Skylar Rolf

Distract Me From Myself

Things have been pretty fun around the INMED office lately.  Dr. Comninellis just returned from his annual trip to Angola, we have a new team member who will begin working with our students, and we had a board meeting last Thursday.  We’re gearing up for the next year…starting to plan the next Exploring Medical Missions Conference…even have a theme already…but you’ll have to wait until October to find out!

One of the favorite things that we sell at INMED is the “INMED T-shirt“.  It’s a blue (my favorite color!) shirt with the INMED logo on the front, and on the back it has the quote: “You must give some time to your fellow men. Even if it’s a little thing, do something for others - something for which you get no pay but the privilege of doing it.” - Albert Schweitzer

This quote is one that really challenges me…as a person who’s grown up in the church, I’ve experienced  the culture of “serving others” ever since I can remember.  However, I’ve found that serving others often becomes a self-serving (at least for me) effort of trying to gain attention and approval from those around me.  In those moments, I’m not really serving anyone else…I’m only using the “act” of serving as a means for approval from others.  And that’s why Schweitzer’s quote is so challenging to me…the emphasis is on doing something for someone else that results in no benefit to myself.  When was the last time I gave of myself in a sacrificial way purely for the others benefit?  I’m reminded of a Friends episode where Phoebe tries to prove to Joey that she can do something for someone else with no benefit to herself…but she has such a hard time coming up with something that she doesn’t get any benefit from.

So, what then should I do? Should I stop doing good for others all together unless I have 100% pure motives?  That doesn’t resonate quite right.  After all, if we didn’t do something until we felt like we were doing it for 100% pure motives, I probably wouldn’t do much of anything for anyone ever!

I think my conclusion is that I need to ask the Lord to distract me from myself.  Left to my own nature, the world will revolve around Me, Myself, and I.  But with the Lord’s help, I’ll begin to look beyond the mirror and start to love others as Christ calls me to.  It’s in those moments where I truly start to focus on another’s needs that I forget about myself and find the satisfaction that Schweitzer refers to…”I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know; the only one’s among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

What about you?  Why do you serve others?

To follow up…

In my last post, I emphasized the importance of rest in my life.  Unfortunately, the last two weeks have been anything but restful.  My life has been chaotic and unfortunately I have not put the priority on rest that I emphasized before.  And I can tell…I’m looking forward to the opportunity to take some time off on Sunday and get some real R & R.

Things around INMED are exciting.  We’re gearing up for the 2010 Exploring Medical Missions Conference.  This is the 5th one that INMED has hosted, and the 4th one that I’ve been able to be apart of.  We feel pretty good about the way things are coming around, although there will almost certainly be last-minute snags that come up that we’ll have to wade through.

In addition, we’ll be hosting the INMED International Medicine Intensive Course from June 7 - 18 and the Public Health Intensive Course from June 14-18.  We have 32 students signed up for the 2-week course as of now, which is the same number that we had last year.  Reflecting on how great the experience was last year, I’m looking forward to meeting these brave souls who have agreed to come to Kansas City for 2 weeks and receive training for medical missions.  I am certainly excited to meet them!

Rest

As an American, efficiency is a cultural norm and expectation.  We want everything we do to be done as fast as possible and as well as possible.  Sometimes we’ll give up quality to gain more quantity.  To do nothing for an afternoon seems so unproductive and wasteful of time.  Why would we waste time when that’s the one thing in our lives we never can get more of.  In reality, no matter what we tell ourselves, each of us has less time left on this earth than the day before.  That’s one way to look at it.

Recently, I’ve been exploring, thinking, and learning about the idea of REST.  Growing up, I was thankful that my parents didn’t work on Sundays.  We went to church and then enjoyed the rest of the day together…whether it be watching a football game, playing outside, or taking a nap, each of us had some restful time throughout the day. You better believe I appreciated going to church when I was young…. it meant I didn’t have to go outside and work on the farm!

I find it very interesting and challenging that God rests.  The idea of rest is everywhere in Scripture…beginning with God resting on the 7th day of creation to Jesus taking time away from the crowds and disciples to rest in the presence of God.

