Little Joe Williams

    My sister has three beautiful babies, Amelia and Josephine (they are two year old twins) and Hazel, who is still only a few months old.  Today I was returning home from volunteering at the MTC and decided to stop by my sisters house on 200 north by main street, just to see how they were doing.  It turns out that Joe has had some nasty diaper rash for the past two days or so...
      So before I go on I should say that I typically identify myself as a pretty emotionally in-touch person with an affinity for children; I have considered being a children's doctor.  I enjoy being around kids and making them laugh.  I guess you could say I am one of those people that likes it when we all get along, when everyone feels comfortable in a room and enjoys themselves.  But today it was difficult for me to watch as Joe cried and cried most of the day over the red sensitive skin below her waist.  She cried in real pain as Shelley held her trying to calm her down.  I watched as Shelley took off her diaper to reveal the cherry-red skin below the diaper line.  It was awful to see a little child in pain, and there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it other than apply some lotion and give her some Tylenol.  I tried not to feel a little disturbed driving home.  It was terrible to hear her panicked crying and not be able to do anything.
      Anyway, as an aspiring physician, I can see myself enjoying alleviating the pain that others feel.  I can see myself waging a war against the discomfort of my fellow men.  I look forward to providing relief to the infirm and diseased.  I sometimes think that I'm too much of a 'warm and fuzzy' kind of guy to cope with med school and the intensity of the health care atmosphere toward which I'm heading.  It seems to me that a lot of pre-med students are the aggressive and assertive type, 'jerks' if you will.  You know what I mean?  The analytical and logical type, the kind of doctors that, from my view, have difficulty giving reassuring, calm and concerned support to patients.  I far remove myself from these 'pit bulls' I encounter, but I can see myself having to work with many of them.  I expect that I'll be singled out as the 'nice guy' during medical school and during my career.  Or perhaps I have got it all wrong, which I am ready to admit. 
        I guess more and more I am feeling more comfortable with my decision to be a physician.  It feels in a way like coming home, that this identity suits me well. 

Mediterranean, and a little after

     So, I've been putting this post off for quite some time; as most of you know, I went on a three week travel study to the Mediterranean from mid September to mid October.  Need I say that it was amazing?  My blog sometimes doesn't like it when I put pictures onto it, but I'll try my best.  You can check my facebook to see some of them, though the ones I have aren't the best selection, but at least you can get an idea.
     We literally drove all over Turkey, from one end to the other, visiting places like Istanbul, Ankarra (the capital), Cappadocia (wicked cool ancient underground city, blew my mind), Troy, and many ancient cities mentioned in the New Testament, Like Thesalonica and Colossae and many of the seven churches mentioned in Revelations 2-4.  So darn cool, I can't even tell you. 
      We then went to Greece for a week; much more European than Turkey, very interesting place.  We went to Delphi, several other smaller cities, and spent three days in Athens.  Very cool city, it was like New York but without rules.  Though I enjoyed our travels in Greece, I am still very much partial to Turkey for a dozen reasons; the people were kinder, it was less touristy, things were cheaper, and the ruins there were much more open and explorable.  I don't want to complain, but those were my observations. 
      I'm not quite sure what I should say about my trip, because I'm not sure what you all would like to know about my trip.  There were an awful lot of incredible experiences during the three weeks we were on the road, but here is one of my favorites;

     In the national museum of Istanbul, I spent thirty minutes in front of a statue of Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine and healing.  The statue has been reduced to not much more than a torso, one arm and the upper thighs, and it wasn't any more spectacular than any other sculpture, but a sequence of thoughts came to me; "people would come to this statue in need of help or healing.  They would implore this God to bless them and aid them so that they can feel better.  I can imagine the pain or discomfort of them.  I can imagine the earnest and sincere feelings that they would have. Someday I will have people come to ME with those same feelings and ask for help.  They are going to want from me the same thing they begged from this statue.  What can I give them that this statue couldn't?  How can I ease the pain of these people and calm their fears?  One day I will take the place of this statue in the lives of the sick that come to me."  It was honestly a very spiritual and touching experience; it was moving to see a picture of my future portrayed in such a manner.  I did not see 10% of the museum, but I'm willing to bet that I got the most out of anyone there. 


       Here is another observation from visiting the city Phillipi;

I have been much better able to connect with Paul.  Gosh, that guy took no prisoners, pulled no punches, and walked the line.  We were reading (in the book of Phillipians I think) about where Paul is mistakenly bound, beaten and cast into prison; the prison tumbles to the ground and he is freed.  His captors have an “oh shoot” moment when they realize that Paul was innocent, and a Roman on top of that.  They want to dismiss him quietly and at night from the city, to cover the embarrassing situation.  Paul in essence says “heck no; I’m walking out of here tomorrow morning in front of everybody.  Don’t think that you can cart me off just to save your lame hides from being embarrassed.” I have an infinite amount of respect for that kind of man. 

This took place in Ankarra, the capital
Brother Alred and Brother Palmer (two of the four professors on the tour) and two other girls and I went to a little local market this evening.  I bought a nice european cut button up shirt.  Brother Allred bought a nice pair of leather shoes for fairly cheep.  We got talking with the guys at the shop (or at least trying to), and they ended up giving us two small watermellon-squash like fruits, while taking a third and cutting it up right there in their store and sharing it with us.  I mean, the guys would have given us their shirts if we had asked.  I was quite impressed and touched by their hospitality.  The guy from whom I bought a shirt offered me tea and coffee.  Just nice people.  

 
This and literally dozens of other experiences like them exemplify the trip.  I'm grateful for having been able to go, and for what we experienced over there.