My story starts in our Bicentennial year, having moved from Conneaut, Ohio in the fall of 1976 to attend OSU to major in the Allied Medical Professions, specifically, Occupational Therapy. I would remain in Columbus for 21 years.
My first job was given to me "prematurely" by God. After completing all my coursework to become an OTR/L [Occupational Therapist, Registered/Licensed], but BEFORE I had the legal right to put those initials after my name.
BEFORE I graduated.
BEFORE I took any of my final exams.
BEFORE anyone knew whether or not I'd pass and be qualified for a professional job.
BEFORE there was any advertisement for a job opening.
BEFORE I had my own car to get back and forth to work in.
BEFORE I knew that God was going to set me up in that place: CDC – Columbus Developmental Center.
I was only slightly familiar with this place. As a student, our class visited it and toured many of the buildings on campus. The "residents" were assigned to a housing unit based on the severity of either their mental/intellectual and/or physical handicaps or disabilities. The two hardest buildings to walk through were Emerick and Doren: Emerick housed those with the most severe physical deformities - some to the point where a person hardly looked human anymore - far from normal. Doren Hall housed those with the most profound mental retardation and consequential behavioral "anomalies".
After completing my coursework at OSU, I knew I needed to get some applications out, and "for some reason" this facility was strongly impressed upon me. I didn't yet have a car of my own, but Pastor Albert Steele from the Fellowship of Love was kind enough to allow me to borrow his brand-new red car to go pick up an application. It was a Thursday. When I got there, the HR lady told me that they only give out applications on Mondays. I asked her if I could just take one with me and return it on Monday, but she rudely snapped back at me and emphasized that they only give out applications on Mondays. So, I jumped back in the car, determined to return on Monday.
I was just about to start the car when I heard the Spirit of God tell me not to leave.
I didn’t know what to do. I sat in the car praying, "Lord, what am I supposed to do?" He brought to my remembrance the name of the Director of the Therapy Department: Marilyn Ryan. "Find her." I had no idea where her office was. The CDC had a lot of different buildings and a fairly large campus for an institution. So, I asked a few random people who were walking from one building to another whether or not they knew Marilyn Ryan and where I might be able to find her.
It turns out she was in a building
not far from where I was parked. Now, mind you, I was not dressed up to
present myself to anyone in authority with any kind of decorum. I found her office, knocked on the door, and
when she answered I discovered that she was hosting a large meeting with other department heads. “Don’t leave!”
she said, “We’ll be done in a few minutes.”
There were no chairs in the hallway, so I stood for a while, then sat down on the floor. Forty-five minutes later, I was antsy. I needed to get my pastor’s car back to him. So, I reasoned within myself: I can’t get an application… this meeting is longer than I thought… I didn’t come here to personally see Marilyn, but out of respect, I’ll knock on the door to let her know I have to leave but I’ll be back on Monday.
I knock. She answered.
“Oh, please don’t leave. We’re
almost done. Just a few more minutes
now.”
A few more minutes turned into almost another hour's
wait! I was too nervous to stay, and I wasn't going to knock again. As soon as I decided to just get up and leave, her
office door opened and people started pouring out. Then she ushered me
in and we sat across from each other at her desk. I told her why I had come and she began
asking me a lot of questions. She let
me know that there were no openings at the time, but she kept asking me a lot
of questions anyways. This impromptu
meeting turned into a job interview! She
asked me about my education and I let her know I had not yet graduated, I didn’t
have any credentials yet, etc. Somehow I was able to bring the Lord Jesus
into the conversation and she inquired about where I went to church, etc.
Fast forward from that Thursday to Sunday. I’m at church and a call comes in for me through the church office. For me? At church? It was Marilyn Ryan. She found me at church and said, “I can’t explain what happened when you left my office, but there was a shift from the administration and they’re moving things around and said our department will need another therapist. They told Marilyn to find someone immediately. She asked me if I could start on Monday… the next day! I reminded her that I didn’t have any credentials yet, but she was so desperate she said it didn’t matter.
So, instead of returning on Monday to get an application to
fill out. I returned on Monday to start
a job I was not yet qualified for and for which I never did fill out an application. This was a divine setup. I’ll continue this testimony in the next blog
post. It’s important that you know the testimony of what God did back then. I believe it’s going to be a significant factor in what we see
break forth in the city of Columbus. And it's unprecedented.
They're Coming!
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