There are times when God's plan is obvious, yet we don't see it at that precise moment. When our 3rd oldest daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, we had to change the way she was schooled at home. We did what we needed to do, and God provided the money through friends and a school funding program, for the special curriculum what we now knew we needed for her. Once she had graduated from high school, she started her college classes to become a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant). They were wonderful working with her, providing all that she needed to complete each and all of her classes, then helping her test for her nursing certification.
Once she had gotten that, she immediately went out applying for jobs. It is common practice that before you are allowed to work in an actual hospital itself, you must first have worked in a nursing home for the minimum of 6 months prior. So, she proceeded to apply at nursing homes that were close enough to home, but not so far that it was a huge gas expense. Well one hospital nearby had an ad in the newspaper, so our daughter felt led to go there and apply. At that time she did not even have her driver's license, let alone a car, so I took her to fill out applications, and other times her father took her to them. Many she applied for online for as well. Well she was called by the hospital for an interview. She was then called back for a second interview, being surprised that she was being asked back again without having prior experience at a nursing home. Well the position was offered to her without hesitation, and she was thrilled! She didn't hesitate to accept it right away. She then got her driver's license, and we were blessed to be able to get her first car from her sister and brother-in-law who had just purchased another vehicle, and were able to give her a good deal on their old one.
Well there was a specific reason that God led her to this specific place...that specific town...that specific hospital. The first obvious reason was that one day, she was assigned a patient who'd had to come in for his appendix to be removed. They got to visiting, and three weeks after he'd been discharged, he called the hospital and asked that she be given a note with his name and phone number (that also said, “I do not drink or smoke), and for her to please call him. One thing led to another, and they began dating. Now, we are blessed to be able to say that as of about 3 weeks ago, they are officially engaged!!! We are so blessed that God has put this wonderful man in her life! His family also loves and cares for her. I know that God has set this plan in to motion, and that is just one reason that our daughter was put in to this specific hospital, as their very first CNA ever hired without prior nursing home experience.
The second very definite reason, other than the obvious ones of caring for patients, was that someone was brought in who had been longtime family friends of ours. When she saw our daughter, she thought it was me. When our daughter said no, that she was not me, but that she was my daughter, our friend asked her to call me to come to the hospital, because she needed to see me again. Our daughter called me and asked if I knew anyone by that name, and I said yes. She was in the hospital, dying from liver failure, and had recently been through a bout of cancer. I went to the hospital to see her. All of her children were there, minus one who had passed away several years back. We are all adults now, have had children, and even some grandchildren. We had all been so close growing up, and their oldest daughter had lived with us when we were kids, and had taught me how to fix my hair, put on makeup, and “look pretty.” I was 12, and she was 16. We all grew up together, our mothers were best friends, and all of us 7 kids were close. We had some really good times when we kids were all together. We went swimming at lakes all together, jumping out of the back of one of the boy's pickup trucks into the water. I got my “first” hickey from one of the boys, and my “first” motorcycle ride too. They were a part of our lives that made our lives all bearable. We kids all had screwed up lives, had been raised by our moms and their crazy lifestyles. We all had each other at least. But then shortly after I had our second daughter, for some reason, we all got preoccupied with life, and basically lost touch with each other.
When I first went to the hospital, it was like a big family reunion instead. We shared hugs, laughter, stories from the past, and it was more like an old home get together than a time of sadness. I know that our friend, though in bed and only cohearant some of the time, would comment or grin every so often, so we knew that she too was happy that we were all together again, and enjoying the laughter, even though through tears at times, we had been brought together for a specific reason, by our daughter working at this specific hospital, in this specific town, on this specific floor, and being assigned to her care. For the first week she was there after I got that initital call, I tried to be there as much as I possibly could, be it 3 or 8 hours a day at times. My mother, brother and sister came to visit as often as they could as well. But you see, our friend's oldest daughter belongs to a specific church, in the same town where my husband works. We had been looking and waiting for the Lord to show us what church we were specificially supposed to be going to. This was that church...the church that we first went to for our friend's memorial service, and the church that is now becoming our home church.
You see, God does have a very specific plan for our lives, even when we cannot see that far ahead. Because of this, we now have a new addition who we gladly welcome in to our family, and we now have reconnected with friends from years ago, friends that we had bonded with while growing up, and who made all of our crummy lives more bearable. Plus, our friend's passing brought us to our new church. What a perfect plan God had! One that we could not see prior to our daughter getting her first full time job as a young adult. God sees us even before we are formed in our mother's womb. He knows each and every hair on our head. He even knows the stars by name. What an awesome God we serve!!
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