Timing

It has been a roller coaster 2 months here in Virginia. I've had good days and I've had some not so good days. Ok, so I've had some really really crappy days! One thing I'm learning, though, is God's timing is perfect, and He has wonderful plans for us! It's not always easy to see, and I struggle with it every day.. Why am I in this new place with no family, I barely know anyone, I didn't get the job I wanted, I'm getting paid less than I expected, I have to work nights, all my friends from school got jobs in the areas they wanted, and if I had stayed in Texas I could have too, my husband is gone to Key West for 2 weeks doing what he WANTS to do, and at some point in the near future will leave me here alone for 6+ months at a time...

I've been going to this bible study for military wives on Tuesday mornings and we've been doing this devotional "Tour of Duty...Preparing our Hearts for Deployment" by Sara Horn. 

This past week we read the passage in Genesis about Joseph and how his brothers were jealous that he was the favored son so they sold him. He ends up in prison, and because he has so much faith in God, he ends up working his way to the top. He credits God with being able to interpret the dreams of a cupbearer and a baker, and tells them to not forget about him, and to tell the Pharaoh what he has done. Well, they forgot, and it was 2 years later before they remember Joseph. But God never forgot Joseph! His timing is perfect, and there was a reason it took them 2 years.. The Pharaoh had 2 disturbing dreams that he couldn't find the meaning of. The cupbearer then remembered Joseph, so they sent for him. With help from God, Joseph was able to interpret the Pharaoh's dreams and explained that Egypt would have 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine. Unless they took immediate action and placed someone very wise in charge of grain storage, Egypt would face ruin. Enter Joseph as the someone very wise! He became basically #2 in charge of Egypt and saved tons of people from starvation! WOW!! 

I like to think that's how I ended up here in Virginia with my super cute husband and my new job! Did I ever think this is where I would be at 24? Nope! I was planning on graduating from A&M and moving to Colorado with Anne and Dave to be their slave laborer! I've never been much of a beach person... mountains please!! Then I met Nick... who is in the Navy... which operates at sea... meaning they have ports at the beach... which would be why I now live at the beach and not in the Rockies :) But if it weren't for all these "detours" and unexpected backroads, I would never have made it here. And if we didn't have the "downs" how would we be reminded that we need Jesus?? If our lives were perfectly smooth, everything was perfect and went as planned, it would be easy to forget that He is responsible for it all!

My friend Sarah and I were having what I will call "off days" last Saturday when our husbands left for Key West. I asked her if she would like to come with me to the bible study on Tuesday morning and she said yes! She ended up loving it, and bought the devotional that day, and asked off work for as many of the following Tuesdays as possible so she could keep going. She said it was "perfect" and just what she needed. She said she grew up going to church but hasn't been for a while. Maybe all my struggles with this military life lead me to sign up for the bible study so that I could help bring a friend back to church. Maybe that's far fetched, but I like to think it could have something to do with it. And if that's the case, it's totally worth it.

Employed!!

Yes, the rumors are true.. I got a job!!! I will be working HERE starting October 24th! I will be on the advanced heart failure unit (AHFU) full time, which for nurses is 3 12-hour shifts per week. The only downside is I will be working nights. Unfortunately this was pretty much the only area hiring new grads, and nights were the only shifts available! Oh well, I will get paid more per hour, and can put my name on the list the first day of work to switch to days when a spot comes available.

Finding a job in Virginia was MUCH more difficult than I thought. Even getting my foot in the door was a struggle. I tried calling, emailing, and even going to all the hospitals to try and just TALK to someone with no luck! I had to keep reminding myself that it is not in my control, and that His timing is perfect. Once I got past the frustration of job rejection, I was able to relax and I found myself in a much better state of mind. Not 2 days later, my neighbor tells me that a guy he works with is married to one of the head recruiters for Sentara (the largest hospital system in the area) and that he has her personal cell phone number for me to call her!! I called her that night, and she told me that critical care and mother/baby units are extremely difficult to get into as a new grad, but if you want critical care, the heart hospital is a wonderful place to start, and they hire new grads. She said "Come to the job fair this weekend, come find me when you get there, I'll take you around and introduce you to the managers, and if you don't have a few interviews set up by the end of it, call me on Monday and I'll set some up for you." Ummm, answer to prayer, yes?? I was able to set up a few interviews on my own at the job fair, and was interviewing that next Wednesday! One of the interviews was with the cardiac ICU, and the manager was actually standing in line waiting to talk to me because they were some how impressed with my resume!? Not sure how that one happened hah!

