I started prereq's for my ADN and BSN in August 2010 after switching from Christian Studies with dual minors in Youth Ministry and Christian Counseling. The Lord was teaching me that Nursing IS my ministry. In Nursing, I am not limited to an age group or one audience. There are people with dire need of compassion and light in the darkness they're going through in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, post-acute care units, hospice, you name it.
He was showing me that His work is not limited to a title or a degree. Ministry doesn't have to come from a pulpit. Love can be shown outside of a church building.
In 2010, I was miserable in my personal life. I felt stuck and the more I tried to break free, the more entangled I became. For more than a year, I cried out to God. He provided my every need, but I was yet forlorn. I was surrounded by classmates, coworkers, church members, and somehow I was alone. I had been alienated from family members by time and distance. There were no friends to turn to. I went home each day to a very sorrowful dwelling. When would it ever change?
The year 2011 began much the same way. As the months passed by, I questioned the Lord "why?" I sought Him, I read and professed His word, I was a faithful and cheerful giver. I delighted in His work. I am not sure exactly how, as His works are sure but not always seen, that He began to answer my prayers.
Maybe He had it all lined up from the beginning. Maybe I was just absorbed in my circumstances. Maybe my human mind is still incapable of perceiving just how immense His love is for me.
By the end of 2011, things were looking up. I had started dating one of those church members that had surrounded me, overlooked. I turned in my application for the nursing program. I celebrated Christmas for the first time in many years. The joy that had been screaming to erupt from my heart was slowly but surely escaping... and I loved it.
2012 rolled around. February 16, 2012 I was accepted into the ADN program. I figured I'd get through it just like I had all the classes before. Just a little elbow grease and some determination. March 10, 2012, my love asked me to be his wife. August 13, 2012, I started the ADN program. (I think that first day cued me in to the wisdom that it would take more than a little elbow grease and determination to get through.) [Edit
2013 was a collage of studying, crying, sorrow, random times of laughter, and hard work. It was also the marker of our first year of marriage and yet another first. We found out we would become a family. On Christmas Day, we shared our happiness with our immediate family.
Then came 2014. I've been thinking of referring to it as the year of miracles. In just a few short days on May 13, 2014 I will be pinned as a graduate nurse. That's a miracle by itself. It only took several meltdowns to get here. On May 15, 2014, I will officially be a college graduate. With the exception of maybe 2 of my aunts, no one else in my family has ever done this. I am overwhelmed. Sometime in June, 2014 I will take (and pass with flying colors) the NCLEX-RN and become an official Registered Nurse. And on or about August 14, 2014, we will welcome our daughter, Abbigail Hope, into this world.
I am thrilled. I am scared. I am here. Only because of the Lord Jesus Christ who brought me this far. One thing must I keep in mind: " And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
I have no time for fear or doubt. I have only those things which I so desired of the Lord for so long. And I am happy.
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