Need some prayers!

I'm feeling very discouraged at the moment. For those of you who don't know me (don't think I have mentioned in previous blogs), I am currently working on my master's degree in nursing. It is a dual adult and geriatric nurse practitioner program and required a total of 640 hours of clinical and residency time. I started clinicals in February and they will continue through the summer. In the fall, I will start my residency (360 of the required hours). Right now, I spend 3 days every 2 weeks in a clinical rotation at a small town medical center which is about a 2 hour drive (one way) from here. I found out a few minutes ago that the total numbers of hours for my clinical/residency time has increased to 760! That's 480 hours over a period of about 24 weeks - in addition to my regular job plus the course work. I haven't picked up my "certified letter" from the post office yet to find out the details/reason for the change, but it's a done deal.

Now, I know that there are plenty of people who work full time, go to school full time, have a family, and manage just fine. So, I probably shouldn't be complaining. It is just very frustrating to have the requirements change in the middle of the program. If they needed to be changed, fine - do it with an incoming group of students - not those of us who are over half-way there.

I ask that you pray for my attitude to be one of acceptance and willingness to see this as a learning opportunity/blessing - not the roadblock that it feels like to me right now. I also ask for your prayers that the time and financial stumbling blocks will be removed as well. Becoming a geriatric nurse practitioner has been my dream for many years and serving the elderly is the call that is placed on my heart - what an awesome blessing!

On a positive note, I feel like God has shared some "news" with me regarding when He will bring us to our child. No - it is not an immediate gift, as much as I would like that to be the case. There are no specifics about how, when, where, etc. He knows those details - not me. I don't want to have unrealistic expectations or get my hopes up, but I do claim this as a promise from Him. I will continue to pray and when the timing seems right, I will share this with all of you who are traveling this adoption journey with us. Until then, Mark and I eagerly await the moment when we will hold our little one for the first time.