Meet the Family?

Although it mostly just dangerous to advertise your personal life over the internet I feel comfortable and excited to say that Caleb and I are back together. We dated for nine months last year, had a 5 month hiatus (over which the last 10 weeks we had no communication), and are now officially & intentionally pursuing a relationship. Crazy! I remember telling my parents more than once that "It would just be a MIRACLE of God to get back together!" And, you know, it has been. It has actually happened fast considering our first face-to-face meeting in many months was just May 13th.

I thought I learned a lot over the past 5 months, but it turns out I am learning even more over the last 5 weeks. We have had a few obstacles come our way, as well as many conversations about the past, the present, and the future. We have been learning to navigate life more with a "we" mentality rather then a "you" or "me" mindset (although I am sure I am just discovering the tip of the iceberg on learning to be selfless). God has just given us a precious time to re-get-to-know one another under less stressful life situations. Although not without growing pains, it has been such a joy to be together and grow in our faith together. It is just amazing to see how God used our time apart to mold us into who He wanted us to be together. As Caleb says, "He just accelerated the growth!"

I am repeatedly amazed how good/kind/patient/prayerful/loving/considerate/calm/persistent/generous Caleb is to me and how such a great fit he is for me & I for him! There is SO MUCH GRACE in his life.

Turns out Caleb and I are sort of big nerds (BIG SUPRISE!) and don't have a "group" of people we both individually hang out with outside our small groups. We have a lot more one-on-one, long-term friendships (me more than Caleb). So, it's been weird who to know to bring around, and besides, we just like hanging out and do life together by ourselves too. All that to say, Caleb has only met two of the Kunnari Klan extended family. Well folks, he is about to dive in head first at a family wedding this weekend...all 60+ Kunnari's at once :) It will be fun! Plus I get to wear a new dress - whoo-hoo!!!!

So, if you like, you can be praying for God's clear direction and voice in our relationship, as well as our own individual lives as we move forward in His sovereign will.

Life Updates

It can finally be said: I have my first job as a Physician Assistant! My MIA blog status reflects the busyness of thoughts, interviews, negotiating, worrying (yes, I still struggle with worrying), praying, shadowing, talking with recruiters, talking with family, talking with other PAs, and talking with a few friends. It just turned into an all-consuming process. I couldn't analyze well enough; I couldn't account for all possible future plans well enough. I had to drag along offers until other ones were more solidified; I had to negotiate pay scales while shadowing at other clinics to really see if I would like it there. It was crazy- I probably ran 100 miles in my head. There were three job offers on the table:

1. An inner-city county clinic. 32 patient contact hours a week. wants me to work at least one week night or a saturday morning each week. schedule changes every 4 weeks. inner-city patients. family practice + urgent care (!). close to home. Pay is fair. mentored by lots of brilliant doctors. more chaotic but rewarding.
2. Outer-ring suburb private practice clinic. 36 patient contact hours + 1/2 day for adminstrative time (!). stable working schedule. working poor and middle class patients. probably not a diverse patient population, but lots of older patients with complex conditions. 25 minute drive. Pay is better with additional earning potential. small town clinic feel. great staff. calm environment
3. Minneapolis private practice. 40 patient contact hours. no admin time. stable schedule. no nights/weekends. 7 minutes from home. diverse patient population. pay is just OK but would be working within my own community.

Things culminated Thursday night while driving to talk one-on-one with a local clinic about the offer they were proposing. I just couldn't decide which pros were better than other pros and which cons were worse than other cons. The last complicating factor was that my ex-boyfriend and I had been pursuing conversations about getting back together, and that has been a lot of time. All-of-a-sudden I am trying to think about making job decisions based off that fact that we might even get married and what sort of job/location/hours/environment would be best for that. But, while driving the Lord just broke through and reminded me of my need for Him in all this. I mean, I had been praying about things, but probably moreso "thinking" rather than praying about them. I just prayed outloud in the car while driving on 494, "Lord, I need you. I SO need you. I cannot do this. I DON'T know how to make this decision. I don't know the future. I want to honor you, be consumed by you, live for you, worship you, trust you above all things. I confess my self-sufficiency and independence and pride trying to make this decision without more inquiry of your will. Thank you for your grace and forgiveness!"


After that, I met with the doctor, drove home, and decided to take a different job. The Lord just made it simple, "Kristie, you need a calm emvironement to work in. You need somewhere where it is easy to go to work and be at work because you have a lot of learning to do and potential changes coming up in your life this year. Trust me."

So, I chose option #2. It is calmer. I think the doctors will be good mentors. God will help me use the drive to meet Him in some way or I can catch up with a friend. I don't know what the future holds, but God does. We will give it a try. We walk by Faith, not by Sight.