Moving on Down the Road...

It has been a couple of months since I last wrote about my journey of moves. I will attempt to pick up where I left off. I believe I was in St. George!

St. George brought many blessings my way. It also brought many trials. But, the Lord tests us in a miriad of ways and never more than we can handle. Sometimes I wonder about that "handle" part, but I know it is true. And if we endure it well, the strength we gain in the process somehow makes it all worthwhile.

I found in the first few years in St. George that some days I was lacking either strength or wisdom or growth and wondered if I was ever going to get through another day. But, always a blessing would follow the storm-and looking back, I can honestly say, it was worth the trial.

One of the great accomplishments I made while living in St. George was to tackle going back to school. The opportunity came to a large group of nurses at the hospital to sign up for a distance learning program through Weber State University to earn a BSN degree in 2 years. Something inside of me told me to "go for it!" I know Gerry would be so proud of me. And so I did. It was a grueling 2 years that actually lengthened out into 3, because of the pre-requesites I had to finish plus some missing credits added to the mix.

I worked full time, went to school full time and was still a full time single mom. Needless to say, it was a difficult 2 years. I graduated in June of 1992 and decided to move to California with my daughter Debi and her 2 children. We shared an apartment in Vista in North San Diego County. I secured a job at Tri-City Hospital, which served the Vista/Oceanside/Carlsbad communities. I was hired as an Assistant Unit Manager in the Telemetry Unit. Now, there was an interesting growth promoting experience! I found out in just one (1) year that I was NOT cut out for middle management. Make me the boss or keep me in the trenches, but don't put me in the middle again. You feel like a rubberband, being stretched from both ends.

In the summer of 1993, I started searching for another job. There was a hiring freeze on in most of the hospitals, so it wasn't an easy task. Debi moved back to Utah, Heather and Brandon were on the verge of splitting up, and so I headed to Laguna Niguel to see what they had to offer. I moved into a nice apartment complex in Laguna Niguel, and began an earnest search for a job. I was unemployed for 2 months! I finally got a job at the Mission Viejo Hospital in their Telemetry unit.


By now, I was deep in debt and behind on my payments and too proud to ask for help. I was really having a difficult time making ends meet. About the same time, my mom's health wasn't doing very well, so a decision was made to move back to St. George. So, by November, I was once again on the road to start yet another leg of my journey through this thing called life. I haven't regretted moving to California; it gave me some wonderful experiences and great times with my kids. The beaches in Carlsbad were gorgeous and my long walks watching the sunset will be missed, but sometimes, we just have to move on and do what we have to do with our lives.

My mom was so grateful to have me back in her home, helping to take care of her and her needs. The hospital in St. George welcomed me back, too, so it was like "coming home!" I had no idea what the Lord had in store for me through all of these experiences and yet another move, but one thing for sure, He wasn't finished with me yet!

More to come.....