Julie Chen Photography

Today marks my hubby’s last day as a neuro-cardiac ICU nurse. What this means is big changes for our family. A chapter of our lives has closed.

About 5 1/2 years ago, my hubby took a 2 year sabbatical from his anatomy-physiology teaching job to pursue his life long dream to do something clinical with all of that head knowledge and he got his masters level degree in nursing. It seemed to be a perfect fit: he is an amazing teacher & nurses are known for truly teaching you how to take care of yourself and compassionately help you through your hardest times. His personality and passion fit the bill. He then spent one full year working 2 — YES, TWO—full time jobs: teaching days & nursing nights. 7. days. a. week. {needless to say, it was not a fun year & anyone who met him at this time, I just feel sorry for as you did not get to know the real Sam.}

His amazing boss allowed him to go part time at the year mark, and then extended her graciousness to allow him to work 1—12 hour shift a week for the last year. All the while he has been teaching full time & recently added to his responsibilities department chair of the biology department. {throughout this process, he determines that teaching remains a passion & the ability to train up hundreds of nurses a year is a big vision for him in his career—to be able to influence the masses.}

As you can tell, it’s been a very “full” 5+ years, but with the busyness comes emptiness and you begin to wonder: do I work to live or live to work?! He has been wrestling with this for months. I was against him quitting, wanting all of this craziness to be “worth it” in the end & wanting him to be a nurse as he is GREAT, but then again, I am also sick of seeing my hubby work so much & stressed & missing out on LIFE.

Another influence was his patients themselves. They are unfortunately on their death beds & do you know what message they gave my hubby week by week? Spend as much time with your family as possible. ENJOY life. {These words coming while he’s missing the girls soccer games & our sons cello concerts, etc…} Not one of them told him, “I just wish I would have worked more!”

We are both so grateful to God for allowing us the privilege to actually have the freedom to pursue our dreams. We recognize most people do not have this option and are bound by money or debt or other limitations that do not allow them to just go for it. We are also thankful that this whole endeavor was never about money. It always made me so sad when people would comment how we must really be “rolling in it now” or “double dipping” as they obviously do not know our hearts nor know how we value our money. In fact, we essentially did not see a penny from all of his work. Rush University on the other hand saw a LOT of those pennies 🙂 but not us. This pursuit was always about fulfilling dreams and helping others.

I hope in the months to come my hubby truly slows down and feels refreshed. I also hope that someday God will open another door for him to use all of these nursing skills. The notes from patients and families have meant the world to us and made this all worth it. Nurses are truly amazing people who pour out their lives in order to humbly serve others.

Thanks for listening!

Grace & Peace,

Julie