God taught me how I had defined myself and what I had wanted in life. I thought I hadn’t allowed my job to define me or become too important to me, but coming from a cancer-research position to a full-time housekeeper for seven months taught me something that I could not have learned any other way other than simply experiencing it for myself.

God humbled me and reminded me that my job does not define me, and that it never should.

I hope that I never regain the pride that I once had and that I can see my job, whatever it may be, as a means of glorifying Him and growing personally. I am so grateful for the perspective that I gained while in Big Bend. I pray that I will be able to honor God in the medical field with the drive and tenacity of a difference-maker and the humility of a housekeeper.

Madeline M., Big Bend National Park, 2016