“How great is our God, sing with me How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God”
That song has been in my head and on my lips for several weeks now.
So we - here at the Hutson house - have big news. We are moving to Temple, Texas as of late November. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Texas geography, Temple is between Dallas and Austin—right in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Larry has accepted a job with Scott & White Hospital. He will spend the first several months in Waco at one of their satellite hospitals, and then he will be at the main campus. This move has been in the works for several months. Now, I want to share the whole story with you so that you would see how God has worked through our lives and why I’ve been singing “How great is our God”!
It all started early this summer. I had been missing our extended family and wondered out loud one day to God, “When will we move back to Texas”? We really wanted to be closer to our family. It was just a passing wonder, not one I even mentioned to Larry. A few days later, he came home and said, “How would you feel about moving to Temple?” “Wow,” was my response. We immediately started looking at houses, schools, churches and local attractions in the area. The more we looked, the more we liked it. We began to pray about God’s direction and will for our lives. At the same time, Larry submitted his application and gathered letters of recommendation. We got a call on July 15th. I will always remember that day. It was the day we took Hayden to see Thomas and Friends, the live stage show. We had just been served our food when Larry’s phone rang. The restaurant was loud, so he took the call outside leaving Hayden and me for most of the meal. The waitress finally asked me if everything was ok. I told her yes, he is talking to a prospective new employer, so it’s a good thing.
So, we were off and running with potential interviews the first week of August. We continued with our prayers, seeking God’s will. Then we hit a speed bump. Scott & White was not going to have time the first two weeks of August to interview and Larry couldn’t get any vacation time until the last two weeks of September. This was a problem because Scott & White wanted a December 1st start date and Larry has a 90 day notice clause in his contract with Ochsner. Again, we prayed for God’s will. We had resigned ourselves to thinking that we were supposed to stay when Larry received an email saying that his interview was scheduled for August 3rd and 4th. After Hayden’s 3rd birthday party, we were off to Texas again.
The Temple/Belton area was very nice and we drove around looking at houses, schools etc. We even found a “train themed” park. Hayden loved that. The interviews went very well, but the job was for the Waco hospital, Hillcrest Baptist Hospital. There were - and still are - lots of unknowns about that location, since Scott & White won’t start providing anesthesia services at Hillcrest until November 1st. All the particulars haven’t been ironed out. We spent a day in the Waco area looking at houses and were quite impressed by what we saw. The hospital told us we would have an answer in about two weeks. After returning to Louisiana, the doubts started to rise. Maybe we were better off staying right where we were. Larry began to pray that they would call and say “we want you for the job at Temple”. I didn’t know what to pray for.
So, uneasy about the situation, I got up on Sunday August, 9th (our 6th anniversary) with knots in my stomach. While everyone else was still in bed, I got on my knees and prayed. Through the tears, what came out of the silence of that morning were five words—I surrender, Lord Your Will. At worship that morning God sent me a message loud and clear through the music; “How Great is Our God”, “Great And Mighty”, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. I found peace though the revelation and acceptance that God was not only Great, but He was in control. No matter what happened, or when it happened, we would be blessed if we followed His will. I joined Larry in his prayer of “let it be Temple”. “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is an understatement. On Wednesday of that week, Larry got a call that made us nearly fall out of our seats. The chairman of the Anesthesia Department called and wanted to tell Larry that he had not forgotten about him, apologized for the delay, but they were working on a scenario where Larry would be at Scott & White Temple full time. He went on to tell Larry that he would be calling the next Monday or Tuesday with an offer. “Wow” was about all I could say.
We spent the next weekend getting some things in place for the possible staging of our house. We made to-do lists and narrowed down a focus on houses in the Temple/Belton area.
On Tuesday, we got the word. Larry called me and said “well, you need to go buy more boxes.” Larry might start off at Hillcrest Baptist Hospital in Waco, but we will definitely get to live in Belton. When he is on call in Waco, he will get to stay at a hospital-provided apartment. We spent the rest of Tuesday calling family to announce the good news. Our tentative move date is the week of November 16th and Larry’s start date is December 1st. We ask for your continued prayers for peace as we enter the next couple of crazy months. Larry will be making a trip in September to view houses and I will be joining him in the great house search in October. We should find out in the next couple of weeks how long – or even if – Larry will have to commute to Hillcrest before transferring to the Temple campus.
