thanks christy!!

my sister just made my day by sending me this video...




can you imagine how fun that reception would be??

caroline's moring offering

A few years ago my dear friend (and roommate at the time) Amy shared with me this hand-written prayer of one of her students, a little girl named Caroline. I had not read this prayer in awhile, and came across it tonight as I was looking for something else. This is one I had to share.

God bless you Caroline!! May we all be as loving and pure of heart as you are.

thanks travis!

Yesterday I received the following e-mail and photos from my Uncle Bob-- the story is too neat not to share!

Hi everyone. A man named Travis Gregory who lives in Ames, Iowa called Rich Klempay just the other day. He is an airplane history enthusiast had rebuilt Dad's old airplane that he and Uncle's Butch, Andy, and Tom all learned how to fly. Travis even has the airplane's original logbook. That is how he found Rich. By searching Klempay on the Internet. I hope you can open and view the four attached pictures of the plane.

Thank you Travis G. in Ames, Iowa! These pictures are fantastic & Grandpa would be proud, I'm sure, that his plane is flying again!

debt relief for haiti

$1.2 billion in debt relief approved for Haiti

By JENNIFER KAY

MIAMI (AP) — Roughly two-thirds of Haiti's total debt was cancelled Tuesday when three organizations that provide financial assistance to poor countries announced they're forgiving $1.2 billion of what the Caribbean country owes.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund said their boards decided this week to end Haiti's separate obligations to the two organizations. The move also triggered previously announced debt relief from the Inter-American Development Bank.

As of April, Haiti's debt was more than $1.9 billion, according to the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.

"The debt relief will help us invest in growth and poverty reduction programs," Haitian Finance Minister Daniel Dorsainvil said in a statement. "Haiti has demonstrated over the past four to five years that it can commit itself to a menu of reforms and respect this commitment."

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund added Haiti in 2006 to a program that allows poor countries to reduce what they owe by demonstrating progress in financial stewardship.

Haiti met that program's targets by strengthening tax and customs administration, improving the management of public funds, improving spending on poverty reduction and auditing government accounts, World Bank officials said.

The Inter-American Development Bank had said in March 2007 that it would forgive $511 million of Haiti's debt if it completed that program.

Haiti also approved an HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment plan, improved immunization rates, started programs to train teachers and send 50,000 more children to school and improved its spending on education, officials said.

Officials with the organizations congratulated the Haitian government for meeting its debt cancellation targets in a global economic downturn, even after the country struggled with skyrocketing food and fuel prices and the lashing from four tropical storms that killed some 800 people and caused $1 billion in damage.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

"...not for a few years..."

The following article was just sent to me by my dear friend, Br. Beau Schweitzer. Thank you Br. Beau!!

St. Thérèse's Astronaut Visits Vatican

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. astronaut who carried relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux into space and put them in orbit around the earth attended Benedict XVI's general audience today.

On a Discovery shuttle mission one year ago, Colonel Ronald Garan brought the relics given to him by a Carmelite community in New Caney, Texas.

The astronaut had called the women religious before his space flight to ask for prayers, and at that time he told them he could take some small item into space on behalf of the community.

The sisters reported that the words of St. Thérèse came to mind: "I have the vocation of an apostle. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach your name... But oh, my beloved, one mission would not be enough for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages."

Garan stated that he will be bringing a second relic of the saint to space on his next mission, which is scheduled for March 2011.

The colonel is also the founder of the Manna Energy Foundation that, by using NASA technology and U.N. funding, is implementing a unique system to make potable water in the villages of Rwanda.

Original article is here.

these questions got my attention today...

By these things examine thyself:
By whose rules am I acting?
In whose name?
In whose strength?
For whose glory?
What faith, humility, self-denial and love of God and to man have there been in my actions? - Anonymous

"the weight of glory"

My dear friend Ani recently gave me a marvelous book called "A Year with C.S. Lewis" and I thought I'd share today's excerpt...

