Kelly: Today, the sermon at church was titled "God Moments" where any who felt led to had the opportunity to share how God had worked in their lives, whether in big or small ways. While driving home from church today, Holly and I thought it would be a good idea to share some of our God moments. These experiences we are sharing are real; to us they can only be explained by God and God alone. This will be a continuing series in our blog, hence why this is only part 1. The stories we are sharing today are one of many; please enjoy and we hope you are inspired and encouraged.
Stop Looking
The past month or so at work has been rather difficult for me. I've hit quite a few bumps, almost to the point of nearly losing my job. All is resolved and things are totally fine now, but there was a point not too long ago in which I thought I was going to be back at square 1. About a week and a half ago, I found myself sitting on my computer looking for other jobs. I looked at UK and the Central Baptist affiliates but didn't find anything I was interested in doing. After 10 minutes or so of searching, I stopped and turned my computer off. The next day, the search again continued, but nothing was clicking. It just didn't feel right to do what I was doing. Later that night, right before I went to bed, I heard something in the back of my head; a gut feeling that said "stop looking. Just stop." The next day I went into work and everything was fine; this was last Saturday. Last Sunday, there were two questions posed at the end of church. Are you doing what God wants you to do, and are you where God wants you to be? I honestly did not feel like I was; I had it in my head that in light of what had happened to me at work recently that maybe I had missed the mark. I had missed all the signals and it was just me wanting to be where I wanted to be instead of where God wanted me to be. So on the drive up, I just prayed. I prayed and prayed and asked God if where I'm working now is really where He wanted me to be. The first half of the shift went like a typical shift, but it was after my dinner break that things started clicking.
When I got back on the unit after my break, one patient came up to me and asked "where were you?!" She seemed very distressed. I told her where I was and asked if she was ok. She said "I'm fine. I just thought you left." I chuckled and told her I wasn't leaving until 11:30 that night. She then asked me if I was going to be there the next day. I said no and that the next day I would be back was Thursday. She looked sad and said she would miss me and really liked it when I was working and she liked talking to me and said I had a good personality. Later that night another patient had a question about her medications, so I took her back to the med room and we talked one on one and I discussed all she was taking, how much and when. Afterwards she thanked me for taking such good care of her. Near the end of shift change, the radio was playing and I was dancing while charting. A patient had a question and caught me dancing. I apologized and he said that he liked it when I danced and that he appreciated my "spunky" personality and that I had a good disposition for being a nurse. I was floored; I literally could not believe it. I disappeared into the med room before I left and just stood in silence. It was then that I realized that the "stop looking. Just stop" I heard was God telling me that I was right where He wanted me to be. I hadn't missed the mark at all. Folks, if you take anything home from this, just remember that God's voice isn't always audible. He speaks in many different voices!
Holly: I'd like to call this short narrative "The Friday before graduation."
I remember the date exactly: May 4, 2012. Two days before I was expected to graduate from Berea College. Finally, four years of hard work, tears, stress, prayers, etc, was coming to its long and arduous end; I was so close to the finish line I could literally taste it. This day was also the day that temporary senior grades were due. Naturally, I was a little bit anxious; all of my other classes I knew I was going to be ok, but there was one that was weighing heavily on my mind, one that I had struggled all semester with: Genetics. To add insult to injury, this was a core class for the biology major. In other news, I NEEDED this class to graduate. NEEDED. Period. Moreover, this class was only offered in the spring, so that was it. One shot. I had finished my finals and everything else, so I logged onto the online portal to check my grades. Intro to New Testament: B+. Archery and Square Dancing: A-. Herpetology: B. Evolution: B. BME: A. I got all the way to Genetics and was horrified to see a D+. My heart plummeted into my stomach. That was it. I remember, blatantly, the course catalog for the biology major: all courses a C or better to pass. I did the only thing I could think of doing...
Later that day I went to go see my adviser and he asked me how my grades were. I said something to the degree of "Dr Rowley, I have a D+ in Genetics, I don't know what I'm going to do." He asked what I meant. I said that the course catalog said you needed a C or better. By this point I could feel myself getting upset, but I did my best not to show it. Then, with everything I could muster, I managed "Am I going to graduate on Sunday?" Probably one of the scariest moments of my college career. Without hesitating, he said "Let me check." So while he was busy on the computer, I was panicking. My mind was racing; I was going to have to stay two extra semesters just for one class! All I kept saying, thinking, praying, was "I don't know what I'm going to do." Not even a few minutes later I heard, "Holly, stop."
My adviser looked me square in the eye and said, "You're going to be fine. You're going to graduate."
Apparently, I don't know what course catalog I had read, but it was wrong. There wasn't ANYTHING about needing a C or better. Nothing. Yeah, I was definitely crying by that point, but in the best possible way. Two days later I walked across the Seabury stage and got my Bachelor's degree. Afterwards, I hugged my adviser and told him "Thank you. For everything."
God won't bring you so far into something only to have you fall flat on your face. He puts people in your path for a reason. He gives you strength for a reason. So hold on, to your strength and to those who want what's best for you.
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