We Did Not See This Coming

If you missed yesterday, you might want to back up one post, because this is about to make NO sense otherwise!

Yes! We had a three hour interview.

The questions were tough and deep, and we worked hard through each one to answer thoughtfully and (obviously) truthfully. I understood and appreciated why they needed to be tough and deep, but a few times, I heard words coming out of my mouth that I wasn't sure made any sense when strung together in that particular order. Seriously! A couple of times I just told myself to wrap it up before I looked stupid! And a couple of other times, I got to the end of my thorough answer and realized I couldn't remember the most recent question. I'm pretty sure this was one of those real-life instances when the Holy Spirit just supplied words in my lack.

It was a massive blessing from the Lord that we had relocated that interview into the cool basement because Ryan and I were both sweating, even though it was about sixty degrees down there.

At the end of the interview, the two men who conducted it asked us if we could step upstairs for a few minutes while they conferred. When we got to the top of the stairs, we realized a huge, somewhat destructive storm had descended over the state, and it was a MESS out there. What a grace from the Lord! I don't love storms, and as I went through one of the most intense conversations of my life, the Lord hid us in a basement so we wouldn't even know what was raging outside.

We were invited to return to the basement, where Rob spent another hour talking with us informally and answering more questions. We left feeling incredibly encouraged about the day, and headed straight for a reward in a cup!

(Ryan wants you to know that he really does have teeth!)

The next day (Thursday, June 11th) we took a 338 question psychological/personality test, which took us about an hour and a half.

And that same day, Rob called to issue us a verbal offer on the job. Nothing was in writing yet, but we celebrated the kind words he said and the fact that he felt we would be a fit with his team and this ministry.

We verbally accepted, and the next morning (Friday), Ryan reported for his final shift on the proning team at the hospital. Though initially they'd been told the teams would be needed through the end of June, the hospital felt they could end early, because our county's cases weren't as severe as they had been. Starting Monday, he would go back to his original job at the rehab hospital, where he would start seeing patients again.

(Side note: what a blessing this team was to Ryan. They may have only worked together for a couple of months, but these ladies became dear friends to Ryan in that time. I am so very thankful for each one of them!)

At lunchtime that day, Ryan dialed in to a mandatory meeting at the rehab hospital. He told me the meeting started at noon, so he doubted he would be able to talk to me during my lunch hour that day. I stood at the island in the church kitchen, eating a salad and scrolling through Instagram, when my phone started buzzing and sliding across the island. I glanced at the clock. 12:15? Had he forgotten about the meeting? He shouldn't be calling!

I grabbed the phone and said, "Hey! Everything okay?"

"You're not going to believe this," he said.

"The meeting is over. They're closing our hospital. I just lost my job."