Today I am celebrating a BIG, milestone birthday! Yup. 65 comes around but once and my home stretch to this place wove through our 2020 pandemic. By God’s grace and direction, I have determined that this coming year will be a memorable, magical one. While 2020 does not bring warm memories to most of us, myself included, it was during this time that God patiently led me through three life-changing experiences/events in order to re-shape my future. Experiences that I believe need to be SHOUTED and shared!
…one…one…one… My first big benefit (thanks to our government) for turning 65 is Medicare! This is HUGE for someone who has not had medical insurance for more than a decade! Thank God my health during these years has been mostly good, for anything unexpected or critical could have taken us out financially. Mind you, the entire Medicare scenario is not an easy one to navigate, but I am thankful for an excellent advisor who helped get everything in place and in plenty of time for the BIG START at the beginning of this month!
…two…two…two… The next thing I need to share is something that seemed to fall into place quickly, unexpectedly, and almost effortlessly; culminating in the realization of a childhood dream fulfilled.
Here’s some background: Having spent various times in hospitals as a young girl, my desire was to someday be a nurse. I mentioned this again and again growing up and Mom was always my biggest fan and cheerleader! I started out in that direction after high school, working diligently in a nursing home as an aide for several years and loving it!
Then life, as it will, took a different turn with marriage, moving, children, and eventually a 25-year career at Focus on the Family. After getting caught in Focus’ 2008 downsizing and outsourcing lay-offs, I struggled to find a new direction/career and ended up back at my post-high-school roots. As a Caregiver for senior adults for about 10 years, I was employed mostly in Assisted Living Facilities. Here we worked 24hr and eventually 12hr shifts. I embraced my role and found a compassion within myself that began to surface as I enjoyed caring for and about the residents. As it turned out, I was the only Caregiver in our facility that was not a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) for I was hired based primarily on my experience. This fact alone could quickly become a source of pride.
Enter 2020 – and the pandemic we all continue to walk through. Our world changed. Long Term Care facilities (including Assisted Living and Nursing Homes) changed. Our workload and responsibilities increased as Covid precautions took their toll and more shifts needed to be covered. Then, personal health issues surfaced with my feet and knees. It was becoming evident that 12 hours at a time on my feet was getting to be too much, and changes needed to be made.
Being a problem-solver (and accepting the fact that I was no longer a spring chicken) I weighed my options and made plans for what I thought would be the best solution between now and retirement in about 5 years. It seemed it would be best to quit this Assisted Living job by the end of this year and work as a Caregiver solely for a home health company, where I would need to care only for one person at a time, and also choose my own hours. No thought was given to my long-forgotten nurse-dream, or to the financial burden this would add to our lives.
This all came to a head in August when our church was slowly beginning to open up again with classes, studies, and limited services. I decided to attend a class on a Tuesday led by Pastor Jack. This class was P.E.A.K. Fellowship – People Experiencing Authentic Kingdom Living. On this particular evening, we discussed finding and being on the right path for our lives – on allowing God to be the God of our current path. I heard Pastor Jack talk about how we like to find what we think is the easy way and even try to eliminate as much pain as possible. Yet as believers we need to seek God’s direction to find the current ‘right thing’ to do in our lives. Taking all this in, it occurred to me that the decisions and choices I was currently making were all mine. I had not approached my Father-God on this matter of what I had been feeling or to ask Him what path He would have me take. So that very evening, God and I had a session about these issues.
The next day I was cruising around Craig’s list to see what other Caregiver jobs were available, looking specifically for anything that didn’t require 12-hour shifts. This is when I saw the ad! They were offering FREE CNA classes! All online except for labs and state exams. At the end of this at-your-own-pace training, they would place you in a CNA job. It sounded too good to be true! So, after some snooping and investigating, where all appeared to be on the up-and-up, I signed up for these classes.
Three months later, at the beginning of November, I found myself sitting in orientation at my NEW CNA JOB. WOW! How quickly that all came about! Not only has a childhood dream been resurrected, but it has become a reality at this stage in my life!
It has taken some time to figure out my new role and also some adjusting to be back in a nursing home setting, yet I know this is the kind of hands-on caring/nursing that I am called to – to be able to do for others what they can no longer do for themselves. Everything else in my new job is better so far, more help to share the load, more benefits, more pay, less overall responsibility, shorter shifts, less pain, better sleep, and closer to home.
When I first started this new venture, I figured I would stay the 90 days required for them to pay for my CNA classes and then return to Assisted Living. But I hadn’t counted on loving it here – on being captivated by the residents as I learn their stories – on falling in love with a nursing home population all over again. I hadn’t counted on any of these things. But God knew, and now I know, that I am on the current right path for me!
…three…three…three… The third experience I want to share has to do with this simple blog I’ve been steadily working on. Another dream now part of my reality! While it took several years to get up and running due to my technical frustrations and challenges, I am incredibly grateful to have this place to share my thoughts and life with others. Though not yet completely kink-free, thank you for visiting this blog! Praise God as He continues to guide, direct, and surprise me with His plans!
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 19:11 (NIV)