Purple martins and pretty hair

Today was a really nice day. Though the bulk of the day felt somewhat unproductive, I did get a bunch of paperwork done for our licenses in Iowa. There is much, much more to be done, but hey- it's a start. April is better organized than I and reminds me that our vaccination needs and prescription med kits should probably take priority. I know she's right, I'm just bad at triage when our to-do list is so long and the items on the list all seem important.

I felt that I performed very well at work today. I'm able to do epidurals largely without assistance now. Epidural anesthesia is really gratifying. The ladies go from being miserable to being happy campers in a matter of minutes. You don't even have to ask if they are feeling better- the positive smile sign is telling enough.

When I got home from work, I found Abbi with yet another great original hair-do (thanks again to Megan Stevens). April and I took Abbi out on the playground outside our apartments. We now live in above the hospital day care- so there is plenty of playground equipment just downstairs.

This is the upside to living in a breeding ground for germs! Abbi discovered the joy of going down the long, winding, fully enclosed tube slide on the big kids side of the playground. She was all grins as she

asked for "more, more, please, please." She's a hoot.

We put her down to bed in the usual fashion- diaper change, reading, singing, and prayer. We then joined our good friends Diana and Dean Kubacz outside of the hospital as the sun set. The Epperlys were good enough to keep an ear out for Abbi crying. It turns out, at sunset during the summer, thousands of purple martins encircle the hospital. I mean thousands. All at once, as if on cue, the flock to the trees that line the southeast parking lot. Bam. It's a little eerie, kinda like a Hitchcock film at first, but then you warm up to it. I looks like asteroids getting sucked into a black hole, just awesome. Dean got some bird poop on his head, a small price to pay for watching something so spectacular.

We were privileged to talk to the Kubaczs, sitting on the hoods of our cars, enjoying the last hurrah of the sun bidding goodbye to the

peach colored sky above Wichita. We talked at length about life after residency. Dean made good

points about how we are all pretty bad about trying to fit God into our plan for our lives. I mean, God had been about his business since the beginning of time. Wouldn't it be much better to look and see what God is doing and just be willing to show up and walk with the Lord in his time, doing his thing. We talked about how churches erroneously gauge spiritually, putting people on a hierarchy with pastors and missionaries on top and everybody else somewhere below, supposedly living far below their potential. What a shame that a guy who is great dad, husband, and neighbor has to feel like he might be doing more for the kingdom of God somewhere else.