God | More Matthews

The day that we had been anxiously awaiting for years finally happened…Match Day! And as you probably guessed based on this blog’s title…we are going to Little Rock, Arkansas!!

I feel a lot of emotions about the idea of moving to Arkansas…anxious, nervous, overwhelmed….to name a few. But overall, I am very excited. This will be an exciting new adventure for our family. We always talked about how we didn’t want to live in Indiana forever. I knew the possibility was coming soon, and I truly felt that God prepared me for this. A year ago, I was TERRIFIED of the idea of leaving my home in Indiana…I would have a panic attack if Ryan even mentioned it (I literally cried the first time he showed me the list of residency programs that he was going to apply for). But slowly, over time, God worked on my heart. I prayed constantly…not that we would end up in Indiana, but that I would find peace wherever we ended up. Day by day, my heart softened to the idea. In November, I went to Gainesville with Ryan for one of his interviews, and actually SEEING a place that could be a potential home made me excited for the first time. Picturing myself living somewhere different seemed exciting rather than terrifying. After 13 interviews around the country, Ryan continued talking about his first interview in Arkansas. He loved the area, the program, and the people. He really wanted me to see it for myself, so in February, we took a weekend trip. That trip was a game changer for me. During the entire weekend there, I felt a sense of comfort. I felt at home. I felt at peace. I felt that that is where my heart belonged. I knew that God put that feeling inside me for a reason.

We still ranked IU as his #1 choice…just because this is where our lives are. We knew it was a long shot since the Indiana Emergency medicine program is rated among the top 3 programs in the country. We knew that God would place us where we were meant to be. Well, we are meant to be in Arkansas.

My emotions have been a roller coaster already since finding out a few days ago, and I know they will continue to change from day to day. I’m still scared…but I’m more excited. I’m sad to leave our home where we started a family…but I’m ready to have a new home and make new family memories. I hate the idea of leaving my job and my school family…but I know I’ll gain new friends and hopefully a new school family. I am dreading leaving our families…but I know I’ll still get to see them often and thank goodness for modern technology and FaceTime!

Here are more Match Day pictures, as well as the video of the opening of the envelope…

And so the adventure begins…God prepared me for this, so I know He will not abandon me now!

Welcome to the Matthews family blog! I have always wanted to write a blog, but I thought, “who would care to read about my life?” Well, now that I have a beautiful baby girl and a husband in medical school, not only did I think more people would be interested in reading about our lives, but I wanted a place where I could document our journey and be able to look back on it in the future. When I was in college, I started writing a journal, which I still write in today. Looking back at the older entries now, it is incredible to see how much I grew as a Christian woman over just a few years. I went through a lot in college, both good and bad, and to be able to go back and read my raw emotions at the time, and to see how I overcame it and how I grew, is such an amazing experience. So that’s why I finally decided to write this blog. Even if nobody reads it, I will use it as my own journal that I can look back on and show my daughter when she is older and show her how we grew together as a family.

For those of you who don’t know our situation, I am a 5th grade teacher, and my husband, Ryan, is in his first year of medical school at IU Muncie. I cannot even begin to explain how proud of him I am for everything he’s accomplished so far. We started dating when we were 14 years old, and even then, he has always dreamed of being a doctor. In college, he worked his butt off taking 19 credit hours, working full time at Wishard hospital, coaching soccer, being involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters, and much more. We didn’t get to see much of each other and when we did, he was most likely sleeping. From the beginning, I knew that being Ryan’s partner in life would not exactly be easy because of everything he had to do to pursue his dream career, but I knew that he was worth all of it. Once we found out he got into IU Medical School, we were thrilled, because we didn’t have to uproot and move out of state. However, I was not so thrilled when we found out he got placed at the Muncie campus, which is 1.5 hours away from our home in Avon. While this wouldn’t be such a difficult situation in normal circumstances, I was pregnant with our first child due in September. We both knew it wouldn’t be possible for him to drive back and forth every day with all the studying that would be required of him, so we decided to get him a one bedroom apartment in Muncie, and he would come home on weekends. With this arrangement, I would be able to keep my teaching job at Mill Creek (besides, who would hire an 8-month pregnant woman who would need an immediate maternity leave?), and still be close to both of our families for them to help when the baby came. This was definitely not an easy transition for me, but I did feel very blessed that he was placed in Muncie instead of Fort Wayne, Gary, or Evansville. It turned out that this was the best possible situation for him because he has a smaller class in Muncie which he has become very close to. They have been extremely supportive and helpful through our situation, which I am very grateful for! When Ryan is home with us, we cherish every second together. He is such a hands-on dad and does everything he possibly can for me and our daughter. I cannot imagine going through life with anyone else!

I constantly have to remind myself that we are incredibly blessed with so many wonderful things happening in our lives, because we really are. Even though I wanted our situation to turn out differently, I trust God completely that this is the way it happened for a reason. He has never led me wrong before, and I know that He is on my side no matter what. As long as we keep God as the support system in our lives, we have faith that He will help us get through it!