The Lessons I Learn Beyond Research

What a wonderful week it has been leading up to this birthday weekend; for many reasons!

This was the week I fell in love with research. I can pinpoint the moment and the story involves three jars of jam. Qualitative research is where my mind, heart and focus has been these past weeks. Qualitative research involves a lot of things like surveys or questionnaires that are then used as tools to yield data.

This is unique because sometimes the surveys consist of questions like “How would you rate the quality of your career in the past 5 months?” With answer options as “Very well; well; bad; very bad”. Then you put it in as data and there you yield your results. What’s exceptional about it is that it requires a lot of one on one time with your interviewees. God has a heart for the people I interview, and I feel it when I ask just about every question.

I used to dread research, for multiple reasons. The first of which was “it just goes against the grain for me”; but as I opened up to the idea of strengthening in research, God showed me through this opportunity with UTEP MHIRT, many people (especially my best friends), that I have a mind that is inquisitive, that asks questions, that wants to improve and innovate. And wow...have I seen that as I have done this research...and hopefully will do in the future, God willing.

God reminds me also, that He has many in this country who believe in Him and His Way...and that strengthens my heart and allows me to strengthen the hearts of others, especially the discouraged.