Thankful thought - Sometimes your gift finds you ,instead of you finding it

Thankful to be a part of the journey of my bonus daughter who the Spirit lead her to her purpose - sometimes your gift finds you more than you find it 

Transcript

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This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Hello and welcome to Shine. I'm your host, Nicole Florence, and I have a little thankful thought for you today. Now, as many of you know, um I'm a physician. Um I have uh four kids, two uh of whom I guess I would say are mine biologically, but uh my husband and I um also share his biological kits. He has twin daughters that are 25. And yes, we have a blended family. Um we have blended this family now for about 13 years, so definitely during the more formidable teen years of all of our kids, and let me tell you, it was not the breedy bunch. Um I'm not sure what you know other people will say or they say outwardly, oh it's easy, and you know, everybody gets along, and I have this, you know, big, beautiful family. Um, well, God bless them. Uh because we know it it's it's not easy, it's really, really hard. You know, it's hard enough um when you have family with people you feel like you didn't get to choose per se, but let alone family with um people um who you've chosen, but maybe you know those kids didn't necessarily feel like they chose you. Um so out of all my kids, um I have one um who decided to go into um the healthcare field. And I think what's very interesting is I would not have picked her to be one, probably in a gazillion years. Um so she is so um compassionate and empathetic and just you know wears her heart on her sleeve, which is what I love about her. And what is interesting is she was really searching for kind of her purpose, um, what she was going to do and be in her life, and you know, had a lot of different uh jobs, um, you know, server, uh bartender, you know, all of those things, which I think are important jobs to have when you have to learn uh how to handle people, um how to handle yourself around people. And it was a time when her grandfather, who was also my patient, um had a lot of heart issues, had a lot of illnesses in and out of the hospital, and she would take it upon herself when she would spend time with him to uh kind of care for him and you know check his blood pressure or you know notice he was a little short of breath and um you know try to make sure that he was feeling okay, doing okay, was he in the right place? You know, God love her. There were some times she would call me and say, Is this right? Should we be worried? Um and what I found was even though she may not have chosen nursing, um, it really seemed to be where nursing chose her. And as she flourished in school and really thought about what she wanted to do and who she wanted to be, she decided to go into nursing school. And let me tell you, when she told us that I was over the moon. Her nickname is Mooney, so that you know can have so many meanings. And when she was in nursing school, it was it was as if she just blossomed and really felt in her element um academically, she just nailed it. She loved clinicals, and it was really um encouraging and exciting to hear her come home and talk about maybe something she saw or she did, um, something you know that may have made her sad, just all the things that can happen when you're caring for people. And I think in a way for me it was nice to have a different connection, but also for her to have a little bit better understanding of who I was or who I am as a physician and someone who's provided care for people long term. And this week, as I've been thinking about you know my birthday and my purpose, I am just so thankful that this path that I have been given may have somehow impacted her path as she now uh walks into a wonderful uh career in nursing. And so thankful for the relationship that God has allowed us to have. Her sweet mom, um I like to say that we share her daughters. Um I I need to preface it that she allows me um to share and and maybe have a piece or fill in the gaps because we all know it's it's hard to do completely on our own. And throughout this journey with their mother, I have never you know thought that I would be someone who could replace her, right? That you know God entrusted those girls to their mother for a reason, and I cannot, you know, over or supersede that purpose. But I do think that as we walk in our purpose, we have to understand that we are here to journey together, to maybe find some blind spots or fill in the gaps for those who really need it. And I think that's where the spirit guides us most, and I'm sure if many of you look back on your path, I'm sure there's many that you probably not have even would have thought um you would have impacted in a way, um, but the spirit has allowed you a presence that has allowed you to do that. So this week my verse has been Jeremiah 29, 11. And although we look at that verse uh more uh selfishly, right, egocentrically, about the purpose that God has for us, um, I hope now as we read it you start to understand that our plan and our purpose is not just for us, but it's for those around us. So I'm thankful that I can now see that as I look back on my bonus daughters. I always say bonus, I don't like the word step because it's too negative. Um but as I look on my bonus daughter's um path and how she was guided, um, I believe by the spirit, where her purpose found her, and in the ways I may have been able to help guide her uh on that path with the gifts that I have been given. So Jeremiah 29, 11, and I'm leading reading from the She Reads Truth Bible, for I know the plans I have for you. This is the Lord's declaration. Plans for your well-being, not for a disaster, to give you a future and a hope. You will call to me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. So as we look to him and as we enrich the gifts that we have been given, I hope that we understand that our purpose is not just for us, but our purpose sometimes lies in the paths of others. And I'm so thankful for being able to be in a place to help guide that path for my bonus daughter, who just accepted a job as an ICU nurse in the hospital system that I've worked for now for 25 years. Congratulations. And I'm thankful for her mom who has allowed me to walk the journey with them. And her dad too, but as a mom, I'm thankful for her mom for allowing me to be a part of this journey. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.