Miracle

When our family was young we always had worries about money.  Though I was gratefully employed, there never seemed to be enough for all our needs.  Because Kathy was a Registered Nurse, she was  able to find part-time work that paid a pretty good wage.  Thanks to her, we were able to make ends meet.  During that time, we never seemed to be able to save much money.  As Ben and Joe got closer to missionary age we should have been saving for those expenses, but just couldn't.  I don't know how we figured to cover that cost.  One day I was in the Physiology Department Office when I overheard the secretary talking on the phone to someone who was looking for a faculty member that could substitute for an up-coming medical license examination preparation course.  Apparently, this guy was scheduled to teach for two days in Chicago about endocrinology and gastrointestinal physiology, but his wife had taken sick and he needed someone to cover for him.  A company named National Medical School Review sponsored the examination preparation course and paid pretty good money to their instructors.  Just so happens that endocrinology and gastrointestinal physiology were the two topics I taught in our medical physiology course.  To this day, I do not know why the call came to the Department of Physiology at the University of Louisville or why I was there to overhear the phone call.  I view it as a miracle.  I ended up substituting for this guy in Chicago and continued to teach for National Medical School Review (later sold to Kaplan Medical) for the next 10 years.  I would make about 10 trips each year, usually on the weekends, to teach two 8-hour days of review material.  This  additional income allowed us to pay for Ben's and Joe's missions, including the six or seven months they were both out at the same time.  It was a bitter-sweet experience.  Bitter when I had to leave home for the teaching trips, but sweet when I got paid.  I ended up teaching in courses in California, Chicago, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, D.C, and several Caribbean islands.  I was truly blessed with this opportunity and thank Heavenly Father for His goodness.