I wanted to write this while it was fresh in my mind. :)
WARNING: LONG STORY AHEAD. Go ahead, grab a hot cocoa and some popcorn. :)
I just got back from a quick surprise visit to my sister Sarah's house in California. She just had her 4th baby a few weeks ago and my mom and dad were flying out for her blessing. I had several photo shoot requests there and it paid for a ticket to sneak away for the weekend. Everything just happened to fall into place--the timing, Brandon's schedule, finding a babysitter for Carter, the cheap ticket that was bought less than 2 weeks before I left. It was all kind of fast--but came together in a pretty amazing way.
I checked into the airport and hurried to gate 8...The sign said OAKLAND and it matched the departure time my ticket said. I thought it was right. The boarding was a little delayed, so I sat and waited. Suddenly I heard over the loud speaker, "last call for Rachel Holloway at gate 9". I hurried and raced to the gate next to me--same departure time, but heading to San Diego where I had a layover...and had just not realized. :) I was one of the last on the plane.
I passed a few open seats and then asked a gentleman if I could sit by him. We immediately began chatting and I found out that he is the director of pediatric neurology at a hospital system in Sacramento. Now a few reasons this is a big deal...
1-While we are definitely open to going anywhere Brandon can find a job he likes, I love the idea of being closer to home and my sister. California (the northern area where we are interested in potentially going) deals mostly with hospital healthcare systems, so direct contact with any doctors is really difficult. And we have come to see that many jobs tend to be filled by word of mouth or within the system. So our contact with Northern California has been bleak...and felt impossible. Suddenly, there I was on the plane with a director of a department who actually KNEW people and knew who I could contact! And before we even left he had emailed me his Podiatrist's contact information.
2-At this point we were in Austin. And we weren't even FLYING to Sacramento. So the fact that we happened to be on the same plane at the same time sitting next to each other was nothing short of miraculous to me.
Throughout the flight, he gave me contact info after contact info. I came home with several pages of notes of people to contact in different areas of California, Idaho, and Nevada. Upon returning home, he has emailed me a few times and even forwarded Brandon's info to several people he knows and works with who might know of a possible job opportunity.
After a layover in San Diego, I boarded a different flight to Oakland. I noticed a man a few seats in front of me reading a medical journal and articles about infectious disease (a rotation that Brandon had done and I was familiar with). I pushed aside the prompting to say something to him, since we were nowhere close, but after landing we ended up being the first 2 to baggage claim and I walked over and asked what kind of doctor he was. He ended up being a doctor of internal medicine and infectious disease, as I suspected, and is from Arizona. We chatted about Brandon and finishing his residency, etc. and how he is looking for a job. He immediately handed over a business card and said that in his field of infectious disease he works with lots of podiatrists, and he would be happy to talk to them and ask about any job opportunities.
Arizona...another area we have talked about being. Closer to home. Lots of friends that live there. A miracle to me that we were on the same plane then as well...
So a few hours of flights and I was taking home numerous contacts for more potential job searching. Fortunately for me, Brandon thinks I should now fly more. jk :) It WAS quite funny though because before I left he said, "I can't wait to hear who you sit next to on the plane. You always sit next to the most fascinating people--just watch , you'll go and find me a job or something!"
Now, I don't know if anything will come of any of this. I am well aware that nothing is sure--nothing is guaranteed. But this job applying process has been a long, faith-trying process. For both of us. It may be Brandon who will fill the position, but I am the one running the marathon with him and doing every single thing in my power to email, send letters, inquire about positions, etc. And there have been interviews and interest, but nothing that has solidified into a job offer yet. It is hard to look at those who have gone before and had things seemingly fall into place so flawlessly, and feel like we are working so hard and looking so diligently and not yielding anything yet. But we know we will not be left alone...There is a plan and we may just not see all the pieces yet.
My point is...I don't know that any of this will produce a job. And we may not end up in Arizona or California, or ANYWHERE in the West. And that would be okay--but this was such evidence to me that Heavenly Father has not forgotten us. He knows us. He provided these tender mercies and opportunities to talk to people in areas specific to things we have prayed about. And He knows that we needed just a little something more to go off, so we could work just that little bit harder and contact that one more person in hopes of finding the right place...the one we hope He has prepared for us.
