CABG

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft. That's what we commonly refer to as bypass surgery. My dad is having quadruple bypass surgery this morning. Friday he went in for an angiogram and today he's having this procedure. A lot of my family is coming in to be with him and to support my mom, my siblings, and me. It's nice to know that we have that support system. Also, it's wonderful to know that there are a lot of people offering up prayers on my dad's behalf. It's interesting to think about my father's life. I know that he has dedicated it to serving God. Sometimes he and I disagreed about how one went about doing that - serving God, but I know that my father worked hard to do that to the best of his ability. His heart wanted to do exactly what God wanted - it is his humanness that limited him - it is God's grace that redeems him. I pray that my dad comes out of today's surgery alright and that he continues to spread the gospel. It is during these times of uncertainty that I think we all wonder about life, death, and regret. My dad and I haven't had the best relationship, but we've had a relationship to the best that he and I know how to have. I know, without a doubt, that he loves me and did the best that he possibly could do. Keep him in your prayers - I want to continue to have that relationship - flawed as it may be. Thanks for reading.

Mock Quals

Wheeeww. I don't know if I spelled that right, but it's supposed to be a sigh of relief. My mock qualifying theory exam is over. Yeah!! It was what we did as a final in my Advanced Counseling Theories course. We had two questions to answer in three hours. The first question was concerning diversity and how different counseling theories address/integrate phenomena associated with diversity. I had to pick two theories that I thought addressed diversity well and then pick two theories that I thought didn't address it well. For anyone who's interested, I chose existential counseling and integral counseling as adaptable to many different clients; I chose classical psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology as those that don't address diversity as well as the previously mentioned theories. The second question asked me to respond to other mental health professionals who asserted that a person didn't need to pick a guiding theory of counseling. Do those sound fun or what? All in all, I think I did pretty good. I wrote about seven pages of text double spaced.

So now that that is over, I have to study for my statistics exam. Preparing for today's exam really makes me ponder what it is that causes people to "change." There are so many different ideas and I do believe that each one has validity; however, from my narrow, egocentric perspective I believe that insight and awareness are what counseling can provide, but that change is a very individual, complex process. It may be that change isn't even the right term to use there. I can't think of a word that reflects what I'm trying to say. Anyway, thinking about how people are, how they exist, how they function, how they get through pain is an amazing thing. It makes my head hurt. God made us all unique, and this uniqueness is displayed in how we each deal with what comes our way. Alright, I've got to get to work but I wanted to take some time to celebrate life going on after mock quals. Thanks for reading.

Happy Birthday John!

Today, December 3rd, is a really good friend's birthday. So I want to start out by saying Happy Birthday to John Cole. John is the kind of friend everyone needs to have - he's really smart, but is so laid back about it. He's also always been there for me when I needed a good friend. I know that he and his family are moving to Michigan in January and that makes me sad, but I know they won't be gone for long and will return to Texas as soon as they possibly can (because really, who wouldn't?!?). So, it's crunch time and I really need to start studying for my final in advanced theories. I think it's going to be difficult. Hopefully, my stats exam won't be that hard - I think it should matter that my professor and I pledged the same fraternity - I shouldn't have to take the test. It gets to me that I put so much emphasis on grades. Carl Rogers would say that because of an environment of conditional positive regard by significant others, I put conditions of worth upon myself. It's not others' conditional worth of me, but my own conditional worth of me that causes despair. Ain't that the truth! The sad thing is that those conditions of worth are so meaningless. Finding success, being intelligent, gaining pleasure, etc. They're all a big nothing in the big picture. What's the big picture? I think it's so big, I can't even begin to understand it. But the struggle I face daily is that even though things are bigger than me and much more complex and I know these "earthly" things are meaningless, I still strive for meaning because I am human. I really think I can bring meaning to my life. Am I cocky or what? Really, it makes me laugh - and I'm sure it makes God laugh too. Alright, enough jabbering. Hope all who are reading are doing well. Later.