Start of a New School Year

I've finally made it to my 50th post and what perfect timing! I'm happy to announce that Robbie received notification that he passed the Part I Dental Boards! Part II of the Boards isn't until his 4th year so it's nice to have such a big test out of the way for awhile.

Here's a picture of the notice. I used Photoshop to highlight the important part.

Many of you may have a Dental Student starting their first year over the next few weeks so I just wanted to offer some encouragement today. Thinking back to one year ago, I had a lot of anxiety about what the coming months would bring. I didn't know what Dental School would be like for Robbie, how the time requirements would affect our marriage, and what specific challenges lay before us. If you're new to my blog, I recommend checking out my post on How to Thrive While Your Husband is in Dental School for a few concrete tips that could help you adjust to life with a Dental Student.

Robbie put so much hard work into his first year: weekend study sessions at Starbucks, hours and hours of lab practice, memorization, sweat, and a few tears. I'm realizing today what a special gift it is that I get to see this process unfolding. Yes, his friends and family likely notice how busy he is, but as his wife I bare a special witness to the sacrifice and endurance Dental School has required from him. I've been there when he was going through flash card after flash card of Dental Morphology and Pathology and Gross Anatomy. I heard his quiet mumblings as he recited things to himself to make sure he remembered what he studied. I've seen him when he's confident and seen him when he is in great need of encouragement. Most amazingly, I have been witness to the incredible power of praying together before tests and practicals, at the end of a long day, or just when we felt a little distant from one another due to busy schedules. I've seen God's truth and love obliterate lies, rejuvenate Robbie's spirit, adjust both our attitudes, and draw the two of us closer together in our marriage.

Your Dental Student will likely have days where they come home feeling like crap because of the overwhelming amount of information they need to study, because they feel like their lab work isn't improving quickly enough, or because they have two or three tests every week and just can't seem to catch up. One of your most important roles as the spouse of a Dental Student will be to find ways of setting up stones of remembrance. So many times in the Bible, God instituted ways for His people to be reminded of all He had done for them in the past. The Jewish holidays of Passover, Hanukkah, Purim, etc. and now the Christian holidays of Christmas and Resurrection Sunday are all dedicated to memorializing specific times when God came through for His people in miraculous ways. Another tradition from Biblical times is the building of stone memorials. Whenever God met someone or provided for them in a meaningful way, that person would gather stones into a pile wherever it had occurred so that every time they came back by that place, they would see the stones and remember what God had done.  [See Joshua 4 for a great example of this]

I would encourage you to find ways to memorialize the important moments of Dental School for you and your student. Take pictures, write in a journal, keep a blog, grab an actual stone and write the date on it-- whatever it takes to keep a record of those moments. In four years, you will look back and remember all that God has brought you through and agree with the Psalmist in saying:

"LORD, God of Hosts, who is strong like You, LORD? Your faithfulness surrounds you!" -Psalm 89:8