Who Am I?

Who Am I? My favorite T-shirt from college has this phrase written across the front. The back declares "Generation X, Freed Hardeman U, I am many attitudes, many styles, many beliefs."

The shirt is from the Student Alumni Association retreat my sophomore year and I've always loved it for many reasons. And even now, 12 years later, I still wear it and it's still relevant for me.

Not only is it a great conversation piece--I've traveled all over the world in this shirt and in every country, every language, people will read the front of my shirt, laugh, and say "Who are you?"

And many days I ask myself that same question. Who am I?

The reason it stays relevant is because who we are is always changing. Years ago, people graduated from college and said "I am an accountant" (or teacher, or whatever) and they were, forever until they retired. But today, people change careers at the drop of the hat. They try something for awhile, then try something else.

In fact, I sort of wish my shirt said "Who am I TODAY?" And I know this might make me seem a little odd, but really, I think we all wear a lot of hats. I know I do. Some days I'm a writer, some days I'm a consultant. Some days I'm a gardener and others I'm a couch potato. I try and be a good daughter and a good friend every day, but sometimes I know I fail.

But you know, I think as long as every day I am a Christian, everything else will just fall into place. In fact, sometimes we try and let too many other things define us. If God is the constant in our lives, all the other stuff can change and grow, and it will all turn out fine. When I wonder "Who Am I?" as long as the first answer is "I am a Christian" then even if I don't know what my career will be in 5 years, or where I'm going to move next, everything is still okay.

And just for fun, here's a picture I dug out of me in Turkey, circa 1997, wearing the T-shirt.

And the song of the day--Who I Am, by Jessica Andrews. No random stories about this one, just thought it fit.

Happy Friday!

Finally!

I've been so caught up with work stuff I haven't given a thought to my blog lately.

The project I'm working on is a summer program (Summer Scrubs) for high school students who are interested in health care careers. When I first started coordinating it 3 years ago, I accepted 100 high school students into the program, and had 6 health care facilities participate. This year, I have 190 students and 13 health care facilities! It's grown by leaps and bounds, and some of the students who have participated in the past are now enrolled in health care programs in college. One hospital told me recently that they had just made their first hire of someone who went through the program! It is rewarding work, but keeps me buried in paperwork, e-mails, and phone calls. When I agreed to take the project on this year as a consultant, I didn't consider that the past years I've had 2 full time staff members helping me. Now I'm a one woman show. Hence the work that's kept me from blogging. :)

I spent last week in Mobile, Alabama for work. I worked 12-15 hour days all week, but still managed to find time to go out to dinner with friends for yummy seafood at the Gulf. And I got some great news while I was there! I finaled in two categories in the 2008 Genesis Contest! Contemporary Romance and Chick Lit. Winners will be announced in September at the ACFW Conference.

And now, introducing my new blog feature....the Song of the Day! (my life definitely has a soundtrack, so I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite songs)

Nightswimming by REM....is one of my favorites. In fact, for the past 10+ years, I've always said that if I ever get married, my bridesmaids will walk down the aisle to an instrumental version of this song. Fun fact...I went to see REM in Bologna, Italy. Amazing concert. What I remember from that night--we went to eat at McDonalds beforehand. That was a real treat because for the most part we tried to stay away from "American" stuff while in Europe. After the show, we got back to the train station only to find that there wasn't a train going anywhere we needed to go until the next day. And because of the concert, there wasn't any room at any of the hostels. So we slept at the train station. It was cold and I found a cardboard box to lay on. (ahh, the glamour of backpacking...)