Waiting

Well, we are in the waiting phase.  Joel finished residency interviews mid-Jan.  He interviewed for both D.O and M.D. residencies.  This is important to know, because there are two matches.  The first one is the D.O. match.  He had until Jan. 28 to put his rankings in the computer.  The hospitals had the same deadline.  You'd think since it is a computer matching program it would have results in minutes.  Alas, it is not that easy.  We are waiting, waiting and waiting some more.  Hopefully, this year we will be celebrating Match Day not Valentines Day.  The D.O. Match day is on February 14.  Ladies and gentlemen, we are in the single digits for the countdown.  9 more days!  Joel didn't and really couldn't rank as many programs as is suggested.  Students often rank 10-15, but there are only 8 D.O. neurology residencies, so even if he interviewed at all of them, which he didn't.  He doesn't have that many to rank.  And, he may or may not have ranked all the D.O options he interviewed at, so it is a little nerve-wrecking--this whole waiting thing.  So, on Feb. 14, we may find out that we have to wait another couple of weeks for the M.D. match or he will find out what D.O. neurology residency he matched to.  If he does not match to a D.O. residency, he can only rank 4 programs, since that is all the MD programs he interviewed with.  He has until the 24th to put those rankings in and that Match Day is in mid-March.

I am confident he can match to a program.  I personally hope he matches to one of the D.O programs only because we will find out earlier where we are headed for the next four years.  If for some reason he doesn't match, I am sure you will find out from me what a scramble is.  But, I won't explain that unless absolutely necessary.

Along with this explanation, I would just like to ask for prayer requests. 
1.  Pray for us during this waiting period.  I really don't feel super anxious about it, probably because I have a good feeling about the result and feel confident in Joel.  But, there are times when the anxiety hits.
2.  Pray that Joel matches.  And, that he matches to one of his top choices.  (Don't worry we will be happy if he just matches, but I believe we can be forward with God and pray for specifics.  I know where ever we go whether it is one of his top three choices or one of his last, God planned that and he will provide.)
3. Pray that Joel doesn't need to scramble.
4.  Pray that we remember to glorify God throughout this whole process.

Thanks everyone for your support and prayers.  I am sure there will be a post in 9 days to let you know the results.

Stay tuned for a post about Ky's first time sledding.