Following the Father

I'm trying yet again to update on some recent things that have been happening with me in regards to my desire to learn midwifery.  I tried multiple times yesterday to post something but kept being interrupted for many reasons, and then so many things would happen before I'd get back to it that by that time things had changed so much that I needed to rewrite the update!  Then when I finally did finish typing something current last evening, the computer froze up and the server timed out on me when I tried to post it and I lost the whole thing!  So... I gave up.

Here's the bullet points of this week's major happenings for myself, starting Tuesday.

Tuesday:

I spent alot of the afternoon researching midwifery internship/apprenticeship possibilities.  It was hard to find anything that was near us, and even if I was willing to go the distance, it was very pricey and the people in charge were not Christians and the theology that you feel on their website was questionable.  God then prompted me to specifically google midwives with our state name, and see if I could come up with a list of certified midwives in our area.  Though I didn't find a list, I did find a midwife's profile on a website giving a bit of information about herself.  She's a Christian, has a large family, and has been practicing for 22 years.  When I was reading about her she sounded familiar and I vaguely remembered some friends mentioning her several months ago.    I excitedly e-mailed her explaining who I was and asked if she had any suggestions of where would be a good place for me to start and if she knew of any people I could contact.

Wednesday:

I got an e-mail back from her which said to call her so she could set up a time to meet with my parents and I.  This wasn't the response I expected, it was much better!  I called her later that day and talked with her briefly.  She said she'd call me back to set up a time since she was rushed at that point because she was in a class.

Thursday:

The midwife called that morning and we agreed that Mommy and I would meet with her at her house later that morning.  So that's what we did, and we talked for a good hour and 45 minutes.  We were encouraged by that meeting as it is obvious she is a solid believer in Jesus and his importance in every part of our lives and we gained alot of information about her and her midwifery practice.  The end result of that meeting/interview was that I will do a trial apprenticeship with her for a couple of months, and if we both still feel that I'm called to this area we'll continue from there.  My first step will be going to her house next Tuesday to meet some of the mothers she cares for and watch her do prenatals.  (She does prenatals every Tuesday in her home, but the births take place in the family's home)  I'm still trying to catch up to all this!  I went from dreaming about this hopefully happening some day on Monday, to being an apprentice on Thursday!

After getting home that afternoon from that meeting we started trying to think through the details of what needs to happen for this, and one thing that is extremely obvious is that I need to get rid of my permit and move to my license already!  You wouldn't believe the challenge it is to get the required hours for a permit in a small town.  Especially night hours, as I don't go anywhere at night without my big brothers being home!  But I finally had them so we called the DMV to see when would be a good time for me to go in for the test.  They said better do it today or it won't happen for a couple of weeks as one of the employees will be gone for the next week at least.  SO... my dad called work and got permission to come in late, my mom took care of Baby B. for me, (he came earlier that afternoon after we got back) and my dad and I hoped in the smaller van to rush to the DMV!  We actually only had a small wait compared to when I’ve been there before.  I took the test, passed it, and now I have my license!!  Alot can happen in one day!

Friday:

I'm just trying to process all that happened yesterday and this week in general.  Obviously God has this already mapped out.  I just need to keep taking one step at a time!

~Elizabeth