The other day, I toured the hospital campus where I spent several years of my residency training. Many of the buildings that were present when I trained nearly thirty years ago were either torn down or newer structures stood in their place. As I stumbled through this maze, I spied a familiar building. Peeling paint and boarded up windows, the only identifier was a number on the door. It was the storage archives of the pathology department. Memories of countless hours spent in this dingy, musty room returned.
For over a hundred years, pathologists have been examining tissue specimens that have been fixed and preserved in formalin and then carefully prepared into microscopically thin slices and placed on a glass slide. After a series of chemical stains, the slide is ready to be viewed by the pathologist using a microscope. By law, these microscope slides must be kept for at least ten years. After this time, the slides may be destroyed but the pathology report must be maintained indefinitely. Every few months, a lab technician from the hospital laboratory would visit the storage archives and collect slides for removal that exceeded ten years of storage.
All pathologists maintain a library of microscopic glass slides for study, teaching, and future reference. As a young resident, I was eager to begin my collection. The chief of pathology granted me permission to keep any slides of interesting cases that were designated to be destroyed that month. After reviewing volumes of pathology reports, I created a list of interesting cases and then searched the archives for the corresponding slides. I soon amassed a prodigious collection, one that I have kept to this day. For every disease that I encounter, I have a representative example in my slide collection. I continually add to my slide collection, always thankful for receiving such an excellent foundation from the archives.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
James 1:5 (ESV)
Like the steps I took, searching through the archives to create my slide collection, I have also collected Bible verses and organized them for study, teaching and future reference. For every prayer request I have written, God directs me to an appropriate Bible verse which is paired with the request. For every event in my life recorded in these blogs, God has shown me the corresponding lesson based upon the relevant Bible verse. For every action that I take, I ask God to show me a Bible verse that will guide me and establish His plans. Praise God that He is always faithful to answer my prayers with His Word!
My slide collection is the foundation of my professional life.
The Bible is the foundation of my life.
Amen!
Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.
The Bereans Blog 