GO Put Your Strengths to Work

We had just had a job interview and confirmation of the land we were supposed to live in all in the same weekend (Nashville area--see the previous post).  Now we had to wait for a job offer and figure out if indeed the job Scott had just interviewed for was in fact, "the one."  In our last meal with the practice, the doctors invited their spouses to join us.  Many of them were very encouraging that Scott would be a perfect fit for this practice.  We both agreed that it seemed this time they really understood his strengths as an entrepreneur and understanding the business side of medicine, as well as always seeking ways to improve the care for kids in his clinic as well as the community as a whole.  They offered him the position a few days after we returned home, and he asked for a week to think it over and pray about it.  He spent the week talking with any connection he could think of in Nashville and asked them who were the most collegial practices, the most innovative, and the most up-to-date with their medical practice.  He did not tell any of these people who he had interviewed with, and we were amazed that this group was always mentioned in the top 2 choices as answers to these questions.  The night before we had to make a decision, I asked him what he felt like he should do--was this the practice he should join, or should he interview with the others?  We were sitting in his office talking about it, and as he was explaining the reasons why he felt pretty good about this job, just above his head was a book.  The words that I kept seeing directly above him, hovering above his head the whole time he talked, boldly spoke "GO, Put Your Strengths to Work."

It was pretty clear that God had provided a job that finally he would be appreciated and respected for his gifts and talents instead of feeling like he had to squelch them to not make a hospital administrator uncomfortable (only because when you're not working with a children's hospital, there is potential for conflict about the focus of the hospital's services/money).  It's in his nature to evaluate if money is being spent well, if services are provided at their best, and he is passionate about the care for kids, our most vulnerable and valuable citizens.
He called the practice the next day and accepted the job.  I felt like I couldn't breath when he was on the phone--not because it was the wrong thing, but because I knew our lives were going to drastically change.  This was in November.  The following Sunday we felt a confirmation during our worship service at church.  The music pastor started describing how Joshua and the Israelites approached the Jordan to cross into the Promised Land, and the waters were raging.  Then he proceeded to describe how Joshua instructed them to pick up twelve stones to place in the Jordan as they crossed and how the raging waters dried up when the feet of those holding the Ark of the Covenant (God's Presence)stepped in the water.  They all passed through on dry ground, and the stones were placed as a memorial.  We could not believe this was the reference he chose to describe--we cannot recall being in a service where this picture has been detailed.  This gave us great peace that we were on the right track.
We did not tell anyone until we had a signed contract, because we knew something might fall through, and we didn't want to cause unnecessary panic.  So this time period from mid-November until January was difficult.  As things got less promising here, it was comforting to know we had greater opportunity ahead, but it was sad knowing that soon we would be letting people know and making preparations.  Be confident in this--when God leads, He definitely goes before you and prepares the way.  We were overwhelmed with His goodness in providing us this opportunity and leading us so clearly.
Scott had been through quite a bit of soul-searching during this whole process.  If you are going through a tough time in your work identity, maybe you will find encouragement from some of the books on his shelf.

Promised Land. . .

