Thoughts on My Career Purpose

Yes, I am training to become a Christian Social Worker. I fully believe it is possible to be both. I am not one of those people who is going to snatch away children from the home-unless harm is coming upon the children. I am a mandatory reporter and it is one of the duties of my job. I follow the NASW Code of Ethics, respect the field of social work and also following the calling God has given me to help and show compassion upon the hurting sick and needy. I am not here to pass judgment, to hate others, to force people to change. I will however help people have access to the resources in their community to help them improve their lives. I will fight against injustice. I will not let the cruelty of the world turn me bitter, I will do what I can do be an example of Jesus and bring light and hope into the darkened parts of the world.

networking

I just found this website http://social-babble.com that is advertised as a new and noteworthy networking site where Social Workers meet!

Maybe this will be a great resource for some, including me :)

placement concerns

Much prayer needed regarding my internship placement and decisions that are needing to be made. It's outta my hands, Lord have Your way.

stress relief: five websites i like to browse

1. http://www.socialworkblogs.info/ - it's great to be able to find blogs and people who are going through/have gone through the same stuff I am going through in grad school getting my MSW.

2. amazon.com-not only is it a great resource for getting much cheaper textbooks, it's also a great place to pick up dvd's for cheap and whatever else i may like---if only shipping wasn't so much tho...

3. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/-my favorite site to go to after a baddd day (like this past Thursday after I got spoken to by my internship supervisor :(). It gives me so many ideas on what I would/wouldn't like for a wedding cake one day as well as giving me more than a few laughs.

4. http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/-Because we all know people like this exist out there :p Another good site for laughter therapy.

5. biblegateway.com-because sometimes God knows exactly what I need to read

What are your favorite sites that help you relax these days?

Cast all your cares upon God

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phillippians 4:6 NIV) 

Not only do our clients have issues, but so do we. Practicing self-care is so important or else all the struggles we have had in the past can re-emerge. This past weekend I must confess I was struggling with feelings of inadequacy and overly anxious about my internship, assignments, and other expectations from my grad courses. Not only do we have to instill hope about others, we have to first make sure we have it within ourselves. No one likes a fraud, no one wants to be one either. So in being true to ourselves and others, we have to take care of ourselves and work through our bad days to bring on the good ones so we can be effective to others. We don't want to be burnt out, otherwise we will just be more miserable in our efforts to do our job and our true calling and passion will be lost. I know that all this is easier to say than to be done. For me to cope with my career, life, ect., it's a process of implementing positive things in my personal life over time that will bring joy and peace to my life. For example, instead of spending that extra hour before bed that I don't want to do homework, I may read a book that's not related to social work, watch one of my favorite movies, or like I have been doing recently, work on a puzzle. Even though I don't have much time to get my mind off things, these little things helps. I learned I have to make the time or else I will be unable to get a good night's sleep. Another thing that helps me is that while I am in the car, instead of tuning into the radio, I will put on Christian music like Misty Edwards, Jason Upton, Tim Hughes, Hillsong United, Tim Hughes, David Crowder Band, ect. This music gets my mind off the things of the world and onto focusing on God who has made all things possible for me. While I am traveling to or from classes and internship, this is a time I look forward to when I can get a break from the craziness of the world that faces me. So I hope that I can continue to do these things because once in awhile is not enough. Self-care is a lifestyle that I must continue to remind myself I need to practice for my own personal mental health.

getting there one day at a time

As I imagined, today was incredibly stressful. I got up on not enough hours of sleep, wrote a 4 pg paper then headed to class.

In class, which is group work, it was week 1 of learning about the different therapy's you can do out there with work. For the first part of the class we did cognitive behavioral therapy relaxation exercises. I can't believe I used to think breathing exercises were bull b/c I realized I needed to RELAX. The girl who facilitated today was amazing which talking to us soothingly and told us to relax our bodies muscle by muscle from head to toe (i realized how tense i was) then gave us a scenario to picture us on a magic carpet taking us five years into the future into a place hovering over our house and us peering inside from above. We were told to imagine what it would be like. I imagined being in a house near my grandparents farm with candles being lit and me just relaxing and reading a book with my boyfriend relaxing too. The atmosphere was warm, calm, and peaceful. It was a great exercise and gave me hope for what is to come.

The next part of the class was where we practiced client centered therapy where we wrote on a bag things that we perceived about ourselves then inside the bag was a piece of paper which we passed to around the circle where each person wrote what they thought of us, then when we were done we were asked to compare what we wrote about ourselves and what others wrote about us. Of course, I wrote I was quiet and so did everyone else. But then someone spoke up and said she said this was not a bad quality because I was not quick to speak. This showed strength and also exemplified that when I did speak my words were powerful which could be compared to the example of Jesus. That was truly an amazing thing to say---seriously.

That was the best therapy sessions I have gotten ever haha and it was done by other social work students like me. I think it just goes to show the power of caring and faith mixed together. AMAZING :)

Now I just need to hang in there till the end of the week.

Internship tomorrow which I need to go prepare for. I am meeting with my first two kids individually tomorrow. Also, I have to have my scrapbooking club objectives all together. Sooo much to do and sometimes I just don't want to talk to anyone or see anyone but I have to get through it all because it will just make me stronger in the end.

Hard to believe I am gonna be 24 in four days, I am so blessed that I will be spending it with my real family.