Africa bound!

Today I verbally commited to making a dream come true that I've been dreaming about the past 4 years...  to be a PT on Mercy Ships.  WOW.  Pending my physical gets approved, I will be spending 3.5 months on the Africa Mercy stationed in Conakry, Guinea, on the west coast of Africa.  I will leave a few days after Christmas and return mid April...

While I applied for a PT opening in August, I really just knew that several others had applied and then I didn't hear anything for about a month (they said they would take 4-6 weeks to approve an application).  I was able to reach them on Friday to see if I was still a candidate or if anyone else had already filled the position so I would know if I needed to end my next rotation as a travel therapist at a certain time.  They said the Jan-April position was filled, but they might be opening up a spot for a 2nd PT in November for a couple months to help with all the orthopedic surgeries they planned to do, but it had not been approved - they would try to let me know Monday or Tuesday this week.
So after going for a walk this morning, I returned to a voicemail, saying they did indeed have an opening then, as well as the longer opening from Jan-April as the other person had to back out. 

Decisions, decisions...  leave earlier for a shorter time (6 weeks) or leave later for a longer time (~15 weeks).  I had been talking with God a little bit about if the short term one came open (originally she had stated for early October - November, which would be about 3 weeks from now) I was really a little nervous about getting ready in that time period - money, self prep, medical stuff (shots, physical, dentist, etc) and not getting to work in that period meant a little wasted time in my opinion (not that it would actually be wasted, but I knew my insurance benefits would be cut off a little before I could take care of all those physicals and shots and things...).  Then I was given the choice, 2 good choices, and it was one of those things where I felt like God just wanted me to choose my desire.  (Sometimes I don't like choices though, because I can be a little indecisive at times and both options allowed me to be home for Christmas, so that was not a determining factor)  I asked Kristin, the woman helping me through the process, which time they had a bigger need for.  She thought for a while and said the Jan-April spot because we don't have a PT lined up then at all.

Well, that made the decision for me.   BUT oh WOW, I'm going to be the ONLY PT??!!  Yikes.  Now I've been used to being the only PT from time to time, but this is acute care, I know there will be burn and plastic surgery patients, and probably all sorts of other cases I have not seen before.  (I do love my outpatient ortho...)  Yikes, what if I have to do wound care??  So I think I'm going to be in a little over my head... 

Thankfully God's not in over His head.  I've got a feeling I'll be thinking James 1:2-5 quite often these upcoming months.  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish it's work so that you are mature and complete, not lacking anything.  And when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, tossed by the wind.  Since I'll be on a boat, that wave of the sea may take on new meaning to me...

Right now I'm riding a wave of excitement and nervousness...  This is going to be awesome!  and hard!  I think the thing that may scare me the most (honestly more than treating things I've never seen before) is the fact that I will mainly be confined to a 500 ft boat.  If you know me...you know I like to get outside and explore...  particularly mountains...  The rooms are tiny, so I don't forsee myself spending much time there...take a look at the single's housing here.  I'm not really clausterphobic, I just like to get out and see wide open land (not buildings or even sea for that matter, and I'm going to be right in between those 2 extremes).  So I think my biggest need for prayer may be that I don't get too 'antsy'.

I will keep you posted on my progress!  :)  Thanks for reading!