So, why do we have the tendency to work ourselves to death with a philosophy of life of more, more, more and do, do, do?  Since entering the working world and being out on my own, it’s been easy for me to avoid practicing the discipline of rest.   I think there are several factors…and I’ll get to those in my next post, after I take the weekend to rest.

March Madness Is Here

March Madness.  These are soothing words to a sports fan like me who wades through the nothingness of February (except for during an Olympic year!).  The Big 12 tourney is in full swing here in Kansas City.  KU fans are talking about making another run for a title.  K-State fans are hoping to make the final four.  All these hopes and aspirations crammed into 3 weeks of what many call the greatest single sporting event of the year.  I love this time of year.

As I sit here on a Friday afternoon anticipating the bracket that I’ll be filling out Sunday night, I’m wondering what’s it’s like to be on the outside looking in.  And I’m not talking about the Nebraska Cornhuskers or Creighton Bluejays (my 2 favorite teams…neither of who will be playing in March Madness) of the world. Rather, I’m pondering what “March Madness” appears to a child in Africa who just lost his mother to HIV.  What about the persecuted Missionary in Asia or the young woman who thought she was being sent to America for a good job but instead finds herself trapped in sexual slavery? Or even the homeless man who wanders around downtown while fans go in and out of the Big 12 Tournament basketball games?  As a nation, we are in an economic crisis that is very real to many, many people.  Yet, I wonder how many bets will be placed on this 65 team tournament.  How much of that money could be used for something else?

I’m not saying March Madness or sports in general are a bad thing.  Not at all.  I think there are many, many benefits to sporting events.  It helps stimulate the economy, provides a physical and emotional outlet for both participants and fans, and can do a lot to lift the spirits of a community in difficult times.

Someone once told me that if a stranger had a 15 minute conversation with me, he’d be able to know what I really care about in life.  If I had to guess, I’d be talking a lot about sports in that 15 minutes. This is a sobering thought for me and makes me ask the question, what do I really care about? Where do I invest my time & my money?  It’s something to think about…

Does social media make your world go round?

If you’re living and breathing right now, chances are that you probably can’t get away from social media no matter how hard you try.  I just found out this week that my Grandpa has joined facebook!  Seriously…I remember the days when facebook was used for the primary purpose of staying in touch with your long lost friends and perhaps posting pictures of the latest social event you attended.  Now you can play mafia wars, give your friends virtual “gifts” (seriously, who wants a ‘virtual’ candy bar…give me the real thing!), and advertise yourself, product, or company.

Like most things, I believe that social media can be used for good or bad, depending on how we use it.  For example, I have a friend who organized a prayer walk this week for their community and invited people to this event using Facebook and Twitter.  Sounds like a good thing to me!  But at the same time, I’ve personally found that facebook, twitter, or other social medias can consume much more of my time and energy than is healthy.

So what?  I think it’s important that we examine our lives to see if the things we participate in are benefical not only for us but for the people we care about.  If a husband is always checking his twitter feed for the latest sports news, how much time is he paying attention to what his wife or children need from him?  If I spend 30 minutes a day looking at pictures from last weekends party that I wasn’t invited to, what good is that doing in me?  If I’m consumed with winning mafia wars on facebook, am I really maximizing my time?   Psalm 90:12 says “Teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.”  This verse encourages me to consider the limited days of my life and to try to focus on what God’s calling on my life is and to consider how social media plays into that role.

How does  social media help or hinder your life?

Oh the Humanity…

For those who know me well, I am a huge fan of the television show Seinfeld.  While this show is often silly, I do think it provides some insightful perspective into us as humans.  Here’s a quick clip for your viewing enjoyment…Oh The Humanity

One of the most notable things that I think the show Seinfeld exemplifies is the human desire of always wanting something more.  George & Elaine are always wanting a better apartment.  When George is working, he wishes he didn’t have a job…or a different one.  When he isn’t working, he wishes he had a job  None of the characters are married…it seems they’re rarely satisfied with what they have.

I’ve been thinking recently about this desire…no matter what we have, it’s in our human nature to desire a bigger house, a better tv, a nicer car, a more prestigious degree, a higher paying job.  I wrestle with these things often…and my guess is that you do to.  The problem is…these things never satisfy.  I once heard it said that most people who are married wish to be single and that most people who are single wish they were married.  The grass (or house!) is always looks greener on the other side of the street. Sure, we hear often that wealth won’t satisfy us, but do we really believe that?  Sometimes life seems like it would be much better if my salary doubled.  I’d sure like the chance to find out!

