Ryan finally got the kind of career he's been working four years towards! It's actually better than we could have imagined. Four years ago when we first started dating, Ryan was in college doing a certificate program called Power Plant Technology, which should have gotten his foot in the door for any of his choice of plants to work at in the area. By the time he graduated the program, poof went the economy. Good secure jobs were getting harder to come by, especially in our area. He worked for an oil industry based company, and it wasn't a bad place to work - it paid the bills. But they had no benefits, did away with their 401K, and a few other downfalls. So in the years he worked there, he was also applying for every plant job in every town around. His test scores and qualifications always landed him the interviews, and his outgoing personality always landed him the second interviews. But when it came down to it, they said they want people with 'experience' and who have worked hands on in fields such as the jobs he was interviewing for. OK - understandable. But, how do such companies expect these hard working young men to gain the type of experience they are looking for if they don't take one on and give them that experience?
Ryan kept trying. Now, in the mean time I'm trying to keep from losing hope and thinking - he's working in a place he doesn't like, and he's such a hard worker, when is it his turn??" and praying that the Lord put something in front of us for Ryan to apply for. SO - three years later, he decides to apply for the railroad. Something he didn't go to school for, and actually something that was just an afterthought. And then what happened? You guessed it! They interviewed him once, then twice - and then he made it into the hiring pool. Six months later they were offering him the position and two months after that we were booking flights and hotels because they were sending him to Georgia - all expense paid trip - for training for his new job as a CSX Railroad Freight Conductor!!! He had to spend six weeks down in Georgia and it was hard for me to be without him for that long, but it was very much worth it. CSX is hands down one of the best careers someone can get in this area.
I can only say that God put this job in front of us, and he is who helped us through those four long years, and he is who blesses us every day. There's not a day that goes by that I don't thank the lord for everything he has done and continues to do for us. It just goes to show that he has a plan for all of us and that patience is a virtue!
