Faith, Hope, and Love

On August 15, 2014, a friend (also my co-worker) emailed to see how my family in Nigeria was doing when she heard it had spread there. Below was my response (written on August 16 th ) and it answers why I partially hijacked my sister’s blog… I initially tried to use the Note function on Facebook but it didn’t seem to be working so I gave up and just wrote in dependable Microsoft Word – this reminds me to give a special shout out to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for donating money ($50 million) and services to the Ebola epidemic.  –TAI Thanks for always being so sweet... I have mixed emotions about it all: sad, hopeful, bitter, guilty, relieved, confused, and honestly...  terrified ... I think the scary answer is that only time will tell. What is known is that Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have been struggling with this crisis a long time and any numbers reported are underestimations. For Nigeria, it's so new and yet has the potential to be disastrous. It

More thoughts from my sister about Ebola. --B :-) The Problem with Ebola, Part 2                                                                         October 2, 2014 [May] the L ord turn his face toward you and give you peace. – Numbers 6:26 Ebola is especially terrifying to people, EVERYwhere around the world. As a doctor, I was reflecting, the ER was one of my most dreaded places because anything (i.e., any virus, bacteria) could show up and for at least a period of time, you were exposed to them. After you assess someone and then later fear they may have Tuberculosis (TB), you get a little/lot nervous (this is the year my TB skin test will turn positive, I would think) or learn that the person you are caring for with/without gloves has Hep C/B/HIV (let's not even get to the accidental finger sticks). I even remember taking care of a pregnant woman who was sick and turned out to be H1N1 flu positive (during the year it was viewed with most fear)... I washed my han

Over the past few months, there's been a lot of talk about Ebola in West Africa. And this has sparked a lot of responses from Africans, both on the continent and in the Diaspora. It's also sparked a lot of responses from the Western world--many that have felt ignorant and upsetting to me as an African. My biggest pet peeve has been how the media has portrayed it. I was in journalism for a while, and I've always found a strong distaste for articles that were more about sensation than about clear, objective reporting. Most of the articles I've read have promoted ignorance and a "panic" about Ebola versus really presenting the reality of the disease and how it's being handle. An example: West Africa has a lot of countries. And only 4 of those countries have been dealing with Ebola. Two of the four have contained it and it is no longer a problem. Yet all the articles simply just reference "West Africa."  As a doctor, my sister has had lots of th

I've decided. Next year, when I turn 30, I'm celebrating my birthday for 30 days. My birthday is on the 1st, and September has 30 days... so it's perfect. I know... it sounds crazy. And maybe a bit self-absorbed. But as I got closer to my birthday this year, I realized that I had never really gone all out for my birthdays since I became an adult. As a kid, we planned our own. My sisters and I would come up with themes and execute pretty stellar parties. But I think my last big party was when I was like 10. After that, they remained pretty simple--dinner with family and friends, maybe a movie or a show. Even most of my "milestone" birthday passed with little fanfare. Age 13: I think it was a Wednesday and my church family came over afterwards for cake and ice-cream. I remember asking for only one thing: A Bible... which as a pastor's kid, you know I got. Age 16: Four friends came over and we went to the mall. I used my birthday money to buy a bun

Yesterday, I began a new chapter in life. I turned 29. Holy cow! It's the last year of my 20s!!! I don't even what to contemplate what that means... should I be excited? terrified? Last year, I was not all that thrilled about turning 28. I think I was just down about life not being all I expected it to be. And as the days grew closer to my birthday this year, I could feel myself feeling all down and pathetic about life. Like getting older was a curse, instead of a blessing. So I decided to change my tune and celebrate life. FRIDAY: I got to sing the National Anthem at the an Astros game !!! Granted this wasn't planned in honor  of my birthday, but it was a great way to get the weekend started. I'm not a huge sports fan, but I am a huge fan of new experiences. And this was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Check that off the bucket list! And the best part is that the Astros were playing the the Rangers! And... THE RANGERS WON! (Sorry, Astros fans..

For work, we recently had to take the StrengthsFinder test. The test gives you your top 5 "talents" and those talents, plus knowledge and skills, become your strengths and can make you better at whatever you do in life (in this case, teaching). Doing this made me think: What if my students were equally aware of who they are and what natural talents they have because of their personality? How might this shape how they work in class? And if I am aware of their talents, how might I better relate to my students? Could it make me a better teacher if I knew both my talents and my students ? Well, we're giving it a shot. And so during the 6th grade Culture/Testing Week, one of the sessions will be about personalities. I'm not actually teaching/leading it, but I helped plan it and during that process we took a variety of tests to figure out the simplest version for 11- and 12-year-olds. We settled on the True Colors test (another version we considered and could be c

So just before I left for this mission trip, I re-read and finished the Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter (awesome author, by the way). So... I'm going to take a page out of Cammie Morgan's book and create a pro and con list for everything I've experienced so far and what I've been taking away from this mission trip (also the amazing sisterhood I've seen among the daughters of As Our Own kind of reminds me of the GG sisterhood... only this one is real and a lot more life-changing, in my opinion). While the approach might be a little tounge-in-check/silly, there are two things I want to point out: There are infinitely more pros than cons. Many of the cons are actually just pros in disguise. Writing both out is in a way recording the little and big joys and gifts of this trip. Whether pro or con, I've learned so much about me, God, my relationships with Him and others. I'm still processing, and I don't feel radically different right now, but I a