שלום

Friends,

This is a bit of a belated post… however for those folks who haven’t heard, Nathan and I will be headed to Israel in July. We will be making our home there…at least for the next three years. In order to explain, we will go back a bit…we have been applying for medical schools since last year….the process is pretty lengthy. We applied several places, got interviews to three, and were accepted at two. One of those being Medical School for International Health which is located in Beersheva, Israel (Genesis 21:31-33) Check it out! It is partnered with Columbia University in NY. When we first heard about this opportunity we were excited and thought it sounded perfect. Not only would it prepare Nathan to become Doctor Douthit, but it would also prepare us for how to do medicine overseas. Another great aspect of it is that Nathan will specifically learn how to use a translator when working with patients and he will learn how to provide medical care with limited resources. I know what you must be thinking….What a great opportunity to prepare us for the overseas mission field! Indeed :)

We spent a lot of time seeking the Lord and felt like this is the place He kept laying on our hearts…so we pursued it. Until we heard back in December saying that we were wait listed.  “Okay,” I thought, “We will hear back by March…April at the latest.” Oh, silly me! Time passed. March came…and went. April came...things were starting to look promising at UAB. At this point, we were accepted, had plentiful opportunities for work, knew the language, would be close to family, a less expensive loan request, and offered a place to live without rent. Tempting? I think so. I began to think maybe UAB was the place…we had discussed it and tried to remind ourselves that the Lord is sovereign and He knows where we will be. Days passed and I began redecorating that rent free home in my mind (girls minds can wonder that way…and pinterest is of no help). After countless trips to the mail box, filled with anxiety…nervously opening the box, all to no avail. No letter. Day after day.

Finally, one Friday night (April 20) we received an email saying that we had been accepted. Floods of confusion and doubt filled my mind. “Why had everything been working out for UAB?” “Why had it taken so long?” We fell to our knees that night and sought the Lord. Before telling anyone. Before celebrating.  Even after those few moments spent before Him, we felt assured. Though there were so many questions, concerns, fears, uncertainties…we knew what He had called us to.

That brings us to today. In 2 months we will be selling (most) everything we own, packing our bags (4 to be exact…2 each only:) ) and moving half way around the world. Sounds crazy. Scratch that…it IS crazy. Every now and then I am still tempted to think, “But wouldn’t it just be so much easier to stay?” The answer is “yes.” But I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Abraham to hold the hand of his son…his promised son… as he carried up the mountain where he was told to lay his life down...and I’m sure it wasn’t easy for David to prepare Solomon to build the temple that he had so desperately wanted to build for his great God…and John tells us that even Christ called out to the Father to remove the cup…and though our move to Israel no where compares to the depth of what Christ did for us….Peter tells us, “to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing” So we rejoice. And we remember this is light and momentary. May it point us ever more to our sweet Savior. May it cause us to have a deeper and richer understanding of His grace and what He has done for us.  Pray with us. Pray for us. We are not Abraham, David, or Jesus, but we are strengthened by the latter. We are frail, weak, helpless apart from Christ. If anything is done in our own strength or for our own glory it is futile. This is such a tangible reminder that God uses us for His glory not in spite of our weakness, but because His power is perfected in our weakness. May our lives, and yours be “to the praise of His glory.”