“Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.
Remember when you’re talkin’ to the man upstairs,
That just because he doesn’t answer doesn’t mean he don’t care.
Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.”
~Garth Brooks
I, like most people here, like to plan out what I’m going to do with my life. I plan when I’m going to take classes, and when I’m going to be on CO-OP. I plan what classes I’m going to take, and where I’m going to be on CO-OP. I plan when I’ll be studying abroad and where I’ll be living when I’m in Boston. I don’t try to plan after graduation, because frankly I have no idea what I’ll do/where I’ll be, so I’ll just worry about that when the time comes.
My plan was to take two years of classes at Northeastern and then go on CO-OP back home. My time spent in Boston in 2011 pretty much consisted of homesick me wishing to be back safely nestled in the valley beneath the towering peaks of the Chugach Range. I longed for Alaska.
I had it all worked out. In January 2012 I began searching for a job in Alaska and came up with three very real possibilities. One in particular I had in the bag. I would be working on the Arctic Coastal Plain studying how climate change is affecting the streams and riparian zones and how that in turn was affecting the diets of shorebirds. Cool right!? I was so excited. I would be based at UAF, would take a helicopter to the work sites and stay for two to three weeks, and then would come back to UAF to analyze the data in the lab before heading out again.
Judging by my past tense, and the title of this blog, I’m sure you’ve figured it out already that this is not going to happen.
Around the time that my dream of returning to Alaska was coming true, I began to really enjoy my time here. I began to realize that I was actually going to miss people and events that I wanted to be a part of. I became fully plugged in to Science Club for Girls and Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministries and wanted to continue to see the clubs grow next semester. More importantly, I really wanted to be a part of that growth. And I was leaving. Was.
The funding for the UAF job dropped, I didn’t get the REU position at UAA, or the intern position at the Alaska Sea Life Center. I am staying in Boston.
So I began to apply for jobs here. My resume was sent out to 15 or so companies and I began the waiting game. I was called for one interview. I realized how competitive this position was and how slim my chances were as only a sophomore with absolutely zero experience. I was so surprised when I was called for a second interview.
That second interview took place at the facility I would be potentially working at. It was incredible. State of the art equipment and a jovial staff made me realize just how much I wanted this job. It’s real. Real scientists working in a real lab discovering real treatments for drugs like MS and cancer.
[Insert shriek of excitement here!!!]
Yesterday I received a phone a call offering me the position. Today I received the official offer package, and Monday I will accept the offer.
I will be working on the Protein and Cell Sciences team at EMD Serono, purifying and analyzing antibodies to be used in the development of treatments for cancer and other diseases. And I am so beyond excited.
My plan did not work. God was not there to answer my prayers. Yet he did. He answered them in a better way than I could have ever hoped for.
I fly back to Alaska on May 7th. I will be home for 20 days visiting family and celebrating my brother’s graduation. Then on May 27th I will go to camp. I will work at camp until July 7th and then return to Boston. Then on July 9th I start my job at EMD Serono.
Camp is probably the best thing that ever happened to life, and I get to be a part of it again this summer. If I had gotten the job in Alaska I would not have been able to be a counselor this summer. As it is, I get some time at home, then get over a month at camp, then get to come back to Boston and live with my friends and work at an amazing company and help LECM and SCFG grow.
Thank you God, for unanswered prayers.
Sometime in middle school the pastor at my church gave a sermon, “God has three answers.” That sermon stuck with me for some reason, and all too often I see it reflected in my life.
God has three answers:
1) Yes
2) Wait
3) I have a better way
God doesn’t say no. God never says no. God answers all prayers.
God answers all prayers, but not necessarily in the way that you think they should be answered. Sometimes I am blinded to God’s plan and try to work out my plan for myself. Then God steps in, and works everything out in a way I had never even imagined. Some of God’s greatest gifts truly are, unanswered prayers.
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