Even since before his graduation from the police academy (pictured above) Josh has been searching for a job. It's been well over a year and has been a difficult journey. Many resume's and applications have been completed without much success until Josh received a call from Midvale back in November. He had actually applied with them back in January. They have an open recruitment hiring process which means anyone can apply and then when they have an opening, they go through those applicants. A panel interview was set up for the first part of December and Josh was given a score based on his application and several aspects of the interview. About a week later, we received a letter stating that he had passed and they would be contacting him with further information, but for the time being, he needed to fill-out a background packet.This packet ended up being a TON of work for both of us. When it was all said and done, it had been an entire week of work, and it was 39 pages long. They wanted to know so much, I was surprised that they didn't require a sample of his blood! Needless to say, neither of us want to do that again, so Josh has put several copies of it in our fire-proof safe.
The packet was turned in just before Christmas and we didn't hear anything again until the middle of January when he was called to do a P.T. test. This he passed with flying colors; he completed each part of it without problem and he tied for completing it the fastest. Again Josh was told they would contact him, and the next we heard was actually from his friend, who had also applied. She had received a letter stating that they didn't want her for the job, and for several days we waited with bated breath for the same letter to come. It never did (thank goodness!) and soon we heard from our neighbor that they were working on his background check. She had left us a note saying that an officer had stopped by, asking her about Josh and what he was like. She said that he was always nice and respectful with her (thanks, Kelly!) and a few days later, Josh was called to do a drug test. He had passed the background check and was continuing on the path to being hired. This was about the middle of February. After the drug test was a voice stress analysis test-which is pretty much a lie detector test except they analyze the pitch of your voice. And last, but not least, was the psychological eval. This was a grueling, 4 hour test in which Josh had to answer over 1300 questions using the infamous bubble sheet.
10 days later, on March 15th, the results were back and we found out that Josh is not crazy. Always a good thing to know about your husband! He was asked to meet with the chief and an appt was set up for the next day at 2pm. That entire day I was a nervous wreck. In fact, I think I was more nervous than Josh was! Josh had said he would call me the second it was done, so when 3 o'clock came around, I was starting to worry. At that same time, our receptionist came back to my desk, saying that there was a package for me. With a questioning look, I grabbed my cell phone (just in case Josh called) and went up to the front. There was Josh still in his suit, holding this beautiful calla lily.
I let him back and everyone asked how it went. All of my friends at work have been waiting along with us for him to get a job. His first answer was that he didn't know yet. Okay, I was prepared for more waiting. We had already been waiting for 3 1/2 months from that first interview. My friends kept asking him what had happened and he finally said that he had good news and bad news. Good news: he was offered the job! Yahoo!! Bad news: he's getting paid less than he does now. The last part didn't make any difference to me-I was so happy that he had gotten a job! I actually squealed when I heard that and people came out of rooms, looking to see what had happened.The next day he was fitted for uniforms and a bullet-proof vest and he bought other things that he would need as an officer. It was so exciting to get the process started! He also turned in his notice at American Express.
Fast forward a week-and-a-half and that brings our story to Monday morning. At eight o'clock we were sitting in the police station along with his mom, Kim, awaiting the moment that he would be sworn in. We were introduced to the chief and some fellow officers (who were really nice!) and then we headed to the courthouse. Once there, Josh had to raise his right hand and repeat after the person doing the swearing in (I don't know who she was) and promise that he would uphold the constitution of Utah and the United States and abide by the police code of ethics. After this, the chief was going to pin his badge on, but then he offered to let me do it. I was so excited! It was harder than it looks, but I finally got it on, and then he had to sign some papers to make everything official. What an amazing morning! I know Josh will be a wonderful police officer!
We never could have made it through this trying time without the prayers and faith of all of our family and friends. I know all of you have been sending us your love and support and prayers and we are eternally grateful! Thank you for showing us so much love!! We love you all!! And are so glad to have such wonderful people supporting us!We also know without a doubt that this couldn't have happened without the blessings of our Heavenly Father. We've been praying with each step of this hiring process and He has been there all the time. He has looked out for Josh and although there were many times that we were frustrated, sad and wondering if this was the right road to go down, Heavenly Father has answered our prayers and Josh has realized a dream. What a wonderful Father! He knows what is the best path for our lives, and He has truly been looking out for us!
On Friday night Josh and I went to the AutoRama at the Expo Center. Josh loves cars and was like a kid in a candy store. He drooled so much that night, I'm surprised he didn't slip and fall!