This is my most favorite part of our moving story, and it has been hard to wait to get to this point!  November 10th, the clinic flew us out for an all weekend interview.  My job was to observe, listen, ask questions only when necessary, and decide whether Scott and these other doctors would be a good fit together.  The Wednesday before we left, Scott was called into a difficult meeting.  At the same time, I had looked up houses for sale in this area to see if we could even afford it or what the area was like.  I found one with the same colors and decor as ours, and it seemed affordable.  I was also impressed with the area's parks and the proximity to Nashville, so I texted Scott that there was hope--this might be a possibility.  Even if he was having a terrible meeting, he could rest in the fact that I thought it was worth checking out the north side of Nashville if he felt this group would allow him to use his gifts/skills.  He had already been impressed with the last couple of conversations with them, and since they wanted to fly us out so quickly, we at least felt that was an indication they were truly interested in him.  We flew in early Sat. morning, toured the clinic, met with some of the partners, ate lunch with everyone, and then a friend of theirs who was a realtor took us around the area.  We were especially interested, because we had never been there, and we wanted to see neighborhoods, parks, shopping, library etc.  The house I had seen online had already sold, so I didn't plan on looking at any houses at the time.  One neighborhood we came to had a pool with a toddler playground fenced off and attached to it.  I was so excited, because often one kid wants to swim and the other one doesn't, and it's difficult to watch a toddler who just wants to run around a pool!  Then we turned onto a street, and I realized it was the same street as the house I had liked that had just sold.  As we were leaving the neighborhood, I strained to look back at what the neighborhood was called in case we ever ended up needing to look at houses.  I loved the community pool, and across the way was a huge park where the girls could play, we could walk as a family, or possibly they could be involved in sports.  The neighborhood was called "Twelve Stones Crossing."  I catalogued it away in my brain as a good area to live in but thought nothing more about it.
We got back late that night from having a nice dinner with the clinic doctors so we did not talk much about it all.  Because we did not have the girls with us, I was looking forward to sleeping in before church that Sunday morning.  I awoke at 6:30am and could not sleep.  All night long I had been hearing "12 Stones. 12 Stones. 12 Stones" in my head, so I had not slept well.  I kind of started to panic when I awoke.  How would we know where we were supposed to go?  Should we still be thinking Northwest Arkansas?  I even got online to see what job openings a children's hospital had for their clinics in Fort Worth (that's where my parents live right now).  We had also networked with other physicians at the AAP conference in October.  Could we really get a different, private clinic to work in Waco?  But he'd have to drop privileges at the hospital in order for the call and inpatient demands to change, and we didn't feel like this was a positive.  I asked Scott, "what are you going to do?"  These thoughts were flooding my brain, and I was getting very anxious.  Then I said, "we need to pray.  I'm getting confused."  So I prayed and asked God to lead us and show us the land we are to live, just like He showed Abraham in the Bible.  I asked for Him to give us the fire and cloud to guide us, just like He did for the Israelites wandering through the desert.    Then I stopped and said to Scott "I don't know whether to ask for another sign or what."  The Scott started praying.  When he stopped, I asked him what Bible story the 12 stones were in.  I knew they were about the 12 tribes of Israel, but I couldn't place the exact story.  I told him how I had heard "12 Stones" all night in my head (and hadn't slept well) and that the name of the neighborhood was "Twelve Stones Crossing."  He said he hadn't even thought about it but that he guessed Joshua and Jericho and then started looking in his Bible.  I googled "12 Stones and Joshua" and Joshua 4:3 was the first thing that came up.  Only a part of the verse was written, and some of the words were missing, so it just said something like "Joshua instructed them to place 12 stones in the Jordan."  Then I started crying when it all clicked--12 stones, crossing the Jordan--and I said, "didn't Joshua take them (the Israelites) into the Promised Land?"  So Scott turned to the passage and read all of Joshua 4 about how the waters of the Jordan were raging and overflowing, but as soon as the Ark of the Covenant (God's presence) was in the water, the water stopped flowing there, and the Israelites walked across on dry ground into the Promised Land they had been awaiting.  Joshua commanded the tribes to each pick up a stone, and after everyone had crossed, they placed the stones on the other side as a memorial. We were quite stunned and tears were streaming down our faces.
Joshua 4:20-24  And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know,‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
It was at this moment that we received our 3rd sign.  We knew this meant that the Nashville area was the land we were supposed to live in, possibly our "Promised Land."  We weren't certain enough to say this was the exact neighborhood we were to live or the exact clinic (because there were others starting to be interested in Scott), but we felt it was pretty clear we were not to look anywhere else.  I found it funny that none of it clicked for me the day before, because God's timing was for us to realize it together when we could read the whole story straight from the Bible.  The restaurant at the neighborhood was called "Joshua's," but even then it didn't stick out to me.  This developer was very intentional about this name--it wasn't just "Twelve Stones anything"  It was "Twelve Stones Crossing."  I have mentioned before that I have felt the Israelites' journey through the wilderness has been a definite theme in our lives the past few years, so it was completely shaking us that this was all culminating in this one moment.  We felt very at peace about the where; now it was time to answer "what?"