Growing up I was blessed with many opportunities to travel. Thanks to my father’s business I was able to go to England many times in the past, so this trip to London last week was exciting, but not an entirely new frontier. However, going with my beautiful friend Carolyn was new. I hadn’t spent this much time with her consistently before, despite our two decades of friendship. But I was very excited for our trip and anticipating an amazing time across the pond.
Our trip was made especially exciting because we had already bought tickets to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I at the midnight showing before we planned this trip, and to maximize our time abroad we bought plane tickets that meant going straight to the airport from the movie theater. I know, we’re crazy. But I still stand by our decision. Our lack of sleep that night meant I could sleep on the airplane with ease! If you know Carolyn or I at all, you know how irrationally excited we get about Harry Potter. Add going to where Harry Potter is from immediately after seeing one of the films for the first time and you’ve got our aforementioned insanity.
So starting off my best week ever is that film, which was an excellent time. And then we spent an entire day traveling. I mostly slept, and after about ten hours of flying and a six hour time loss, we got to Heathrow and still had to get to the tube station, buy our tickets and take the tube all the way to center London and then up to the absolute last stop on the Northern line and then call a cab to my friend’s house. All of this went off without a hitch thanks to my friend Suzy’s great directions. So we got there, settled in with some tea and soon headed to bed. The first day we allowed ourselves to sleep in, and went into central London to be tourists for a while and see as much of the beautiful city as our bodies could handle. It was fun to see London all ready for Christmas, and to just soak it all in. We had an enjoyable afternoon and evening, and then headed back to Suzy’s for some bangers and mash and Factor X. It was SO good to see my old friends again.
The next day, our plan was to go to a worship service at the Hillsong London church per suggestion by my friend, and then head to the British museum and back home for a traditional British roast dinner…mmm! Before we left I was informed that my mother posted something on facebook about needing to get a hold of me. So on the tube on our way to church I called her, trying to imagine what she could possibly need to talk to me about. Little did I know the news that awaited that phone call.
I passed the NCLEX.
I PASSED THE NCLEX!
This should not be that exciting of an event, but for me, after everything I went through the last six months, nay the last five and a half years, it was the best news I’ve ever gotten! I am now officially a registered nurse! I could have kissed the random guy sitting next to us on the tube I was so elated! Needless to say, that worship service was awesome, I was definitely ready to praise Jesus with everything I have. It felt so amazing to know that I trusted Him with this, and that He is so entirely faithful.
For the rest of the trip, I would turn to Carolyn every few minutes and whisper, “I’m a nurse!” She was very good about continually congratulating me on this and not getting annoyed, but I almost couldn’t believe it still. I told a few important people via fifty-cent text messages or facebook, and was overwhelmed by the responses. It felt amazing to see how many people had believed in me, and I was so happy to be able to share my excitement with them. My particular favorite response was from a friend texting me, “You were always a nurse in my mind!” I am in awe of how much everyone truly believed in me. I had multiple people say that I must have been that confident as well, but I honestly wasn’t. I had lost a lot of the hope in my own abilities, but it’s so comforting to see that my friends and family did not lose that hope.
Carolyn and I continued seeing and doing everything we had planned. Mostly museums, which were all excellent. We even got to see Les Misérables. We took a day trip to Oxford and visited all the Harry Potter, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Alice in Wonderland sites. We even went to the swanky London Ice Bar.
It was a fantastic trip, made that much more fantastic by my new licensure. Soon we found ourselves on our plane home, to go straight to Thanksgiving dinner. My family greeted me with many congratulations, balloons, champagne and gifts of scrubs. It was a very grateful Thanksgiving for our family with a new baby, a pregnancy announcement, and my news. Happiness was all around.
It was my best week ever. And it continued into seeing most of my best friends over the weekend. I can’t get over how perfect my life feels right now. I’m working on getting a job, but I’m trusting God again that He will provide exactly what I need. For now, I get to keep celebrating and praising Him.
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