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

- from The Weight of Glory C.S. Lewis

I've recently begun my surgery rotation at Children's hospital which I am absolutely loving. I've been blessed on this rotation with the chance to learn from a few fabulous mentors and teachers who I see treat everyone (from those who clean up the operating rooms after surgeries to most novice med student) with respect and dignity. These are incredibly gifted people whose talents as surgeons are matched at least equally by their charity, dedication, kindness and humility. I'm beyond grateful for this experience and grateful that in a profession that truly is an apprenticeship, I've been blessed with such excellent people to learn from. Thank you, God, for chosing these teachers for me-- I do not take it for granted!

I also want to take the chance to say thank you to Ani for the beautiful book and for the inspiration! See you in a few weeks when you come back to Pittsburgh!!

This isn't easy to watch, but I felt compelled to share it...

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

a day to remember

Today as a med student I was blessed to witness something truly miraculous... the birth of a child. No matter how many times this may happen in my career ahead, I think I will always remember this day. My favorite part was when the dad first saw his little girl. I think I can describe it best by saying that I watched a man fall in love. So, so beautiful. (And yes, I cried :-)

Have a beautiful day, and a wonderful weekend! I know I'm looking forward to it-- I'm heading to San Francisco for my good friend Micheal's wedding. Can't wait!! The bonus is that I get to see my sister (and her awesome dog Marlo) too. See you soon Christy!! I'll take lots of pics, and 'see' you all again soon. Much love~

a few pics

i just wanted to say hi and share a few pictures from the past few months that i've been meaning to share. (from time at nd, easter, med school formal, etc.) thank you to all of you who fill this world with such love and beauty... i hope you all have a blessed day today!

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." -g.k. chesterton

happy mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers... especially mine!

"Mothers of children, even if they have a thousand, carry each and every one fixed in their hearts, and because of the strength of their love they do not forget any of them. In fact, it seems that the more children they have the more their love and care for each one is increased." -Saint Angela Merici

communion

I am taking a quick study break, just to share something that has been on my heart very much so the past few days, especially this morning.

Today is a glorious day. The sun is shining, the sky is clear blue, and as I drove up to ND to head to the library for a day of studying, I couldn't help but think about the letter I received yesterday from one of my dearest friends who is in her first year of formation with the Religious Sisters of Mercy.

Two of my closest friends are religious sisters, and this has no doubt been one of the most significant aspects of my life the past few years. (The other friend is with the community of the Disciples of the Lord Jesus.) The longing and the ache of missing these dear friends (and so many others I am often far from) is so real to me. So many times I long to hear their sweet voices, to talk with them, to be in each others' presence, to share our lives, to learn, to grow, to cry, to laugh together...

But... as my sweet friend reminded me in her letter that arrived yesterday, the reality of the spiritual communion that we share in the Body of Christ is stronger than any bond we ever could have otherwise.

The truth is that these two sisters are teaching me that the longing I feel is for something eternal. The reality of feeling closer to them now than ever before (despite not being able to see or speak with them) is such a mystery to me. I enter humbly more deeply into the mystery and the reality of the Body of Christ through the living example of these two women. And when I am at my best I'm able to see through the ache of missing them a light that points towards eternity.

As one of these two friends described so well (and I wanted to share with you today) our 'meeting place' now is in the heart of Christ as we meet at the table and see each other in the Eucharist. I'll let you hear it in her own words. And, of course, the song...





God bless you and I'll
see you in His heart,
nicole

"Yours"

The song on my heart these days...



"My life is Yours. My heart is Yours. My hands and my feet ~ Every song that I sing ~ It's all Yours ~ All is Yours ~ All belongs to You. Our gifts are Yours, God. All our dreams are Yours, God. All our plans are Yours, God. The whole earth is Yours, God..."

for your consideration

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

-Edmund Burke

I would like to take a moment to make all who read this blog aware of the April 9th deadline to submit comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regarding the impending removal of conscience protections for healthcare providers.

