Beauty

Yesterday we
  {and when I say we I mean BYU nurses}
had our semesterly Professionalism Conference.

Every semester we attend classes where we have 

guest speakers that come in and talk about nursing related things

My favorite?

NICU and Labor and Delivery Nurses.

I love learning about this becuase this is what I see for myself in the future.

This time around, the conference was extra special.

Our keynote speaker was none other than Stephanie Nielson

In 2005, Stephanie became a "well-known mommy blogger"

Her uplifting and humorous stories contributed to her thousands of followers.

In August of 2008, her and her husband were flying across Arizona when their small plane crashed

The plane exploded on impact.

The pilot suffered fatal injuries and died 24 hours later

Stephanie suffered severe burns over 80% of her body.

She was in an induced medical coma for 10 weeks, while doctors treated her burns.

In Novemeber 2008, Stephanie woke up.

It has been a tough road for Stephanie.

She said connecting with her children was hard

{it had been a long time, and she didn't look like the "mom" her children were used to}

But Stephanie is amazing.

Although her life was thrown upside, she works hard everyday.

Everyday poses new challenges.

New blessings.

New heartaches.

But most importantly

Improvement.

Every day, Stephanie gets stronger.

She spoke of her time in the hospital, and the impact the nurses had on her.

The kindness, genuine care, compassion and sincerity that they showed 

made her fight even harder for her life.

I am so grateful to be in program that allows me to help others.

In the end, being able to lift other people up, help them in some way 

{even if it's small}

makes all of my hard days worth it.

Another thing I learned from Stephanie was that beauty truly is only skin deep.

In our lives we get caught up with our looks.

We get caught up in the "I wishes..."

"I wish I could lose 10 lbs.

I wish I was 3'' taller.

I wish I was 3'' shorter.

I wish I had longer hair.

I wish I looked like her."

The list can go on and on and on.

It is important to remember that life is more than what we see on the outside.

We have a responsibility.

We have a life to live.

We have a purpose to fulfill.

Thank you Stephanie, for reminding me what truly is important in life.

You are an amazing woman.

Please watch her inspiring video here

And follow her blog here