After
a challenging year employment wise preceded by many years of other challenges,
God is moving me. If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I would be in
NJ long I would have said, "Heck no!" Fast forward to 6 months
ago and ask me if I would be leaving NJ any time soon and I would have said,
"No way!"
Why
the change? It is all about the connections! I moved here to be
closer to my big brother and his family. Since then I have not only
bonded with them but also with an amazing church family. This church
family and friends have supported me through a difficult time through nursing
school, illness, brain surgery, and job loss. This past 6 months when I
didn't get unemployment initially and had to wait through the long appeals
process, which is still happening, my church family has helped me emotionally
and practically when I didn't know where money for rent would come let alone
food. I never wanted for anything that I needed. This is exactly
the purpose of the church body and they lived it out.
Back
in December a friend visited Texas and told me I should look into hospitals
there as the economy was booming. They also said I would love it. I
quickly responded "no way!" I am finally grounded with
connections and I had no intentions of going anywhere. God has used the
past years of struggle to both grow me and to teach me about relationships.
Fast
forward to March. I still had no job; no prospects even, as the nursing
market is very poor in NJ. It only got worse when the largest health care
system laid off 90 people. I finally decided to spend a day applying for
jobs outside of NJ. I didn't have a focused plan, I literally went state
by state, place by place and decided if it was a place I thought I could live,
then applied. Within 2 hours of applying to a hospital in Fort Worth, TX
I had a call from the Chief Nursing officer and had a phone interview.
When I got off, I immediately said, "No way, I am not leaving
Jersey!" That night as I was going to bed, I was spending time
reading my bible and praying. I finally conceded and told the Lord,
"if you want me to go you will have to make it abundantly clear!"
The next morning I woke up with a sense that I was moving. I can't
really explain it other than it was both a knowing and a peace that filled me.
I spent the day applying to a few other hospitals to see if I could line
up a few interviews at the same time. Again within an hour or two I had
an email requesting to set up a phone interview.
Within
a few weeks, God provided the money for a plane ticket and rental car, and 3
free nights in a hotel. All this occurred in ways that could only be
explained by the mighty God I serve. I now had 4 interviews, more than I
had in NJ in all the time I was looking for jobs...100's of applications I had
put out. When I returned from my trip to Fort Worth, Texas I had 3 job
offers to decide from and things moved quickly from there.
I
don't know anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth area but I have peace that God is
going before me and preparing the way. I also am excited for the change
and to see what God has planned for me. I am incredibly sad to be leaving
my family and friends but I am excited at the same time for this upcoming
change. Only God knows, and I have learned over the past 5 years to go
for the ride and have my eyes and ears open as to not miss a thing.
