Lessons in Chemistry

 Yesterday afternoon I had the honour of attending a chemistry talk at the University of Western Ontario. My sister, a chemistry PhD student (I know, it sounds so smart), invited me to go with her, as she had thoroughly enjoyed the session from the previous day. UWO had brought in a very distinguished chemist with a list of awards that seemed to go on forever. When we arrived at the session, there was a long line of people who I thought were waiting to get inside the room, but my sister clarified that they were actually in line for the free food: drinks, cookies, and fruit and veggie trays. I suppose that's how they entice attendees!

Academic chemistry is a whole new world to me. While my sister and I are both graduate students, I spend my days writing papers about theology. She spends her hours in a crisp clean laboratory, complete with machines worth thousands (and I think perhaps even millions) of dollars. My sister, the chemist, wears a white lab coat and goggles, which I find humorous because she looks like a scientist in a movie. When I was visiting before, I loudly noted how much she looked like a "real scientist" in her get-up. Everyone else in the room just stared at me because, of course, she is a real scientist and so are they.

Before the chemistry talk, she showed me some of the experiments she is conducting at the moment. Although my sister is excellent at explaining things - the mark of a good teacher - it was still way over my head. Smile and nod. But really, it is fascinating and I am thankful that there are people in the world who can do this kind of work. If I had to be a chemist, I would get fired within the first five minutes. I almost walked into the lab with my lunch which apparently is a huge no-no. It would contaminate their samples, I suppose. The projects she is working on are so complicated I could not even begin to explain them here. My sister is a genious. She works so hard and she's so intelligent. Christina has been in the newspaper and on television, not to mention the journals in which she has had her reports published. I am so proud of her. I asked her yesterday why she chose a career in chemistry and she said it's because she loves problem solving. From the time she was young, you could often find her hunched over a new puzzle on our bedroom floor.

Christina and Bethany, Winter 2011

This is the first lesson of two that I learned yesterday. I am so thankful to God that he creates each of us to be unique! I mentioned to my sister that it's so strange how different our areas of academic interest are, considering we grew up in the same home and had similar life experiences when we were young. But God gave her a different brain than me - different abilities, skills, passions, and goals. Imagine if we all wanted to have the same profession or if we all had the exact same skills. Obviously society wouldn't run smoothly if that were the case. God is good and God is sovereign. He knows the plans he has for us. While Christina spent plenty of time playing the piano and figuring out dolphin jigsaw puzzles, God was shaping her into the chemist he wanted her to be. Of course, she is so much more than that! She is a disciple of Christ, a loving wife, an incredible mom, the world's best sister (to me...hopefully not to our brother, as I'd like to share that title), a cherished daughter, a beloved friend, and on and on it goes. I look up to her like no other.

The second lesson I learned yesterday occurred during the professor's lecture. Unfortunately, I can't even tell you what the topic was. A few words stand out: photosynthesis, respiration, hopping, proteins - along with lots of intense equations and graphs. But at a couple of points throughout his hour-long presentation in which I forced myself to stay awake (probably thanks to the yummy Starbucks hot chocolate Christina treated me to earlier), this man noted that this process in the body is life-and-death. From what I understood, respiration hardly makes sense, as our bodies should be overheating considering everything that's going on inside us. Cars overheat, appliances overheat, so why don't we? I don't have to be a scientist to tell you that! God is the omnipotent, omniscient, magnificent Creator! I absolutely love that God is so creative. I consider myself to be a creative person, so when I see his creation out in nature, I want to praise him, sing to him, love him, and worship him. And when I learn new, complicated concepts in a chemistry talk I also want to thank him for making us so wonderfully. He could have made us simple beings, but instead he uses his creative powers to form us into intricate persons and gives us the minds to study his marvelous works as well.