Life’s Uncertain Course

Life has a strange way of correcting course, and the Lord works in mysterious ways. I admit, I am unaware of the direction life is taking me now. It seems clouded, unsure, and vacuous.

A New Place, a Familiar Faith

I sit here contemplating our situation. We love our friends dearly, and we want to keep our relationship intact. Consequently, we are no longer living with them.
We’ve moved to a new place in the midst of Sacramento—closer to the resources we need. We are near public transport, which is a definite boon considering Mary cannot drive.

A Return to Learning

Since the last update, I have started attending California State University, Sacramento. Initially, my goal was to pursue a license to become a counselor or therapist. The path at CSUS runs through the social work degree program: earn a bachelor’s degree, progress to a master’s, and then obtain your license (LCSW).
However, during my first semester, I found my calling.
Those early courses introduced me to social work through an adjunct professor who also served as a practicing medical social worker in hospice care. I fell in love with the concept and have decided to focus my direction there.

Challenges of Returning to School​

It’s a rough course—trying to complete university at this stage of life. I want to graduate quickly, so I’m filling the summer intersession with community college classes to shorten my graduation time. If I perform well enough, I could qualify for an accelerated master’s program that takes only one year instead of two.
The most difficult part has been living so far away from campus and having an aversion to online classes. The drive ran about forty minutes each way, forcing me to finagle my schedule to limit the number of trips while maintaining a workable daytime routine.
For example, I sometimes faced a morning class followed by hours of downtime before an afternoon one—not ideal. The new place, however, is only ten to twelve minutes from campus, so even a large mid-day gap is manageable.

​Mary’s Journey

Mary, too, has begun a college journey. She is working toward a certificate in equine science at Cosumnes River College, part of the Los Rios Community College system—intimately and uniquely tied to the California State University system.
It’s rougher for her, as this is her first foray into college life. Fortunately, she’s comfortable with online classes and is taking one course at a time. That pace will extend her graduation date, but it’s sustainable and within her capacity.

​Our Living Situation

Our new place is not ideal. It is, once again, a room in a house. The owner is a smoker and has an adorable, though rambunctious, golden labrador. Unfortunately, the owner is not much of a cleaner, so we’ll have our work cut out for us. Rent is higher, and our SNAP benefits are non-existent this month.

Assistance and Gratitude

Since we are both on Medicaid (called Medi-Cal here in California), we qualified for housing assistance through the state. They helped with the security deposit and provided a curated shopping list we could choose many essentials from—furniture, kitchen utensils, and cleaning supplies among them.
There are still a few things we need, but I’ve already published the wishlist elsewhere.

Health and Heartache

Physically, we are doing relatively well, but emotionally, we are trainwrecks. We are still trying to make sense of medical insurance changes that continually force us to switch doctors.
Who is our PCP now? I honestly don’t even know.

Pressing Onward

BUT—we press on.
I had a promising interview with a geriatric home care company that seemed like a perfect fit. Apparently, they thought it was a perfect fit as well. They are willing to work with my student schedule, understanding that I’m a full-time student. Working with them requires that I am registered with the State of California as a home care aide and have submitted my fingerprints to the FBI for a background check.
All that remains before I can begin working with their client population is a TB screening, which is already scheduled.

Balancing Faith and Fear

It’s crazy, but I worry about working. I know this work will probably disqualify us from Medi-Cal and SNAP benefits, so it will need to provide enough to replace them.
Even so, I believe this step is necessary—forward, faithful, and full of hope.