Hey guys! I forgot to post this earlier. This is the link to the free seminar. It is worth 14 hours, after completion.


PTSD seminar

Psalm 127:2 - A Breather

I just wanted to share something God reminded me of last week.


So, as I shared in senior seminar, it was a big adjustment for me to transition from being on campus all the time to interning off campus 35 plus hours a week. And I started my first days in this new season off being absolutely exhausted by that transition. "How am I supposed to balance this unpaid internship, senior seminar, and my other two sw classes with my church involvement, my relationships, and other things?" I thought, and I let the stress build up and the tears come down. But that night (Monday, Feb 6) I found the discipline to get 8 solid hours of sleep, and I woke up Tuesday morning and opened up to the Psalms to read 127:2- 

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

And the Lord gave me much grace to see that He does not desire for me to be crazy busy, nor crazy stressed- He desires for me to have rest. I was encouraged to work harder, but to depend more deeply on His strength and not my own, and to rejoice in all circumstances. 

When you guys are getting tired and stressed in field, remember that Christ says that we who are burdened and weary should come to Him. And I am thankful that we are all getting a chance to, in turn, take that rest from Christ and allow those who are burdened and weary to come to us. Remember where that strength comes from!

Love you guys! See you Thursday!

When it hits you

Today I walked into work. Had the normal conversation with our receptionist about the traffick lights in Jackson and the crazy drivers. Then I walk to my office with my cup of coffee. Turn on the lights. Say hi to 2 more co-workers. Then head to my bosses office and get my files out. Walk with 3 huge stacks of files and paperwork I need to sift through today. I shut my office door, sit down, turn on Pandora radio. And this is when it hit me. I have fallen into the pattern of my agency. I have a regular pattern to my days. I am not someone who generally enjoys that feeling. But today, it felt comforting. It hit me that this job suits me. And again this career path is justified and I realize life is good. God is good. And his plan is perfect. Not this super deep thought for today, I know. But I figured I would share it. That sometimes I think we wonder if we are supposed to be where we are, in the here and now. Wondering if the path we have followed was the correct one. Curious to what the other path contained. But finding my self content in Jackson, working with child sexual abuse cases... I never thought it would happen. Still wanting more adventure in my life, but for today. This will do.

_ _ _ _ _

And random picture I saw which I found priceless!

I feel that you will all find this somehow comforting ;)
Keep pressing on, friends.

FBI Agent

The DCP (direct care professional) I am currently shadowing took me to a case the other day. Apparently, the woman we were seeing had specifically told the DCP "I ain't gonna have no white woman social worker on my case." I showed up. There was a slight misunderstanding. I was labeled an FBI agent, and told "We'd better get out of here before they decide to shoot you."

Apparently the epitome of threat is sometimes "FBI" and "white".

Observations

---

A social worker is facing a mugger with a gun. "Your money or your life!" says the mugger. "I'm sorry," the social worker answers, "I am a social worker, so I have no money and no life."

-------

Interesting. lol


Anyway, I do have a potentially helpful site that gives info for the licensing exams...This is the website for the official test, so the info should be accurate for all states. I've not taken a lot of time yet to peruse this, however.

http://www.aswb.org/SWLE/2011examoutlines.asp


Also, sitting beside a parole officer and behind DCS workers and 'inventory loss prevention specialists' (i.e., men paid to take people down) in juvenile court the other day made me feel like I had connections. Just saying.


By the way, you know you can check the stats on number of pageviews, and where the people are who are looking at the blog? We have South Africa listed as a 'source' of 'views'. Thanks, John! (It's the little things...)

Practicum Potential or Pains

Hey friends!!

          After having coffee one morning last week, Bri and I thought it could be a beneficial thing for our senior class to have our own blog. It could be a really fun and useful thing, as it provides us a way to become more of a support group as we are all going through our different practicums. Obviously, there are going to be things that we find stress in as we work through unfamiliar situations, with unfamiliar people, in an unfamiliar setting, so this could be a wonderful way for us to release a little of that. And, of course, as our class tends to see the fun side of things, you will HAVE to post some of the awkward/embarrassing/funny things that happen at work- everyone needs a laugh and hey, this is totally a "safe space". ;)
However, as Bri mentioned in the facebook message, be sure to keep all confidentiality codes and do not post anything that would break any HIPPA violations!


Lets see how this things goes! Looking forward to living life with you guys this semester starting TODAY, when we begin our first senior seminar class @ 1:40. I heard Roslyn will be taking the lead in today's class, to put our questions at ease. See you there!!