Firefighter of the Year

I rarely talk about my husband Rob on my blog. Tonight I want to honor him. Last Saturday was the Annual Firefighter banquet. There are 9 paid full-time firefighters and a few dozen volunteer firefighters. Rob has been with the department for just over 3 years. Anyways, Rob received the highest award: Firefighter of the Year. It is an award where the recipient is chosen by his/her peers (full-time and volunteers alike) as the individual who has had the most positive impact on the department & community for the past year. Only one other paid firefighter currently with the department has received this award (it usually goes to a volunteer). And there are firefighters who have been with the department for more than a decade. I was so proud when I realized the person announcing the award was describing Rob. It was so unexpected that I forgot to pull out my camera and take a picture. There was an awesome picture of him in the newspaper this morning. I think I will go over to their office on Monday and see if I can purchase a copy (if I am able to, I'll come back and post the photo).

Anyways, I am so proud of Rob. Life has come full circle for him. Rob spent over a decade in a white-color job before he decided to pursue his dream of becoming a firefighter. There were many nay-sayers (including family & friends) who said it couldn't happen for him because of his age, etc. But Rob worked hard. He went through a fire academy and then went back to college and got 2 degrees in Fire Science. Competition is fierce in the fire service. Many times he was competing with thousands of applicants for just a few positions. Then Rob got hired with a large department in Utah. We were so excited! It was everything we both thought we wanted. But Rob was miserable. It wasn't what he expected and his time there was short-lived. I have to admit that I had begun to question whether or not this had been the right career choice after all. We prayed hard and started looking at small departments in and out of Utah. I won't get into the lengthy details of the circumstances surrounding how we ended up in Wyoming, but it was a decision that required much fasting and prayer. We wrestled with it and struggled to find peace. We finally set our doubts aside and put our faith and lives in the hands of the Lord. And here we are over 3 years later. Faith truly is like a seed. The seed of faith planted when Rob accepted the position here has finally bloomed!