So why do I bring this up? Well, I believe that the remedy to this struggle is that of love and service.  One of the key inspirations of INMED is this quote by Albert Schweitzer:

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

When we begin to put others needs and desires before ours, we start to think less of what we want and more of what they need.  In Luke 9:24-25, Jesus says: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

The next time you find yourself wanting a bigger or better _______, how will you respond?

A Life of Luxury…

As I was sitting in the dentist chair this morning, I was reminded of just how much I hate going to get my teeth cleaned.  The hygenist doing the cleaning was as nice as can be, even giving me some goggles to wear while she polished my teeth.  Still, I was counting the minutes to when I would be done.

As I was suffering through, I began to think of how good I have it.  Here I was sitting in a nice, warm office, with a flat screen TV with reports of what’s happening in Haiti in the background.  How could I complain about having to get my teeth cleaned?  How many people in developing countries never even get to have there teeth looked at by a dentist, much less have them cleaned on a regular basis?

This thought gave me a little perspective on my life.  2 weeks ago it was miserably cold here in KC, but I had a warm house to live in, blankets to sleep under, and friends and family to call if I got lonely.  How many people in the world outside of the U.S. and some countries in Europe could say the same?

CNN reported that more money has been given to relief in Haiti than was given for Katrina relief.  I wonder…as our country faces this economic recession, if the opportunity to give to others will change our focus from our problems and reminding us of the people who go through their day wondering where there next meal will come from.

Here we are…

in the middle of January.  This last week was FREEZING in KC.  So much so that the 30 degrees we have today seems like a nice spring day.

I found myself extremely thankful last night for how the Lord has blessed me with some amazing friends.  How am I so blessed?

I’ve recently remembered how much I love math.  Do you remember when your 5th grade teacher told you that you were going to need to be able to do mental math to calculate how much your groceries were going to cost you?  yeah….that was before cell phones.  i can just open my flip phone and figure it out in a jiffy.  but i find that I’d rather do it on my own.  it’s more fun that way.  anyone else love math?

Christmas is coming…

I love living in Kansas City.  I’m so thankful for my friends, my church family, my personal family, the INMED team, and I’m excited to spend Christmas with different members of each of these communities.  I am really blessed to know all of you!

We are smack dab in the middle of the ADVENT season…the time Christ followers remember and anticipate the coming of Christ.  The above picture is the way Christmas looks in Kansas City.  I wonder what it looked like in Bethlehem 2009 year ago??

What are you doing to celebrate the anticipation of the coming of Christ?

Today is International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

Returning to work this week, I am thankful for the time off this past weekend to enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving holiday with my family.  I was stuffed to the brim with good food and had the opportunity to experience some much needed rest.  Reflecting on my life right now, I confess that I have it pretty good.  I’m thankful for a great job, family, friends, and a place to live.  It’s rather easy to be thankful…when I actually take a few moments to do just that. My dad always told me that there is someone off worse than you.  how true these words are!

In line with this comment, I’ve been shocked to become aware of the issue of sex trafficking, which is basically the enslavement of (mostly) women and children by a pimp to use to solicit sex.  This is a very heavy subject that is a reality both abroad and in the U.S.  Until 2 months ago, I never imagined that slavery is still happening…especially not in the U.S.!

As I’ve learned more about this subject, I’ve learned a few interesting facts.

-  Over 15,000 individuals are trafficked into the US yearly.

- Over 100,000 American children are subject to commercial sexual exploitation every year.

- Nearly 1/3 of all trafficking victims will see a healthcare provider during the time that thye are being trafficked.

This last fact stuck out to me….it seems that healthcare professionals have the opportunity to “look beneath the surface” of patients and identify potential victims. Some questions to ask a potential victim may include:

-  Are you being held against your will?  Do you have a choice of where (or how much) you work?  Can you come and go as you please?

An organization called Doctors At War has been formed for physicians and other healthcare professionals to partner against trafficking worldwide.  To learn more about identifying a potential human trafficking victim, visit their website at www.doctorsatwar.org