Be Open to God’s Surprising Will

If you had asked me my third year of dental school where I would be in five years, I would not have told you Memphis, Tennessee. I’m from Texas, and I’m one of those Texans who felt like they would always be in Texas because, as the catchy song goes, “God Blessed Texas.” At the same time, I felt God called me to do dentistry for a specific purpose. When looking at my options in Texas, everything felt like it would just be something to do but not what God was calling me to. I’m still not proficient at seeking God’s will, but I was even less proficient then. The Lord had to drop an opportunity right in my lap for me to think outside of what I thought was possible. He had me open an email from CMDA that I almost ignored, and I read a description of the CMDA Dental Residency [+] program that pulled on all the heart strings of what God used to lead me to dentistry. It described working in urban community clinics in Memphis, Tennessee to serve patients with the spiritual love of Christ and physical healthcare through dentistry. It also offered discipleship and a call to expand this vision beyond Memphis to other underserved settings in the U.S. and abroad.

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Learning from Others

What has your experience with mentorship been like? I have had the privilege of being both mentor and mentee with the CMDA Dental Residency [+] program. It has been a wonderful experience learning the different ways mentorship can happen. Before going through the program, my idea of mentorship was very unimaginative. All I really heard about was people finding a good match for an associateship so you could have someone teach you all their wisdom and experience as you grew into who you were as a dentist. While that is a great way to be mentored, I have realized mentorship comes in many forms.

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Convicted of Apathy

Have you been frustrated or angry with anything in the last year? Maybe a better question would be, “How many times have you been frustrated or angry in the last year,” because it was a doozy. Over the course of 2020, God helped me wrestle through a lot of those frustrating things. I thought I’d grown past the point of letting the continued craziness get to me. I recently realized, however, that though I have grown spiritually this year through handling difficulties in my life and the world around me, I have also become apathetic at times as well. I realized my decreased response to bad news wasn’t necessarily maturity but born apathy of being tired of it all. God convicted me of this reality when someone was giving me a news update last week. I just nodded and tuned them out, because in my mind it was just more bad news, and I didn’t want to know more because I didn’t want to have to think about it.

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Go to God First

To reduce no-shows and late cancellations by getting three critical matters right from the start and to get them in the appropriate order.  Otherwise, who knows what will happen. 

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Covid Lessons

This new Covid world has taught us things. We’ve learned more about ourselves, our families, our country, and the world as a whole and how connected it really is.  Have you had a chance to be still and reflect on what you have learned during this tumultuous time?  I’ve had a little time, but I’d like to take more and really sit and thank God for what He’s done in the midst of the brokenness.  Once you do get a chance to reflect, write those thoughts down and share them with someone and then ask them to tell you about what they have learned. The more you share and hear, the bigger and more beautiful the picture will be of what God is doing.  I’ll share with y’all a little of what I’ve learned.

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Breathing Prayer

I know it’s not a new concept, but it was new to me and may be new to you as well. It’s a way to get your mind to sit still and focus on the Word of God and hear His voice. You pick a short verse or verse portion and repeat it by saying the first half as you breathe in and finishing it as you breathe out.

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A Touch of Compassion

Emergency appointments are a big part of our duties and schedules at Christ Community Health Center where I work in Memphis, Tennessee. We have a walk-in day once a week at four out of our five clinics, and we also take several walk-ins on other days at each of our clinics. So, transitioning to only emergencies did not feel too weird, it just made our schedules lighter. During this pandemic, I’m thankful we as dentists can provide much-needed emergency services to treat pain, keep people out of the emergency room or give someone a quick-fix to hold them off until they can have more work done.

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Storms

One of the worship songs this morning at church was “Peace Be Still” (featuring Lauren Daigle). I had never heard it before, but it stirred up various thoughts I’ve had and set them together like puzzle pieces. I have many times been like the disciples or Peter in the midst of “storms.” I’ve been dismayed that, from my perspective, Jesus could be asleep while something so crazy is happening in my life. I have also been in seasons where things are so great and then, all of a sudden, I realize I’m out on the water and freak out and let myself sink. Both times, Jesus has been with me, just like He was with them. Merciful Savior, asking me how I could doubt because He was there the entire time and is more powerful than any storm.

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The Power of Community

I recently returned to work from my maternity leave and was reflecting on what I learned from the time off. The thing that stood out to me most was how incredible it was to have community in my life with family and with the church body. They helped my husband and me in so many ways with our children as we transitioned into life with a newborn and a toddler. Seeing how God used these people to help us in this time of life also showed me how I had taken for granted the encouragement He’s given me in my working life through community as well.

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How to Share with Patients in Despair

I have a handful of patients every month who mention all the pain and brokenness around them when asked what prayer requests they have. Sometimes it’s directly in their lives, and sometimes they are just overwhelmed by all the hopeless stories on the news and the anger people have at each other over different things.

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