How could we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? Psalm 137:4
Well, it was supposed to go like this:
-we would sell our house in Michigan (by the way does anyone want to buy a house in Michigan? It's four blocks from the lake!)
-we would get student loans and forbearance on the ones we already have. -we would come back to the USA in the summers and I would work as many hours as Wal-mart and Lawndale could give me
-we would use our savings
All of these things would give us three happy years of simple living in the UK. But of course our house in Michigan has not sold and we have run our savings dry paying the mortgage. So we decided to rent the house and that when we returned from the States I would get a job in the UK. Unfortunately, I cannot work as a pharmacist without going to and paying for an additional year of University and doing a year internship. Not really practical in our situation. So I figured that I would get a regular job, at the University library, or a store or something like that.
We went back to America during the middle of June. My schedule was quite full, but we did squeeze in a few visits with family and friends. After the first day I had my pharmacy groove back. It was great! It was especially wonderful working at Lawndale. I worked hard, but I was doing the work that God has called me to do. I even had the stirrings of some vision for exploring the role of pharmacists in promoting public health.
I decided to look for a job via the web in pharmacy. I knew I would have to accept not being a pharmacist. Happily, there was an opening for a pharmacy technician position at our local hospital in Cambridge. So, I applied online. I got an email back that they were very interested in my application, but that they could not hire me as a technician until I became registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. They did have, however another position that did not require registration and perhaps they could phase me into the technician position after I became registered with the Society. The position has a fun title Senior Assistant technician Officer for Quality Assurance. But translated, it essentially means that I will keep the clean rooms where they make IVs and chemo clean and deliver IVs and chemo to the proper wards of the hospital. So, I had an interview date (yesterday) and I decided to start the process of being registered with the Society.
Unfortunately, I don't even qualify to be registered as a pharmacy technician by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Well, I do in every way except one.
"In order to apply for registration, work experience must have been undertaken in the United Kingdom under the supervision, direction or guidance of a pharmacist for a period of either
-Not less than 14 hours per week for four out of the last eight years; or
-Not less than 28 hours per week for two out of the last four years"
It is very frustrating, and I know that in the USA foreign pharmacists also have a difficult time getting licensed. Of course our governments make it difficult in order to protect the patient, and I would never suggest putting the patient at risk. But at the same time, being a pharmacist is such a part of who I am that when Jason and I have discussed living in the UK permanently, this is the deal breaker. (Well, that and the mountain of debt we have in US dollars!) How can I feel truly at home in a place where I cannot do what God has called me to do?
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself. Leviticus 19:33
I was reflecting on all this, Sunday morning as I cycled to church. It was my first Sunday back at St. Mark's since returning from the States, and I was feeling joyful. I realized that the reason I was feeling joyful was that St. Mark's is a place where I truly feel at home. It is a place where I can be myself. It is a place where I, as an alien, am treated as a citizen. And I wasn't disappointed. We were welcomed home with open arms.
Perhaps, for a little while at least, I can sing the Lord's songs in this foreign land.
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3 comments:
I love you and I find your thoughts so wonderful and encouraging, to hear about all of these frustrations, and yet your acceptance of them (and the way in which you do so) is so refreshing. Keep it coming. =]
Be encouraged! As long as you are raising up a daughter to be a worthy sister in Christ, you are doing what He has called you to do! This is no small vision, either: it's a call of faithfulness from generation to generation and generations beyond our own lifetimes.
I understand that pharmacy is a big part of who you are. I'd love for you to respond to a blog I wrote recently: The Identity Equation. (www.homeschoolblogger.com/pomaleedon/195501/) Although I didn't blog it, being separated from the part of me that had defined me was frustrating, as you know for yourself. But this quirky equation has helped free me from that; I'm so much more spiritually content to embrace the responsibilities He's blessed me with me for this season. In His Providence He'll make the way straight when the time is right.
Love ya, Kristin. I'm looking forward to reading your writing!
~ Pamela
I have responded to Pamela's identity equation post and I touched on the issue of dealing with depression as a Christian. So, if anyone else is interested in that, there it is.
I think often, when we are in the midst of what God has called us to in the here and now, we long for what is not yet. To a certain extent, we are always called to be one foot in the here and now and one foot in the future.
Right now I feel like I'm in suspended animation. I am waiting to hear about the job at the hospital, and it's difficult to plan for life until I know about it.
I really appreciate your encouraging words, Pamela and Miss Sometimes. I love you too!
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