Meet Me Here Monday: Physicians Discipleship Conference 2012

At the end of February, we packed up our small little family and headed west, to the beautiful state of Colorado for a Physicians Discipleship Conference. We had been hearing about this conference for the last 3 years, but haven't been able to swing it until this point because of Del's school schedule. I wish we would have made it a priority to go before this year, but God knew what He was doing and it honestly couldn't have come at a better time. We were a little nervous that we wouldn't be able to go because we didn't want to take Davis on an airplane before he was 6 weeks, but because he was 2 weeks early, he was exactly 6 weeks when we left. I'll be honest, I agonized over what I was going to wear because I knew I was, A: already sweating bullets at just the thought of him screaming on the plane and B: I was already sweating bullets at just the thought of possibly having to nurse him on the plane! So...I wore all black. Ha. I'm sure people thought I was in mourning or something. But everything worked out really well, and Davis did awesome on his first plane ride! Our friends, Chris and Susan went with us, so it was extra awesome to have an extra set of hands...especially hands that love Davis already!

The conference was being held at Glen Eyrie Castle, and when we arrived a huge storm was coming in...and I have honestly never experienced wind that strong before. But it was worth enduring because the next morning we woke up to a beautiful snow covered landscape!

Being at Glen Eyrie is a little bit like being in Narnia. It's not every day that you get to have your quiet time   by gigantic fire places that are being guarded by old armor....and where big horn sheep are frolicking through the meadow. I seriously could live there! :)

We learned so much about how to minister as a couple, what it looked like to be a true Christian Physician, and more than anything... how important it was to stay connected to the Word and to other Believers during this whole process. There were probably 30 couples there...but what impressed us the most was that these couples were REALLY living the Christian life, and truly making an impact for the Kingdom of God. They weren't doctors who happen to be Christians, they were Christian {first} who happen to be doctors. Wisdom and Humility oozed out of these couples, and it was an honor just be around them.

My time there looked a little different since I was taking care of Davis...but overall he did really well. I think he enjoyed sleeping in his own hotel bed {ha} but I think the altitude really did upset him stomach for a few days. We were worried that he was starting to show the signs of colic, because it every night, right as our nightly worship gathering would start...he would start screaming! The first night, he screamed for 2 hours straight. I was in a back room by myself trying to get him to calm down...but nothing was working. At that moment I was trying to figure out a way for me to get back to Arkansas....ASAP. But after he threw up all over me, he calmed down and slept the rest of the night. ha.

It was so fun spending 4 whole days with Susan! I am really going to miss her once we move. {Her husband and Del are in the same med school class.} But it was really neat because there were so many people there from San Antonio, that they were able to make great contacts and I know they are going to be well taken care of once they move to the great state of Texas!

There was one other ENT physician there and he and his wife really took us under their wing. I just love it that when things get hard, we now have people to contact that have walked this road before us and are still remaining strong in the Lord.

There were four med school couples there, so it was fun sharing stories and building deeper friendships with them as well. And how fun is it that Katherine {far left} and I were Pi Phis together?! Small world.

 The conference was amazing....but our trip wasn't done yet!

Chris and Susan, and Del and I {and Davis} headed to Denver where they would fly back to LR the next day, but we would fly up to Tacoma to start looking for houses! While in Denver we stopped off at REI...which is pretty much Del's love language. Outdoor Gear. Enough Said.

Our first glimpse of our future home! Hello Mt. Rainier.

Davis was a super trooper on this leg of the trip as well. He definitely screamed for about 25% of the flight to Tacoma...and once again...I should have worn black. Ha. He pretty much lived in his car seat or the Baby Bjorn for the 2 days we were up there....

...but he didn't seem to mind! He was just starting to figure out how to smile at that point...so we loved watching for his little smirks.

By the end of the trip we were READY to be home and not living out of a suitcase anymore! We didn't find a house while we were up there... but we DID sell our house while we were there...and since then we have placed an offer on one we found online! Isn't technology great!?!

After driving around Tacoma as a family, we are getting really excited about this next phase of our lives! Please continue to pray with us about our move and that God would begin to orchestrate Godly friendships for us to have while we are there. He did it for us when we moved to LR, so we have no doubt that He will do it again in Washington!