I studied with Leah Lapine today at the Augsburg Libary today (since we are in the same program, in different years). At the very end she was packing up and I noticed a "cheat sheet" with algorithms and flow-sheets, and pneumonics, and other study aids she was using for her studying. I looked a little closer and recognized the format - I had typed all of that 1-2 years ago while studying for school! Do not get me wrong here - I had put it on a public Augsburg folder for other people to use and be helped by. I had just COMPLETELY forgotten about all the files I had made available to others.

It was really weird to see other people using your work though. In school, sometimes people are really private with their work and tips/trick sheets in learning. I don't know exactly why. Well, I guess I know why. It's hard to watch others benefit from your hard work in developing and organizing the massive amount of material. It's because we are selfish and we want to promote ourselves and get credit for our own work. We will do anything to be the best and make sure that happens...sort of. However, during PA school God really just put it on my heart to share my work with others to help them do better in order to bring Him glory and practice selflessness and kindness. Don't get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with doing your best and developing a work ethic that honors the Lord as you work unto the Lord. But, sharing really helps kill my fleshly craving to "be the best" and stand above my peers in order to get affirmation or admiration - aka: PRIDE.

So, two years later Ms. Lapine is benefiting from the time God had me put into my education. It just goes to show that sometimes we don't know why we do what God convicts us to do, and often we don't see the benefits. But, tonight, I saw Leah's face light up as she said, "Oh, I love these worksheets; they help me stay organized!" Tonight it's worth it to share and watch others be blessed and less stressed in their experience of graduate school. Sometimes, I do wish it benefited me more (in a completely carnal, earthly successful sort of way!). But, God is teaching me that His ways are not my ways; and if my work helps others learn and bless patients, than that is okay. It's all about dying to "self" :)

4 comments:

  1. wow, kristy! i am just seeing this now. i would love to tell you again, i was SO blessed by those pages! all the work you did to organize the massive amount of info we received in class and from reading...it benefited so many people. and just to encourage you, you can't imagine how many times i would get into conversations with people about you because of those notes. "who ever put these online to begin with?" "how did the program ever get to be this way?" (in terms of sharing and joint learning). kristy, you and others helped to make Augsburg a very unique institution of learning. one where you grow by the help and encouragement of your classmates, not by struggling to outdo them. this was one of the things i liked best about Augsburg, and i keep preaching it to all the younger class members and those who are interested in PA school. and to keep it going, they too should invest in helping those around them. so thank you again for blessing so many, because you were working hard to honor God and delight in the gifts he gave you!

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  2. oh, and testimony to what you started, you should see what has since been added to the folders...expanded notes, more diagrams, images, links, study cards...its beautiful!

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