I was a little nervous about what to say if we had a conversation something like this:
Them: "So what brings you to Virginia?"
Me: "My husband's job"
Them: "Oh, great, what does he do?"
Me: .....

Technically they are not allowed to ask me this question, but sometimes they do. Am I supposed to lie about it because they weren't supposed to ask me about it in the first place? Do I tell them the truth because I have a conscience? Do I tell them only part of the truth? I was afraid my chances of getting a job would be hurt if they found out I was a military spouse. By law they can't not hire you because you are a military spouse, but it would be pretty easy to not hire me for other reasons, like that I have ZERO nursing experience! It'd be pretty easy to pass off a no-hire for something like that! I called my friend Erin who is a radiation therapist in Seattle to ask her advice. (Her husband Colin is a P-3 pilot stationed at NAS Whidbey Island. Nick and Colin met in Pensacola at the very beginning of flight school, and Colin and Erin were both in our wedding party). She had some great advice, and I felt much better about it after talking with her.

So I get to my interview and there are 2 ladies from the unit interviewing me. (Since the units are all so closely connected, I got to pretty much just do one interview for a few different positions) One interviewer was the manager that I had met at the job fair, and the other was the nurse clinician, whom I hadn't met yet. The other lady comes in first, and she begins looking through my resume. Not 2 minutes after she starts perusing, she says "Hmmm.. Corpus Christi..." and I'm thinking oh no, she's onto me! Then the next words out of her mouth were "My husband got his wings in Kingsville!" Part of me is jumping for joy because Nick did too! The other part is cringing because I don't know what to say at this point. She hasn't technically asked me, but I'm pretty sure she already knows. Do I keep silent or fess up? Then, of course, she asks me what made me choose Corpus. Blast! I nervously start giving my half scripted answer that Erin helped me come up with.. "Many people have advised me not to disclose the full truth..." and before I get any further she says, "Why!" *Big sigh of relief on my part here!* Then she goes on and on about how they love the military here and blah blah blah... Turns out her husband flew F-14s!! It was funny because she was getting so excited talking to me about it and at the end of the interview she told me "I had so much fun reminiscing with you!" Thank you God!! They told me they loved interviewing me, and that they wanted me to come in and shadow on the unit for a few hours so that I could make sure it was something I wanted to do- They wanted ME to give THEM the ok before they offered me a position. How cool is that?! I've never heard of a place doing that, but it totally makes sense.

I ended up shadowing in the AHFU and in the cardiac intensive care unit. The CICU was the first unit I went to and it was a CRAZY day. Lots of stuff going on and it was a bit overwhelming. Challenging for sure. They don't normally hire new grads in there, but they thought maybe I was ready (something on my resume made them think this.. not sure what it was seeing as I just graduated and have no experience!!) The only time they hire new grads is if they have done their externship in that hospital or in a cardiac ICU, which I had not done. Needless to say I felt very overwhelmed! The next day I shadowed in the advanced heart failure unit which was MUCH more relaxed and slower paced. I felt like I could almost jump on the unit right there and be OK so that's good! I was torn because I really wanted to work in the ICU and knew that I could do it with lots of independent study and orientation/training, but didn't know if they would even offer me that position. The manager in the ICU said they had just hired a new grad last week who did her internship there, and that she didn't know if they could handle another new grad at that time. I was not expecting to get offered the position, and thought that if I was supposed to be in there, they would offer it, and if not, I was supposed to be somewhere else! Turns out I was right, and they offered me the heart failure unit position.. with the plan to transfer to CICU after I got some experience! Perfect! I know that if I got the job in CICU right away that I could have managed it, but I also know I would probably be a wreck for a while trying to keep up and be good at my job! With Nick being gone a lot and him possibly deploying within 3 months, I know that it would be too much emotionally for me to handle. I have a hard enough time dealing with him being gone sometimes! If I were to have a bad/stressful day in ICU and wouldn't have him there to come home to or even talk to on the phone every day I don't know what I would do! Now I'm aware that this WILL happen someday and that I WILL have bad days even on the AHFU and I won't always have him there when I get home, etc. but the stress level starting in the ICU is like 10x more than the AHFU. He knows what He's doing!!!!

So I spent this week getting all my paperwork, pre-employment physical, and new scrubs purchased (we have to wear navy blue) so I'm ready to go next week. Nick has been in Key West since last Saturday so I've been having fun with Sarah, who's husband is in class with Nick and is gone also. Thank God for friends and the great people I've met here already!!

-Laura