A day in the life of a midwifery student

My pillow is so comfortable, the fan is cooling me enough that I can cozy up with a sheet.  I am comfortable and I am sleeping.  Creak, the door opens, "Tianne, Tianne, she's pushing" "what? Oh, OK, I'm coming"  Its 1am and I am slipping out of bed.  I pull my hair back and quietly walk down stairs and into the birth room.
The laboring woman may or may not notice that I have entered the room.  She is busy concentrating on pushing her baby out.  The room is busy with activity, her midwife is sitting at her feet encouraging and guiding her.  Her birth partner is at her head, wiping her sweat, holding her hand, saying encouraging words or even sitting behind her and supporting her as she pushes.  The birth assistant is in-between, helping in whatever way is needed and there is someone sitting off to the side charting everything as it happens.  I jump in where I can, giving the women sips of water, handing things to the midwife, taking over charting or just standing back to observe.  Depending on how hard I was sleeping varies on how long it takes me to become coherent in the birth room.
 Everyone woman is different, I have entered the room just as the baby has slipped into the world or sometimes the pushing stage lasts over an hour.  It is a beautiful, yet intense time.  I often feel overwhelmed, as I am still very much in the learning stage and often feel helpless in knowing what to do.  Yet little by little I learn more and with each birth I attend I become move involved.  The other day I cut my first cord and in a few months I'll be catching my first baby.  They say you never feel ready, it is just something you have to do.  I am excited for the day I start catching, yet I think it is true, I will probably never feel ready.
From 1-3 hrs after getting up for a birth I am normally back in bed.  My mind is buzzing, I am so tried, yet sleep is hard to come.  Finally, I slowly doze off only to awaken a few hours later as the sun starts to heat up the room.  Again a slid off my top bunk and head down stairs.  I inquire about the new baby and pour myself a cup of tea.  With my Bible in hand I head out to the kiosk (thatch covered gazebo).  As I open God's word, I try to soak it in but my mind is fuzzy and I normally end up just sitting quietly before Him.  Telling Him that I just can't do this without Him.
After about an hour I come back in.  I have an assignment due in a few days and that one huge question is hanging over my head.  With a pile of books, my computer and a fan blasting on me, I get to work.  Asking God to give me the wisdom and the strength that I need.  It is not easy for me and yet God gives me what I need to push through each day.  He is my strength when I have none, He is my reason for pushing on and pressing through.
I am reading a book, "The Practice of the Presence of God", by Brother Lawrence.  In it he talks about making the love of God the end of all his actions, making everything he does for God, doing everything out of love for God and that our only business is to love and delight ourselves in God.  I am reading the book slowly and letting the words soak into me.  When I am frustrated, tired or complaining I ask myself "am I doing this out of love for God?"  If I am doing everything for Him, I know that can delight in the book work just as much as I do the hands on portion of school.  It is a discipline to learn to rejoice in all things, when you feel pushed to the limit or even beyond the limit and yet out of love for Jesus I desire this discipline of rejoicing in all things and doing every act of my day, from praying with a pregnant women to cleaning the bathroom out of love for God!