We are given an apartment and a stipend to live here for one month so Stephen can get some hands on experience in the local clinic. Throughout the month Stephen is supposed to get to know the community, find a missing health related need, and then implement a solution! Harder than it seems...
The town of Delta Junction has a population of 900 people and the closest hospital is an hour and a half away, so the clinic sees a little bit of everything from sniffy noses to babies being born! (There's usually about two births a year that can't make the drive to Fairbanks and come to the clinic, and last week happened to bring in one very pregnant gal and Stephen got to see his first live birth!) He's seen a few car crash patients, lots of little kids, sewn up ripped ear lobes... The town of Delta Junction keeps it interesting!
There isn't much to Delta Junction, though it is surrounded by woods and rivers and lakes (plenty of hiking and outside activities!). There's a grocery store, a couple restaurants/coffee shops, a library (that's surprisingly impressive), and a pretty awesome park with a frisbee golf course in it. Annd that's about it ;) The town is mostly a drive through town, as it's on the way to Valdez and the starting point of the Alaskan Highway that goes all the way through Canada and down to the lower 48.
The apartment we were given is a small studio with a rock hard bed, card table and folding chairs, itty bitty oven, and one sexy brown and tan velour couch. Niiiiice. It even smells like Great Grandma. Yum. But it is free. And free is good. Very good.
I've been passing the day away by cooking, working out, cleaning, lots of talking to my momma, and getting eaten by mosquitoes! I'm up to 18 bites right now, two the size of nickles! Alaskan summers are beautiful and full of sunshine, but they are also full of bugs...
It isn't easy to move here and there and feel like the extra person. At least, not as easy as I thought. Though I chose to ride this roller coaster and would never want to be anywhere else, it's hard not to get bitter and selfish. (You mean it's not all about me all the time?! ...Get over it, Allison!) I'm slowly learning that my happiness can't come from Stephen, or my family, or my friends, or the place that I live, or the job that I have... Those things do make me happy, very happy, but they will fail. They will let me down. They aren't responsible for my happiness so I shouldn't hold them accountable for it. That's why we act out at the people we love when things aren't going our way. It's not fair. And it's not ok. My happiness cannot come from earthly things because they are just that, things! We're certainly allowed and expected to have bad days. We're allowed and expected to get down and get selfish. But it's not healthy to make those around you feel guilty for your unhappiness. Nor is it healthy to wallow in that bad day. Who knew I'd be learning just as much in life as Stephen is in the clinic ;) So, to my husband... I'm sorry for my bad day. I'm sorry I held you responsible for my happiness, though you do bring me endless smiles and joys. I'm sorry that in my unhappiness I ruined dinner and a game of fisbee golf. I cannot promise that my mistakes will not repeat themselves, but I can promise that I will try my hardest to find my happiness in Jesus and share the joy that He gives me with you. Thank you for loving me in spite of my bad days, and thank you for loving me through my bad days. Thank you for loving me :)
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