This was a good weekend for reexamining priorities. Dan came to visit for a conference and we got a chance to eat and walk and talk. It's been seven - seven! - years since our trip to East Timor, and we took a little time to look back on how far we'd come and look ahead toward the great unknown.

He's taking time off in the middle of his residency for an MPH and research. He's likely looking at a pediatric surgery fellowship in the future. As for international work, it's still his goal, but he's less sure what shape it will take.

We talked a lot about the difficulty of committing to overseas medicine, especially as we get older and family considerations are being, you know, considered.

Dan: Who would want to give up everything to help people they don't even know?

And the question hung in the night air, right next to the answer that neither of us had the strength to say.

Today, the El Salvador mission team was back at church and Anson spoke about seeking the Kingdom of God before ourselves. And I thought about what that meant for me.

I've started to have people ask me in earnest about my plans for after residency, and I've responded that I don't have the slightest idea right now. Whatever I decide, I should begin to make preparations towards the end of this year. It's just that, when I looked up at the night sky yesterday, there were clouds everywhere with nary a star to be seen.

"Play songs by Kah-rah," I said.

After the slightest hesitation, a Nichole Nordeman song began playing. Eat up Martha, indeed.

I then decided to give it what it wanted.

"Play songs by Kara," I said.

And the sweet sounds of Honey filled the air.

So far third year has been a little more stressful than I prefer. It's true that I get to spend most of my time in the OR nowadays, but I still don't get to do as much as I'd like. Hopefully that will change as the year goes on. I also have more responsibility than before, including keeping the interns from killing all our patients. A quick word of advice: try to avoid teaching hospitals in July.

Providing a welcomed distraction has been the arrival of my new iPhone, antenna brouhaha and all. I ordered a case when I ordered the phone, so it went on right away. The case also came with a screen protector, which I tried and failed to put on correctly. I decided that if I get a scratch, well, that's life. Things get used, things get old, things get lived, and they show it. My Yah-Tah car now has a few minor scratches and bumps, and it feels more lived in. My condo has a bunch of clutter, and I find it more comfortable. My face has a few more wrinkles, and it looks more, well, ok, I just look old. But you get the point.

Hopefully, my iPhone and I will grow old together (for two years). And when I ask it to play songs by Kara, it will smile at me, touch my hand gently, and say, "It's Kah-rah, dear. It's Kah-rah."