Tomorrow. Is. The. Day. A day that has been 4+ years in the making for Joel. A day that uprooted our family from one state to another: leaving our family and friends and having to start over. Wowza. We’ve been anticipating this day for a while. From August 2020, newly married in our cozy apartment starting medical school and anticipating my 2nd year of teaching, to July 2024, living in our new beautiful home starting residency and anticipating our 2nd lil boy.
Joel will start his shift on nights. Starting tomorrow night, we’ll be on completely opposite schedules with a few hours in the morning and right before he leaves for work that overlaps. People have said:
“Get ready to not see him”
“Get used to being alone”
“Get used to feeling like a single parent”
“He’s going to be so tired all the time, he’s not going to want to do anything”
“Yeah, that was the worst year”
“Just go on vacation a lot”
“You’re going to have to sacrifice so much.”
“You’ll be parenting all day and then he comes home so tired, you’re still going to have to take care of everything”
“Get ready to not see him for the next 5 years”.
Ya wow ok thanks!!!!!!!
No one is talking about what we will gain. It’s like when I was first pregnant with JoJo. So many blogposts and people shared what we would lose—sleep, our time, money, sanity, going out, freedom?! It took special people in our lives to tell us all that we would gain—the most important—a love you never knew you needed, joy that filled our hearts, a smile (and pouty lip) that could melt your world, a buddy who is always pushing you to be better. With every “advice” we’re getting for residency, I’m searching for the positives, the hope, the gains.
Joel told me that he doesn’t want to complain in residency. He knows times will be tough and hard, but he wants to try to be the one at work that is offering hope and assurance. Obvi he might come home and vent to me—that’s different—but his goal is to try to encourage others. And you know what, that’s what I want to do as well. Too often we’ve heard of how hard this journey will be. And in anticipation, I even looked up some blogs written by a resident’s wife. YA NO. I could sense honesty, but the message was always “so glad we are done with this”. I hope that over these next five years, I can provide encouragement and hope to the other side of a resident’s life 🤍
Over the past week, Joel and I have been reminded that God put us here for a reason. And I will say that our hope comes from Him. We know He wouldn’t do something that would make us compromise His values and truth. We know He has a plan. As the song we’ve been singing to JoJo goes “our God is SO BIG, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God can not do!” Through this all, I just know. I KNOW, this will be different. It’ll all be ok because God has got us. I’m not saying it won’t be hard, but with God’s strength and guidance we can do this. And we won’t be able to do it without Him.
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
Residency is temporary. Night shift is temporary. This time I have with just JoJo is temporary. But our God is eternal. Our faith stands forever. These moments are crucial is raising our family and changing the lives of others as we cross their paths during residency. THAT is what we are fixing our gazes on.
So tomorrow night, we’ll be ripping off the bandaid and officially starting this next journey that took 4 years in the making. What gives me comfort in the ripping off of our bandaid, is the thousands of bandaids Joel is going to be putting on others—in helping heal their wounds and providing light in uncertain times.
Here’s to you, Dr. Meister. I’m so excited for more of this world to meet ya, Doc! We’ll be here cheering you on every step of the way AND encouraging others going through the same! Let’s remember this time in 5 years.
mrsdeclaireinghappiness.com 
So perfectly written! You are so right about all the negatives…. But you guys will have the love and strength to power through and when he is all done with it- all the sacrifice, all the hard work, all of it will be so worth it!!!! Be his rock where he finds warmth and comfort and love- you will soon have TWO amazing other little men that need just as much love and warmth and sacrifice and I promise you promise you that marriage and motherhood are two of the few things in life that will pay off in huge dividends based on the amount of love and work and dedication you put into it—- it will come back to you a million times over!!!! Be strong!!! Stay positive and amazing and you will do great things in all 3 of their lives!!! You are their whole world!!! Good luck and keeping you all in our prayers!!
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