I just wanted to jot down a few thoughts that have floated through my mind this past week. And I noticed that it's been about 6 months since a post! And a lot has happened like graduations, Costa Rica, SPEC, random traveling, ordinations, and "see you laters". Each one requires a specific post, but for now, I will just share my BAYA thoughts from last week.
I was sitting in a conference on perinatal health in the state of Hawaii and the presenter was sharing his thoughts on how it's important to have good health even before getting pregnant, and the one thing that was interesting to me (besides that women should see their dentist before and during pregnancy) was this idea of relational resilience. The context was for women to have "meaning, find a purpose in life, and have a circle of friends who support them" before becoming a parent. So that when stress in every day life reaches it's peak, there is a way to diffuse it. I googled this idea and found some research on child development, so you teachers/parents out there may have already heard about this.
But being more resilient is a product of BAYA for me. My relationships with this group makes me stronger, gives me courage, feel loved, accepted, and challenges me to be better. It's kind of like a song I've heard, Pride of Lions by Chad Elliott. ( #9) Hmmm, he's got something there, doesn't he?
I don't know the exact ingredients that one can put into building these types of relationships, but common themes are fun, service, and worship. And I'm not just talking about the Sunday stuff. For me the worship happened at Pt. Reyes, up in Redmond, Oregon for Turkey Day, praying with me when my stress reached its max during residency, enjoying Fall at the pumpkin patch, hanging with the Homework Club crew (and the after parties), and meeting for dinner/dessert last minute because we just need to debrief the day. Scoop anyone? I suppose this group became my family, and for that I'm grateful.
Mahalo, BAYA, for all the good times and the ones to come.
