Tag Archives: nursing school

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I graduated Saturday! I’m officially a college graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a University of Florida Gator alumnus! (#GoGatorNurses #GatoRNurse) The US allows nurses to practice with an Associate Degree as long as they pass the licensure exam, but the rest of the world is trending toward requiring the BSN. Since Uganda follows trends in the UK, it seemed wise to keep up with the global standard. 

I posted this selfie on social media sites Saturday and it has received more attention than any other post I can recall in my online history. There isn’t anything special about the lighting, the outfit, or even the guy in the frame, but the idea that someone like me can redefine himself I think appeals to people. No one is stuck being what they once were. God changes lives, and so we who believe and rely on God are excellent examples of lives that are changed. When I look back at the person I was twenty or even ten years ago I am amazed at what God has done. Each day I pray that God will build with me and do with me as He wills, and every year I am amazed when I look back at what He has done. This is one milestone I cannot look at without seeing the obvious marks of the Master’s hand at work. 

No one is stuck being

what they once were.

Here is further evidence. I just received a text from a fellow police officer who has started nursing school. She reached out to me for advice and encouragement. Nursing school is a long, hard journey. After I gave her a quick “don’t give up” pep talk, she responded with this commentary that showed I am no longer the monster of a man I once was. She said, “You are, and always have been an inspiring, encouraging, and awesome guy.” Folks, that is nothing short of miraculous evidence there is a Spirit in me that is not the spirit of Todd Lemmon. The natural me is ornery, selfish, critical, demanding, and spiteful. The me this young lady knows is someone different entirely, and I say that to honor the God who lives in me, not myself. 

God is awesome! He is still in the business of creating. He wants to re-create you today. Will you let Him? If you already have, will you prove it in the way you love those around you? Will people say that the Spirit in you made them live better, love more, shine brighter? 

May I pray for us today? 

Holy Father, today, please make Yourself obvious in the lives of those reading this. Accept the offering of our lives and do something amazing with them. Create in us something beautiful only You could imagine. Use our smile to brighten someone’s day. Give us words that will encourage someone who needs You. Be so bright in us that the darkness in those around us has to flee. May our every thought, word, and action bring You glory through Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen!

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“After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. …How quickly they turned away from the path of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands.” Judges 2:10, 17b NLT

I am ashamed to confess that my faith is like multiple generations of the Israelites who, even after deliverance from Egyptian slavery, began to doubt that God would do the next good thing. Just like those who walked across the Red Sea on dry land, I have come out of a bondage and through terrors all my own, only to stand in my current wilderness wondering what's next. I have no doubt that He can do a new, good thing or that He is sovereign over my every circumstance and condition, but I still find myself doubting that I would be the recipient of any more of His wonders. I know it is the religious prejudice in me that judges myself as unworthy of God's delight, but it is a profoundly deafening voice. I need to constantly recall that, through Jesus Christ, God's answer to me is not "If, then," "either, or," or even "maybe," but "yes and amen!"

The storm of nursing school has swirled to a single funneling cloud and it looms over this week, slurping up hope and spitting out turbulence that obscures my vision of deliverance. I remember Peter, who began to sink when he "saw the wind and waves" (Matthew 14:30), and I'm trying to keep my eyes on the Savior rather than my carnal condition, but the stinging surf laps at my ankles and the blistering winds blast my face. 

Plotting a course through my obstacles feels like naming the winds and waves I see, but trusting God to get me past them requires I let go of my illusion of control and perfection concerning them. It also counts as prayer requests when I meter and chart them for you my prayer supporter. So know that this week is a torrential beast. On Tuesday I see a dermatologist to have several precancerous (actinic keratosis) lesions removed from my face. On Wednesday I take our unit exam. Then Thursday I will sit for the standardized nursing school exit (Hesi) exam, which determines whether I graduate and am eligible to sit for the national licensure (NCLEX) exam in about four weeks. Following that, we have our final exam next Wednesday, and the celebratory proceedings including the nurses' pinning ceremony on May 8th and college commencement on the 11th. 

...through Jesus Christ, God's answer to me is not "If, then," "either, or," or even "maybe," but "yes and amen!"

I am surrounded by classmates, some of whom face this week without the advantage of knowing a Savior who has their future in His hands, some who do, and others like me who do but have a hard time keeping Him in view amid the thick, dark, cloudy demands of nursing school. I pray for them faithfully, even when I am too overwhelmed to pray for myself. I do so hope to encourage and inspire them rather than capsize anyone's already unsteady vessel!

This spiritual swamping is why I need friends like you on stable footing to throw out lifelines and prayer from dry land. I covet your intercession and thank you for your support. God bless you as you read, as you pray, and as you go into your own mission field of life, spilling out grace that overflows.