leaving the island

Snow egret on Assateague

This morning, with a loaded car, I filled my lungs with the salty sea air one more time before heading west. I drove across the causeway with the island in my rearview mirror, admiring a flock of snow egrets stealthily inhabiting the salty marsh and a blue heron hiding among the reeds. I’ve never been much of a bird watcher, but two months on Chincoteague will introduce you to a plethora of waterfowl and other birds whether you care to know about them or not. Although two months does go by quickly, I feel as though I have been on the Eastern Shore for much longer than that because of the connection I shared with some of the people I was honored to befriend during my stay. It is amazing what a difference relationships make in how you experience a place. 

In so many ways, my two months on the Eastern Shore were yet another display of God answering prayer above and beyond anything I could have planned for myself. And why, then, is my tendency still to take control and do my own thing? Clearly, He knows better. I was nervous about working in a nursing home, as I would be coming in with so little experience working with adults. By the grace of God, I was given this opportunity and now feel more confident and experienced in working with the adult and geriatric population. During my two months, I had the joy of mentoring a high school student intern as she observed me for a few hours each day and is planning to pursue a career in speech therapy. I was fearful that this job might be more stressful since it would be new for me, but with a lighter caseload and helpful co-workers, it was quite the opposite. I am coming away from the job refreshed by the experience, the relationships and the scenery. The weeks ahead hold a lot of traveling and many questions — this seems to be a recurring state for me — but after spending two months with people nearing the end of their lives, I am mindful of the brevity of our time on this earth and the joy and significance of living for a purpose beyond ourselves. The questions and concerns I face seem much smaller in light of the bigger picture that God has in mind to orchestrate.

Memorial Park with the Assateague lighthouse in the distance

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:12-14

Fog lifting from Assateague

 ^"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone." -James 4:14 (NLT)