Hi Glo,
I have been feeling like I really need to express my thankfulness to Heavenly Father not just in prayers but as a journal/blog entry.
Since 2020 has started our lives have really turned around. I have to say how grateful I am to Heavenly Father for how things have turned out and one way to do that is to write out how I see the blessings he has given me.
So, last year in the fall when I lost my hearing, I was really worried about some very specific things: would I be able to find a job, would I be able to find a good job, would I be able to pay our bills, would we be able to find a house and mortgage due to the troubles we had selling our old house in Pennsylvania for a big loss, would we be able to pay off the bills we were accruing when I was not getting paid as of September 3, 2019 and when I started a new job.
At the time I had 6 things in the works: I had applied and interviewed and been offered jobs with Geisinger, Pittsburgh and Beaumont in Dearborn and Texas and I had applied for flight surgery and reenlistment in the Air Force. I also thought my practice in Altoona would take me back.
As the next 3 months went by, the job in Pittsburgh did not materialize, the job in Texas required a 6 month licensing period and there was no guarantee it would work out in the end. My job in Altoona was a several month process of getting approved and no guarantee there either. The Air Force eventually said yes but they said I had to wait for Presidential approval for my rank of Lieutenant Colonel and they did not know how long that would take. As of the middle of November the best options I had were the job in Lewistown PA with Geisinger and the job in Dearborn with Beaumont. My chosen option was Dearborn, but for several reasons I did not think it would work out with the job in Dearborn. But, I wanted to wait till I got a yes or no from them before I said yes to Lewistown PA with Geisinger. I was supposed to get the yes or no from them by the middle of December, but it was delayed till January 23 due to meetings that had to be held to approve me. I had been approved by Geisinger but we really did not want to go to live in Lewistown PA for many reasons: little branch of the church, few members, no temple near by, lots of issues with people at church for mommy, the housing situation was difficult - expensive and hard to find a place to live, and far away from any airport for the kids to fly into. The downsides of the Air Force were looming over me: traveling a lot, being away from Mommy, the pay was not great, it was a hard life because a lot of what I would do would not be doctor related. I was really open though, to whatever job came through first and was guaranteed with a start date and a secure position.
So I held out and eventually was approved for the job in Dearborn, with some conditions which would make my start date change from December 30 to January 29, another whole month without pay.
This was all very difficult for Mommy and me. We were living in our apartment, all our stuff was in storage, the storage unit and the apartment were 2500 dollars a month, not a lot less than having a big house, but we had to live in the apartment till we knew where we were going.
But I have to admit, then the blessings started to flow. In January since I could not go to work in Dearborn till the end of the month, I offered to work in Pennsylvania part time and they had offered this to me, so I started to work there for a week at one time and then a long weekend. I started to get paid. Then I started to work in Dearborn and I like the job very much, it was still living in Michigan and we had found a house in Northville we liked. With the money I started to make at Geisinger and with the new permanent job in Dearborn, I started to pay off our accumulated bills: two credit cards, we had to save money for the mortgage closing costs and I had to pay the regular bills we had but I was able to slowly but surely make progress. Then we had to go through kind of a lot to get the mortgage on the house, we had to change the closing date 3 times but even though it was very difficult, we eventually got the mortgage and got into the house. At one point Mommy said lets just give up on the mortgage, but I did not want to let her down and I kept going, giving the mortgage guy every document and explanation he said he needed and finally it was finalized. We got into the house in the middle of March. I was making money from my Dearborn job at that point, with a signing bonus and I was also working one or two weekends a month in Pennsylvania. To be honest, my pay between these two jobs has been much more than any other job I have ever had. And, I keep being able to work in Pennsylvania even though I am also working my permanent job. I have used about half of my vacation days in this extra work, but since Covid 19, we have not been able to take vacation and go anywhere so I have not lost any real vacation trips.
