Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles!

Throughout the past few weeks, I've had the song "Miracle of Miracles" from Fiddler on the Roof in my head. Our lives have been INCREDIBLY blessed to say the least. We are officially University of Iowa Hawkeyes! Andrew was the last person accepted this year in the Carver College of Medicine aka MEDICAL SCHOOL. We found out August 12 while we were in St. Louis visiting Andrew's family. Then Andrew started orientation 5 days later. Ah! It's been a whirlwind, but we are so grateful to be here. So here is our epic summer story of how we got here: (WARNING: This is very long, so buckle up!)

SO, around April/May of this year, Andrew had interviewed for medical school at 4 schools, and he was put on the waiting list for all 4 of them-- one in Baltimore, one is St. Louis, one in Milwaukee, and then here. Andrew was number 76 on the waiting list at Iowa, and a lady at the admissions office here said that she thought this list would make it to #86 this year. That was good to hear, but man! How can we make plans with THAT?! We decided we needed a backup plan so we could at least know if we should move or not. So Andrew applyed for the Masters in Public Health at the University of Iowa since he wanted to do that anyways. We figured if he got into that, we knew for sure that we would be moving to Iowa, and if he got into the med school this year, then great! We'd already be set. He was also close on the waiting list at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

A few weeks later, we heard that he got into the Masters program! Woohoo! We decided that since we knew we'd be moving to either Iowa, for the Masters and maybe the medical school, or Milwaukee if he got in, then we could live with my parents in Minnesota to save some money. They live right in between the two schools! Perfect!

Well, throughout July we started looking for housing down in Iowa, because we hadn't heard anything from either school. Our plan was the Masters for now. We found this GREAT apartment close to campus, and we were going to sign for it on August 1st. We actually found out that we got the apartment the day we got to my family reunion in North Carolina. (Man! I am tired from just writing this, so if you are still reading, wow.) While we were in North Carolina, Andrew was going to work on reapplying for medical school at Iowa for next year. (By the way, applying is no fun, let alone REapplying. Poor Andrew was SO discouraged.) Not a very good vacation.

While we were there, Andrew got a call from the Medical College of Wisconsin. They offerred him a spot in their medical school for NEXT year. Not what we were expecting! We were still so excited to have somewhere to go. We figured that Andrew could work on his masters in Iowa for a year and then go to Milwaukee. WELL, turns out that Andrew's particular track in the Masters program could not be done in one year.

We were so confused. While we were in Utah, we prayed and prayed to know what we should do. We kept feeling good about Iowa, and felt confident moving out to Minnesota for the summer. I had a teaching job all lined up in Utah before moving, and I felt really sad that I could have taught there for another year.

After a while, we tried to see why we were where we were. Maybe we could work and save money! That would be GREAT! Maybe we could go on some trips! We were still pretty stressed about how everything was going to work out, because we were still holding onto Iowa. It was Andrew's first choice of the schools he interviewed at, and we still had hope. We kept wondering why we felt so good about Iowa. PLUS our landlord let us put our apartment in Iowa City on hold until we found out if Andrew got into medical school here. Who does that?! Seriously, we felt so blessed that he let us do that.

Well, right when we were getting used to the idea of Milwaukee, we headed out to St. Louis to meet up with Andrew's family on their way moving to Utah. We had a great time with Andrew's family and extended family. One day, we were both feeling pretty overwhelmed and just plain TIRED of waiting. We driving home from a musuem, and literally RIGHT when we pulled into Andrew's grandparents' driveway, Andrew got a call from the University of Iowa Medical School Admissions. They asked if he would like a spot in their medical school. Um, YES!!

We were shaking and crying, overwhelmed with how blessed we were/are. As we made calls to family, and called our landlord, the song "How Great Thou Art!" was in my head. After all that waiting (10 months to be exact), we finally saw the Lord's plan for us. We got to celebrate with Andrew's family, which was so great! They even gave him a toy doctor's kit!

The Lord answers prayers and has a wonderful plan for all of us. Sometimes it takes A LOT of patience, but when we are willing to wait and put our trust in Him, He is more than ready to POUR out so many blessings. Looking back, things happened when they were supposed to. During the time, we couldn't see why, but now we understand. We know that we are supposed to be here, and we knew way before too. There were times that I felt abandoned and a lone, but we never were. Andrew getting into medical school was 100% a miracle, and it only could have been through the Lord. We've learned so much about having faith and patience.

It has been crazy, and Andrew's been so busy, but we feel so grateful to be here. We knew that if the Lord can get us here, then we'll be taken care of.

I'm so grateful for this experience, and all that I have learned from it. For those people who are going through never ending trials, great or small, the Lord knows us and knows our needs. Trust Him, and He'll make you more happy than you could ever imagine. He is my Rock and my Redeemer. He will guide my life to be something much greater than I could ever plan. It's not easy, but it's worth it. Great things come to those who wait.

And for now, while Andrew works hard at school, I am waiting for my Iowa Teaching License to go through, then I will start substitute teaching! There are plenty of things to unpack and clean as we get settled. I will post pictures soon after I take a little blogging break!