In December 2008 the Department of Health and Human services finalized a rule that "forbids discrimination against healthcare professionals who exercise their conscientious rights related to participation in certain controversial medical procedures--most notably, but not limited to, abortion and sterilization." (freedom2care.org)

This rule is about to be overturned.

Bottom line is healthcare providers will lose the right to refuse to participate in acts violating their consciences and face consequences that would follow if they do so.

Please consider writing now to ask the Administration to retain the regulation protecting conscience rights. Comments will be accepted until April 9th, 2009 at http://www.freedom2care.org/.

It takes just moments to register a comment, and comments are welcome from all citizens concerned about this threat to conscience.

A copy of the document from HHS outlining the conscience protection rights that will be overturned is available at the Freedom2Care.org website under the tab "Learn." There are 5 current conscience provisions that will be rescinded. You can read all five at the above mentioned website, and I am listing three of them here:

1) The first conscience provision provides that “[t]he receipt of any grant, contract, loan, or loan guarantee under [certain statutes implemented by the Department of Health and Human Services] . . . by any individual or entity does not authorize any court or any public official or other public authority to require”: (1) the individual to perform or assist in a sterilization procedure or an abortion, if it would be contrary to his/her religious beliefs or moral convictions; (2) the entity to make its facilities available for sterilization procedures or abortions, if the performance of sterilization pro cedures or abortions in the facilities is prohibited by the entity on the basis of religious beliefs or moral convictions; or (3) the entity to provide personnel for the performance of sterilization procedures or abortions, if it would be contrary to the religious beliefs or moral convictions of such personnel.

2) The third conscience provision prohibits discrimination against any physician or other health care personnel in employment, promotion, termination of employment, or extension of staff or other privileges “because he performed or assisted in the performance of any lawful health service or research activity, or because he refused to perform or assist in the performance of any such service or activity on the grounds that his performance of such service or activity would be contrary to his religious beliefs or moral conv ictions, or because of his religious beliefs or moral convictions respecting any such service or activity.”

3) The fifth conscience provision prohibits any entity that receives a grant, contract, loan, or loan guarantee under certain Departmentally implemented statutes from denying admission to, or otherwise discriminating against, “any applicant (including for internships and residencies) for training or study because of the applicant’s reluctance, or willingness, to counsel, suggest, recommend, assist, or in any way participate in the performance of abortions or sterilizations contrary to or consistent with the applicant’s religious beliefs or moral convictions.”

Thank you for reading this, and for considering the urgent need to act on this matter. For more information, please visit http://www.usccb.org/conscienceprotection/index.shtml

where i've been...

hello everyone!

i just wanted to write a little note to let you all know where i've been lately... my medical board exam is coming up on april 28th, so i've been spending most of my time the past month preparing for it.

i'm now back in south bend for my last month of studying... so far so good here. it is nice to be back.

you all are in my thoughts and prayers!

love,
nicole

"Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold."
-zelda fitzgerald

stand by me

From the award-winning documentary, "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music," comes the first of many "songs around the world." Featured is a cover of the Ben E. King classic by musicians around the world adding their part to the song as it traveled the globe. Film soundtrack and DVD in stores on 4.28.09.

Check out Playing for Change: Peace Through Music for more info, more songs, more videos....

introducing....

Dominic Christopher!

This beautiful little guy is the first child of my dear friend (and former roommate!) Amy and her husband Bryan. What a lucky little man to have such awesome parents!!

He is just as sweet as can be, and too cute not to share. Welcome to the world Dominic. We are so blessed that you are here!

'i saw what i saw...'

"May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to his call..." -St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians chapter one verse eighteen

leaning from my saint for the year...

Happy Feast Day of Saint Joseph today and CONGRATULATIONS to Amy and Bryan on the birth of their son, Dominic!