Proud

Here, I hope that everyone will forgive me a little wifely bragging. (Fair warning. :)

This quarter Jared started seeing out patients in the clinic. He's started with a small little group of patients...me, Hannah, Ben and a couple of students. He also sees our next door neighbor Mike and four people from our ward, with more expressing interest all the time.

While Jared and I were still "just friends" (a period that dragged much longer than it needed to due to my stubborness :), we walked up to campus together one day...I don't even remember why. We ended up sitting on bench and talking for a while. Jared was conflicted about his career path. He loved economics (he got his AA from BYU-I in Economics) and business and has a lot of natural talent with them. His mission president had encouraged him to follow that path. But he had always planned on being a chiropractor. He was very interested in that too. What should he do?

When Jared asked me this question, even though it was early in our friendship, I had this feeling inside me that this question would effect my life too. I tried to push that feeling away, I thought I was being silly and maybe a bit too interested in this guy. But even now I can remember how I felt. I felt inside that he should follow his plan to be a chiropractor and that my life would be directly influenced by this work for the good. I told him that I thought the life of a chiropractor was more suited to family life than that of a business man...no years spent "married" to the company striving to climb that corporate ladder, no mandatory business trips, no late nights or temptations to bring the work home. I also told him that as a chiropractor he would be able to help so many people.

Just in our years of school so far my health and the health of our children has been hugely improved and enhanced by the knowledge and skills Jared has gained. It has been especially great for me as he has been able to help some of my family members too. But beginning to serve the world at large :), has been really wonderful.

Even now I know I cannot guess all the lives that Jared will touch through his work, but what I do know is that even with just a few patients he is making a difference. His classmates are a bit jealous right now. Four of of his five first out patients are special cases (multiple injuries, severe osteoperosis, cervical disk herniations, neurological problems etc.) and he is learning a lot by the visit. At the same time, his patients are gaining a lot by the visit also. I have never seen Jared more in his element. He is finding things that the supervising chiropractors and radiologists in clinic are missing, that the medical doctors that treat his patients can't help or have made worse, he is spending hours in clinic doing research and collecting information to educate his patients and inform his treatment. He is getting physical results. One of his patients had been in so much pain that he had been unable to sleep and spent much of the night crying. But not any more. He's calling Jared a "miracle worker." :)

I am so proud of my husband. I look forward to all the good he will continue to be able to do through his chosen profession. And, I'm glad I was able to nudge him in the right direction. :)