my random thoughts

My grandmother, Nettie Shrader, went to be with the Lord last night.  She passed with her loving husband of 53+ years, her three sons, several of her grandchildren and friends around her. Unfortunately I was not which pains me greatly. But as my sister texted me the scene, I was with them in my mind and heart.  Despite not being with her in the end, we did get to enjoy a good time of fellowship with her and my grandfather a couple weeks ago.  More on that in a few.

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So I work for UTMB under Correctional Managed Care (CMC).  UTMB is about to layoff 4000 jobs due to the devastation caused by Hurricane  Ike.  CMC has promised that our jobs are safe.  Because, our hospital was attached to UTMB on Galveston Island and the political battles going on, we will not be able to get back to the way things were for who knows how long, if ever.  Thus, we are getting bounced around.  Our job duties have changed multiple times thus far.  Come Monday, they will change again. 

For many, this change comes as huge inconvenience.  Many will be forced to take huge pay cuts for they will go from nights (with shift diff) to days.  For, many it will be a lifestyle change because we will be going from a matrix (working a few days on then having a few days off) and some from nights to a Monday through Friday 8 - 5 job.  For many, it will be difficult because of family obligations that were met under the old schedule but will not under the new.  It will be difficult because many are in school and were used to having certain weekdays off to study, go to class, complete assignments, etc.  But now, all will change.

However, we still have a job when so many come this month will not. And that alone should overshadow all the inconviences stated above.  Yet, so many people cannot for whatever reason see that and continue to wallow in their sorrows and inconveniences.  I don't understand it.

We have all been promised that once things are back in order, we will be reuninted as a team, better yet,  a family.  But it will take time, maybe even months. We must learn to count our blessings, focus on the positives, stick it out and move on.  We must keep in mind that "this too shall pass."

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An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.  ~Proverbs 31:10

 

My wife is so excellent. She is so patient, loving , caring, supporting, and sacrificial. I am so undeserving of such an excellent wife! But now that I have her, I would not trade her for all the jewels of the world, the world itself, or even the universe!

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We are home now. We received a call from a neighbor that power was back on so we decided to come home. We found the power off when we arrived but it was back on within a couple hours of being home. The Lord really spared us from significant damage. Houses in our neighborhood had their fences knocked over, shutters blown off, gutters fallen down, and decent roof damage. Our windows, shutters, and gutters were all intact. Our fence is still standing and our roof also seems intact. Our pecan tree in the back yard was broken in half falling over onto our neighbors shed but with no apparent damage. Our neighbors are great and we will be working together tomorrow to cut up the tree.

 

 

The Lord has really blessed and spared us which we are greatly thankful for. Thank you for your prayers!

My wife's school is closed till further notice. Galveston Island where I work took a major hit with significant damage. I do not know when I will be able to return to work. Right now, our patients (inmates) are in private hospitals. I do not expect Texas to keep them in such facilities for an extended period of time but will most likely transfer them to other prison medical units around the state of Texas. If that happens, I may be called upon to go with them which I am not keen on for I will have to leave my wife for who knows how long. I know nothing for sure at this point but am speculating on what will take place. Please pray for a speedy recovery for I will go without pay until things are back in order.

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So God did it again. Not only did He sell our explorer today (my mom put it on the dealership she works for us) He blessed us with a closing cost of $2000 less than what we were expecting!! Praise God! I'm a little nervous though. What is He planning? It seems that everything has gone so favorably for us so far. He obviously has some plan for us here. I was very surprised when we left. I thought that it would be really difficult for me emotionally, but it wasn't. I had an unexplained peace about the whole thing.

I also have an interview Friday with UTMB Correctional Managed Care which is a hospital for prisoners! Anyone reading this: Please pray that it goes well!

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So, we just found out that we will be able to close on August 8th! That is awesome because we will be able to move into our new house just a few days after we arrive in Texas!

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Okay, so you may or may not know that Eda and I are moving to Texas. It seems that we have made the right decision because God has blessed us with an incredibly smooth process.

First off, Eda landed a job as a Spanish teacher a while back. This gave us an idea of what area we should look to live in.

Second, I passed the NCLEX which all the Kaplan practice tests told me that I would not. Well I passed in 84 questions! Praise God!

Third, God has totally blessed us with a smooth house purchase process. We made an offer on one house that was till occupied to find out that they had already accepted an offer but their realtor just neglected to update the database. So we were a little bummed about that. But, then we found another we liked at the price we had in our hearts to pay, made an offer and it was accepted the next day! After having some inspections and estimates done, we amended the contract to ask for some money to go towards repairs and they accepted! On top of that, they asked if we could close earlier than the original date which is awesome because we want to close ASAP so we can move in and not have to live with Eda's parents for an extended period of time. (Not that we mind, but it would be nice to not have to move furniture after Eda has to start work.)

Fourth, I may have landed a job! Okay, so hosptials general hire all the new nurses they want right out of school so that they can send them all at the same time through an orientation/internship process. Since Eda and I knew we were moving to Texas at the end of the summer, no hospital locally would want to hire me only for two months! So, I did not apply. We went to Texas for a week beginning June 10th. I had already submit a few applications but each hospital gave me the same story that they have already hired all the graduate nurses they wanted. I was pretty bummed. But, while Eda and I were at a coffee shop, Eda came across an ad in the newspaper that the newspaper was hosting a healthcare job fair the day before we were flying back to VA. So of course I attended. I talked to the same hospitals I already applied to and received pretty much the same responses. But one gentlemen I talked to who represented UTMB seemed very upbeat and eager to land me in an interview. He was disappointed to find out I was leaving the next day but wanted me to schedule an interview as soon as we got back to Texas. As he looked over my resume, he pointed to my job experience at New Life Christian Bookstore and said "that's great, that's great." Could he be a Christian? Anyway, he called me the next day while I was in the Atlanta airport, leaving a message saying there was a job opening he wanted me to pursue. We played phone tag for a couple days until finally we were able to connect. He wanted me to call him a week before we come down to set up an interview at their correctional managed care facility (healthcare to Texas' inmates :-) YES SIR! However, he called me back today and said that his medical director is going to call me because they really would like me to be a part of their team! I haven't even interviewed yet??!! Can you say "God is all over that??!!"

How exciting. It seems that everything is coming together. I am starting to feel the tug at my heart for leaving my family but from how God seems to be blessing our move process, I'd say we are definitely making the right decision.07

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