much needed update

Here is a much needed update about what has been going on in our lives! We are still alive and well and have been experiencing so many exciting things. Last Thursday, May 6th, I graduated from dental hygiene school. Finally! PRAISE GOD! This past Monday, May 10th, I started my new job! PRAISE GOD! Tuesday, May 11th, I found out I passed my state board WREB exam with an almost perfect score! PRAISE GOD! God is so good!
Dental hygiene schools don't really celebrate graduation, they celebrate "pinning." My pinning ceremony was so personal and so sweet because there were only 10 of us, along with our family and friends. It was such a wonderful time to celebrate with my classmates and instructors. Throughout the entire ceremony, I was humbled by thinking about just how God had orchestrated my entrance, transfer, grades, tests..........everything. I was truly in awe of how good our Father is and was completely humbled. It is a wonderful feeling to wake up everyday now and know I don't have any homework, projects or rotations to do. This moment was 6 years in the making. That's how long I've been in school. And it will have to take an act of God to get me to ever go back to school. :)
My new job is even more evidence as to God's goodness. I have the privilege to work for a dentist whose office I observed earlier this semester. This dentist, and seemingly the entire staff, are followers of Jesus. The office is unbelievably state-of-the-art and looks more like you've walked into a spa rather than a dental office. While I am not able to practice until I have my license in hand (which usually takes about 2-3 weeks) he is allowing me to work 4 days a week assisting, helping with office work, observing the procedures, and familiarizing myself with how things will be once I begin "working." I will be cleaning teeth Thursdays and Fridays, and if I'd like, have the option to help around the office Mondays and Tuesdays for some extra hours. The dentist says that it's seems as though the office will be busy enough come early fall to have me cleaning teeth 3, maybe even 4 days a week. Unreal. I am still going to work as much as I can at Amelia's. I may work some Wednesdays and some Saturdays just for extra $ and all of the great perks of working there...........like..............CLOTHES! :) It has dawned on me, however, that my weekly wardrobe will largely consist of scrubs. Oh well.
Dan is so excited that I'll finally be working, and that we'll be able to have more of a routine. And he's pretty pumped about free dental everything too. :)

Anyway, consider yourself caught up on the lives of Daniel and Jenny Dagley, for now at least. Since I feel as though I'll have a bit more time now that I'm done with school, I'll try to write more often. Lesson for the day: God is crazy good.

Spring "Break"

The headline pretty much sums it up. It's spring, I'm technically out of school for the week, but it has been anything but a break. I take my National Board Exam for dental hygiene school in roughly 2 days. Oddly enough, 2 days is exactly the amount of time I've given thus far to preparing for the test. Sounds crazy right? Not only crazy, but incredibly dumb. Please consider that most of my fellow classmates began studying last summer, as in almost a year ago, for this test. Why, in my insanity, I thought that 4 days would be enough is beyond me.

Daniel and I fasted last Tuesday through Friday for a job interview he had, and needless to say, I'm hoping the power of our fasting will transfer to this week! By no means am I expecting the Lord to bless my lack of preparedness; however, that's EXACTLY what I'm hoping will happen.

I've realized though, over the course of having been in school for 6 years, that regardless of how much studying I do for school, if I'm not studying the Word and spending time with Him, I do not make the grade. Example: In my time at Texas A&M, while I sought the Lord more there then I did at Tech, I still was not walking in accordance with His Word and I definitely wasn't committed to consistent, connecting time with Him daily. I could study...............read hundreds of pages................and still just attain mediocrity in school. By the grace of God I graduated.

Dental hygiene school, as I've stated before, separates the women from the girls. My hygiene school experience in itself is testament to the Lord's provision and steadfast presence. When I started at Tyler, I was away from everything I knew; Daniel, my family, a church body I loved, most of my friends. But during this time, I grew more in the Lord than I ever had. I began to hear His voice and sense His direction and presence! I'm a preacher's kid, raised in church all of my life, and had never had these things! It was the ability to discern His voice that opened up the ability to transfer to Temple, and obedience that saw it through.

At Temple, things were different. Harder. But the Lord was there, He had guided me there. He began to spring up within me a hunger for the deeper things of Him. Can you say Baptism of the Holy Spirit? It is this hunger that ultimately drove me to commit to spending time with Him before studying. Often times, as aforementioned, I would wait until the night before a test or the day of to begin studying. And I knew that if I didn't spend time with Him first, any studying I did would be for nothing. I would take the test, perhaps filled with more of His peace than knowledge of the subject I was in, and I would make a good grade--no, I take that back-- a great grade. Am I boasting? Not of myself. Of the Lord. Of His goodness and faithfulness. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying forsake studying or forsake preparedness. I'm just saying don't forsake time with Him.

And man, if you've never taken a test in the power of the Holy Spirit, it will blow you away. There was one test where I literally asked Him several questions of which HE gave me the answers! I mean how do I explain that to my classmates who would ask me how I knew the answer?! Ummm, the Holy Spirit told me?! Nuts!

My sweet friend Alli told me once that the Lord must really want me to be a dental hygienist. I asked "Why do you say that?" Her response was "Because He is choosing to bless you, despite your lack of effort." How undeservedly true. I think it boils down to God, loving to be God, and loving to do crazy stuff that can't be explained except by just giving Him the glory. So pray that I continue to make time for Him above anything else, even above studying for this test and that His glory would be evident in it.

Back in the Game

Oh my goodness! It's been a while since I've even thought about blogging. But seeing as how I'm looking for every possible thing imaginable to take the place of studying for my national board exam, why not? And why not start by devoting an entire post to wine.

This past weekend, Daniel and I were invited by Nathan (Dan's older brother) to come to Wimberly and enjoy some time away in the Hill Country. On Saturday, we all met Dan's Mom, Booker, Uncle Brent and Aunt Tiff at the Fall Creek Vineyard and Winery. Formerly, my knowledge and experience with wine was limited to Ruinite Lambrusco, probably the cheapest "best" wine I'd tasted. I had no clue as to the "flavors, notes and aromas" each wine has, and the best food pairing. And I still don't.

But having tasted a series of 7 to 8 wines, I DID, however, find the wine that Jesus probably drank; in that it was the best ever. Twin Springs, Sweet Red.

That's right, it's a red wine, it's sweet and you can drink it with absolutely anything. It doesn't instigate a crazy "holy smokes, that's regretfully strong" kind of face when you drink it. It is so good. You must put it on your list to try. It's cheap, too. Usually just 5 or 6 bucks a bottle.

Next up, in close second is Kim, Booker, Brent & Tiff's favorite; Ed's Smooth Red.

It is Smooth. Like silky cashmere smooth. It's not a sweet wine, but it's definitely not a crazy, bitter one either. Both are exclusively bottled at Fall Creek in Tow, Texas. H.E.B. sells both, as does some other local stores.

Moral of the story: branch out a little. Regardless of whether or not you like wine, try one. Or both.