From March to October in a flash! That's the story of my life these days. Three teenagers keep me on the go, go, go for sure. Every new stage with my kids becomes my new favorite. That's how I cope with all of the changes that come with raising kids. They're not meant to stay little, after all.
So, where do I begin? When I left off in March, we were spending spring break at home for the first time, maybe ever. Now we're almost done with the first term of this new school year. Braylen's a senior--a senior!--while Kaleb's a sophomore, and Aaron's a 7th grader. I take whatever moments I share with them, usually while driving them somewhere or feeding them a meal, and I thank God for these boys of mine. They're becoming independent, needing me less and less. I tell myself it's as it should be. I'm alone with my thoughts more often than ever before, which brings me to the biggest change in my life this year.
I enrolled in an RN refresher program to reactivate my nursing license. When a local surgery center called me out of the blue in January, offering me the chance to go back to work as a nurse, I couldn't find a reason to say no. They were willing to wait for me, so I said yes to everything God led me to. Through every step of this process, He showed me very clearly that He was leading me along this path, providing everything I needed. I quit my job at the bookstore and went "back to school." From February 15th-May 25th, I worked through the online portion of the course. In June I completed the BLS certification and clinical passport in time for my upcoming 30 hours of clinical experience. On June 21st Derek and I celebrated 20 years of marriage, and the next day I left for my clinicals. I was so scared! I had to pass a math test, over a dozen clinical check off skills, and work two 12 hour shifts in a hospital. After 16 years away from nursing, I was a bit rusty. Ha! It felt like my nursing brain was coming back to life, and instead of re-learning everything, I was remembering everything I had already learned. Every single step of the way, God showed his faithfulness to me. Never in my life have I experienced such clear leading. He literally took my hand and directed my steps.
On June 1st I officially began employment with the surgery center. They took me through orientation and training, so that when my RN license came through at the end of June, I was ready to work there as a nurse. I'm usually there two days per week. Sometimes I leave the house before my boys leave for school, which can be a bit tricky for Kaleb's early morning band practices, but so far it's working out. Aaron's riding his bike to school a lot, and of course Braylen gets himself wherever he needs to go. Derek's worked the night shift since February, so he has some flexibility in the morning. I'm always done by 3:00, a lot of times earlier, so I don't miss out on after school activities. I've discovered I really enjoy my job. My patients are very kind--some of them really make me laugh! I'm meeting people from all walks of life, serving them when they're most vulnerable. They're all healthy, which is a wonderful perk of working in outpatient surgery! My coworkers are my new friends, and at this point in my life, I can't imagine not having them in it.
Summer of 2017 in my mind became one big summer of work. Derek couldn't take any time off from February-September 1st because his sergeant partner was on light duty. I had my hands full with school and learning my new job. Braylen worked full time on the farm. Kaleb worked as a lifeguard--his first job!--and he had summer PE and driver's education. Aaron mowed lawns, and was really the only one in our family with down time. I tried to make sure he didn't slip through the cracks. We went to the pool a few times while Kaleb worked, we took lots of trips to the library, and he played with his friends a lot. Another label for this summer is our Marvel Summer. We watched as many Marvel movies as we could, since it gave us something to do together. We took no official vacation. We didn't go anywhere except the lake. Which leads me to one more aspect of our summer...
Jet skis. We bought jet skis--3 of them, to be exact. Derek and Kaleb spent
countless hours working on them, and in the end, we sold one that never did work quite right. These jet skis became our "vacation." They brought happiness and frustration, literally. I think it was a good lesson for all of us that stuff will never bring you joy. We sure did have fun with them, don't get me wrong! But I never want to forget that all of the fun we had came with a price. Not just money, but gobs and gobs of time.
Braylen turned 18 this summer. I turned 41. We made it through 8 long months of night shift for Derek. Today is actually his first day shift, so for the next couple of weeks we'll be in transition mode. Aaron joined the cross country team at his middle school, and it's been a good experience for him. As he says, it "keeps me occupied." :) Kaleb is in marching band, and that's like a sport. But the practice is before school instead of after it. And he's swimming 2-3 evenings per week, getting ready for the winter swim season. Braylen's running cross country again, although he's only doing it to be with his friends. He doesn't love the sport. (I'm like, who does?) :) But it keeps him in shape and he works hard at practice every day. He agreed to be the student rep for a community prayer group that meets monthly on the high school football field, and I'm so very proud of him for stepping up like that. This group wouldn't have been able to meet if Braylen didn't agree to go before the administration and call it his student group. He's secure in who he is, Whose he is, and that means more to me than any athletic or academic achievement out there.
Here's to a memorable fall! Our last one with all 3 sons living in our home. It's hard to believe, it really is. I started this blog when our boys weren't even in school yet. And now it's almost over. Here's our most recent family picture--a birthday photo, of course. :)