So, financially these are the blessings - I am making my regular salary in Dearborn. Then I am getting two weekends a month in Pennsylvania and did a week a few weeks ago which is supplementing our income by about 30%. That extra money has been used to pay off all our outstanding debts since we lost our job and this week I paid off almost all of a debt we owed for the past 5 years when we finished the basement in the Pennsylvania house. That has been hanging over us for the past 3 years even though we moved out of that house 2 1/2 years ago. We have invested money recently, because we have the money and the stock market is down due to the Pandemic so its a good time to invest. Then another blessing: I owed 30000 dollars to the IRS due to taxes on the money we lost in selling the Pennsylvania house at a 100000 loss in a short sale. Anyway, because of all the legal bills I had in 2019, and the fact we gave to the church and paid mortgage interest which are all tax deductions, I got a big tax return for this past year that allowed me to pay off the taxes I owed. So in about 2 weeks I will have paid about 60000 off of bills that we have had for the past 3-6 years, all because of the way our finances have been working out and the extra work I am doing.
Then, another major blessing: with the pandemic and people working from home, Ethan, Rebecca, Baby and Brother; Johannah and Mark have all been able to come over and live with us in the new house. They have also helped us unpack and settle into the new house and we have loved spending all the extra time with them. So, while the world is under the problems created for it by the pandemic; we have spent more time with all the kids but you Glo, than we have for years. All, in our new house with a Sauna, awesome party basement and yard with a pool which we open next week.
Another big blessing, Mommy has been healthy for months without having to go to church and the store with sick people exposing her to illness all the time. That has been a major good thing.
Plus I love my new job. I am on call 2-4 times a month. In altoona I was on call 6-8 times a month. In Chelsea I was on call all but 6 weeks per year, here I am on call 2 times May, and 5 times in June. I cannot believe it, how little I am on call, and when I am on call, I barely get called. Plus, there are two doctors always in the hospital so if I am on call and a patient is in trouble, they can take care of it immediately instead of waiting for me to get there. The residents and I get along very well and they all seem to be happy to have me there to teach and work with them. It is actually really fun to teach them and help them do and learn things that I have learned over all my years of practice. The people I work with, the other residency faculty and I get along really well and I really like them all. Its a pleasure to work with them and they are very supportive of me and with what I have gone through. Also, it turns out I can work a few extra shifts at my Dearborn hospital and earn a little extra money there too.
Then, there are things that have happened with these other jobs I did not get.
It turns out in Altoona, my old practice is being pushed out of the hospital by a hospital based group and they are making about 2/3 of what I am being paid at my job in Dearborn. The extra money I used to make in Altoona is gone and the income for my old group is even less than it used to be when I was working there. Also, Dr. Lee and Dr. Hoyne are leaving soon and the practice has not been able to find people to replace them. If I had taken the job full time in Lewistown Pa that would have been rough: a week after I started part time, they fire one of the two doctors working here so I would have been on call 15 days a month here. So, no church, no temple and on call all the time, plus, no chance for extra money here. Then about 3 weeks ago, the only other doctor delivering babies in Lewistown who did about half of the deliveries, died suddenly. So, instead of being three doctors here, there is now one, I would have been two and it would have been really rough.
The Air Force: I was told they would approve me for my assignment last fall, but as of about March 1, I still did not have orders to work in England so I would probably not have started work, especially with the Pandemic till April. That means, no place to live, no income till April/May/June, who knows?
So, to summarize: I have a great job, a great work environment, a large and supportive group of people to work with, the pay is good and with my Geisinger part time work, the best I have ever had, and I am on call less than I have ever been on call.
All the other jobs I looked at for several reasons have fallen apart and would have been terrible positions for me to be in.
And, Mommy and I and the kids are all happy to be together in a nicer house than we have ever had. Which will be even nicer when the pool is open.
I love you Glo, I just wanted to tell you about some happy things and things I am thankful for.
Con Amor,
Papá
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