Well hello again!
I never thought I would be posting in here again but as I sit here at a random coffee shop in Arnold, Maryland, it is an action that is so fitting. And soon you will understand why.
I must begin this story with an experience I had while traveling in Europe during the Fall of 2012, more specifically while in the UK. You see God has blessed me with an insane amount drive to see these God-given passions and dreams fulfilled. My guess is you have dreams too: some activity, group, job, person, role or place etc. that just gets you fired up for life. When you are doing this task, in this place, or with this person, there is no place you would rather be. You become fully enveloped in the moment, so fulfilled and so at peace with the moment. Or maybe you are still searching for something I have described above, well I am here to tell you that God wants you to see your dreams and passions fulfilled. These things that have yet to be fulfilled in life are God inspired passions that make your life unique and are ways that God can and will show His unfailing love through you. So patience, God knows you better than you know yourself, and He will get you where you need to be in the proper time.
Romans 11:29 For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn; he will never go back on his promises.
Philippians 1:9 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Ok, just a bit more to fully setup this story. At 16 years old I volunteered with Snohomish County Search and Rescue and a passion was awoken in me, this was something I wanted to do with my life. From then on I was continually researching and networking for some job or vocation that would allow me to get paid to help people in a related sphere or environment. Fast forward about 5 years, I am going to college in Canada approaching graduation the following year with a degree in Sociology and feeling no closer to my dream career, let alone even a job. All I knew was that I was going to graduate and then go travel with one of my best friends (Alexi) in Europe for 3 months.
One day on LinkedIn (basically the work professionals Facebook) I got an email from a Search and Rescue (SAR) group about a new company seeking to network. After researching the company and the lead consultant's profile, I was reinvigorated once again on my dream to work in international disaster response work. I had this response because for the first time I had found some one's career from whom I could model mine after. I contacted the consultant whose name is Rob, and we emailed back and forth for a bit. I then mentioned my travels in the UK (where Rob is from) and he was more than willing to meet with me at a coffee shop and let me pick his brain on his career/education path.
So it's now October 2012, Lexi and I take a train from London to Bath to meet Rob. And I didn't know it then, but that meeting would have a profound impact on the direction in my life. For once, 6 years after I first realized what I truly wanted to do with my life in terms of vocation, I learned a tangible path to get involved in international disaster response. Rob mentioned 2 fire departments in the US that were certified through the United Nations to respond to disasters globally, at the same level he worked at with the British Government. Those departments were LA County Fire and Rescue in California and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue in Virginia. I left that meeting excited but also shaking my head thinking that there was no way I could ever get a job with either of those departments, and even if I could get a job, the thought of moving so far away from my home was quite overwhelming.
I mulled over that meeting for several months and thought I might as well try to apply for both departments. Even if I assumed I had better chances of winning the lotto than getting a job offer from either department, it wouldn't hurt to try. So last March (2012) I get an email from Fairfax saying they are accepting applications for the entry level Firefighter/EMT position. At this time I had already accepted a Wildland firefighting position in Alaska, and Fairfax agreed to put my application on hold until my assignment in Alaska was completed.
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| Me and several guys from the North Star Fire crew. |
Now after an insane 5 month experience in Alaska (2 weeks of those in California on the Rim fire), I contacted Fairfax again and setup my application process. So in October I boarded the plane headed for Washington DC. Now it is here I must pause and introduce another character into this story who was also paramount in helping me land this position. He is a friend I met in Alaska and who was also traveling around the country during his time off from the Wildland firefighting gig, his name is Brogan. I was also using this opportunity to travel around the east coast after my application was completed. So the plan was to meet a few other Wildland firefighting buddies in DC and after I was done with my job application head North to travel around New York. There were some travel conflicts so it ended up being only Brogan who was able to join, which ended up allowing me to focus more on the application in the long run.
The job application was four long days of intense testing. One day was a written test, the second day was a 6 hour long personality profile, the third day was a 3 hour long polygraph with the Fairfax County PD, and the fourth day was an EXTENSIVE medical exam lasting several hours as well. Each day I was excessively nervous, so it was so nice having a friend there to encourage me along the way. After the application process was completed I left that place thinking that there no way I would ever get that job, needless to say I had made several mistakes. But I had nothing to lose going in there and so I continued on my travels to NYC then out to Syracuse NY to visit another Wildland Firefighting buddy.
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| After NYC, Brogan headed out on his own adventure and I went to meet up with Aaron and his girlfriend Holly. Aaron lives in Syracuse, NY. We were on the North Star fire crew in Alaska. He and Holly were nice enough to show me more of this lovely state for several days. We even celebrated Halloween, hence the costumes :). |
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| We all completed a tedious 12 hour hike, it was so epic! |
So I return home after my trip and Mid-November I receive a letter from Fairfax saying that I had passed all of the tests and procedures, and that my file had been added into a pool of qualified applicants and it would remain open for 24 months. The letter then stated that if a job offer did not come within 24 months that employment with this department was unlikely. After reading online forums, in most cases if you were offered a position it would usually take about 2 years for that to happen, especially if you were an entry level applicant as I was. So even if I was offered a job, it would most likely come in a couple years.
I had written off the possibility of landing this job and began to prepare for another season of Wildland Firefighting. However, come two weeks later on December 4, I receive a call from Fairfax offering me a position in the following recruit school. I was numb..."what...you want to offer me a job?", I thought. The reality of the situation had begun to sunk in. I really did fly across the country to apply for a job, and yes I was actually selected for a position. WHAT HAVE I DONE?!? Gah, internally my mind was spinning at what felt like 10,000 miles a minute. But of course I accepted the position.
Then the next bit of news...the recruit school started January 13...
In a little over a month I had to move across the country and begin this new chapter of my life. Now, I am used to always being on the go...but this proposition was a bit much for me. Leaving everything I knew, all my friends and family, all that was comfortable and familiar for a job...doubts began to creep in.
However, day by day God began to work in my heart reminding me that He is in control and that this was always something in my heart that I have wanted to do. And day by day my excitement grew, knowing that yes I was going into the complete unknown but that I was exactly where I needed to be. I began reflecting over the past years of my life, and seeing how God has worked in the big and small areas of my life.
Moreover and most importantly, the greater we trust God, the more we put our faith in Him, the greater capacity He has to work in our lives in a major way. So here I reiterate, DREAM BIG, and don't stop having faith that these God given dreams and passions will be fulfilled, for absolutely nothing can stop the movement of Christ.
Romans 11:29 For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn; he will never go back on his promises.
Philippians 1:9 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
For sake of everyone's time, I will pause the story here and provide the next part of this adventure soon.
The next portion to come will detail the nearly 4300 mile road trip and the first couple weeks living in Virginia, including the first completed week of academy.
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| The road trip route. |
Thank you very much for reading and being a part of this story, and seeing how God can work and guide each of our lives. For my story is a such a small piece of a much grander story that we are all a part of.
Keep strong in your faith, for there is more going on than any of us can realize or percieve.
Enjoying some fresh tea