I’ve told you this story because I wanted to share how God has worked through our lives. We are so excited about being back in Texas, being close to family and being less than 2 hours away from the “Happiest Place on Earth”—Aggieland. To our Louisiana friends, we will dearly miss you. Thank you for being such a blessing to us over the last six years. We will never be able to find the right words to express how much you have meant to us—this includes those of you who have moved to Georgia and Kentucky. Our prayers will continue to be with you all. To Missy and Casey, you were our first “couple friends” here and you will always be in our hearts. Your family has and will continue to mean so much to us. Thank you for loving us. To Rachel, thank you for your friendship. It feels more like a “sistership” than a friendship. Thank you to our family. Your love and support has been incredible and we are so excited to be living closer to you.
Now, in the words of Hayden Hutson, “sing with me people!”
The stars at night are big and bright
(clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the Heart of Texas.
That song has been in my head and on my lips for several weeks now.
So we - here at the Hutson house - have big news. We are moving to Temple, Texas as of late November. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Texas geography, Temple is between Dallas and Austin—right in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Larry has accepted a job with Scott & White Hospital. He will spend the first several months in Waco at one of their satellite hospitals, and then he will be at the main campus. This move has been in the works for several months. Now, I want to share the whole story with you so that you would see how God has worked through our lives and why I’ve been singing “How great is our God”!
It all started early this summer. I had been missing our extended family and wondered out loud one day to God, “When will we move back to Texas”? We really wanted to be closer to our family. It was just a passing wonder, not one I even mentioned to Larry. A few days later, he came home and said, “How would you feel about moving to Temple?” “Wow,” was my response. We immediately started looking at houses, schools, churches and local attractions in the area. The more we looked, the more we liked it. We began to pray about God’s direction and will for our lives. At the same time, Larry submitted his application and gathered letters of recommendation. We got a call on July 15th. I will always remember that day. It was the day we took Hayden to see Thomas and Friends, the live stage show. We had just been served our food when Larry’s phone rang. The restaurant was loud, so he took the call outside leaving Hayden and me for most of the meal. The waitress finally asked me if everything was ok. I told her yes, he is talking to a prospective new employer, so it’s a good thing.
So, we were off and running with potential interviews the first week of August. We continued with our prayers, seeking God’s will. Then we hit a speed bump. Scott & White was not going to have time the first two weeks of August to interview and Larry couldn’t get any vacation time until the last two weeks of September. This was a problem because Scott & White wanted a December 1st start date and Larry has a 90 day notice clause in his contract with Ochsner. Again, we prayed for God’s will. We had resigned ourselves to thinking that we were supposed to stay when Larry received an email saying that his interview was scheduled for August 3rd and 4th. After Hayden’s 3rd birthday party, we were off to Texas again.
The Temple/Belton area was very nice and we drove around looking at houses, schools etc. We even found a “train themed” park. Hayden loved that. The interviews went very well, but the job was for the Waco hospital, Hillcrest Baptist Hospital. There were - and still are - lots of unknowns about that location, since Scott & White won’t start providing anesthesia services at Hillcrest until November 1st. All the particulars haven’t been ironed out. We spent a day in the Waco area looking at houses and were quite impressed by what we saw. The hospital told us we would have an answer in about two weeks. After returning to Louisiana, the doubts started to rise. Maybe we were better off staying right where we were. Larry began to pray that they would call and say “we want you for the job at Temple”. I didn’t know what to pray for.
So, uneasy about the situation, I got up on Sunday August, 9th (our 6th anniversary) with knots in my stomach. While everyone else was still in bed, I got on my knees and prayed. Through the tears, what came out of the silence of that morning were five words—I surrender, Lord Your Will. At worship that morning God sent me a message loud and clear through the music; “How Great is Our God”, “Great And Mighty”, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. I found peace though the revelation and acceptance that God was not only Great, but He was in control. No matter what happened, or when it happened, we would be blessed if we followed His will. I joined Larry in his prayer of “let it be Temple”. “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is an understatement. On Wednesday of that week, Larry got a call that made us nearly fall out of our seats. The chairman of the Anesthesia Department called and wanted to tell Larry that he had not forgotten about him, apologized for the delay, but they were working on a scenario where Larry would be at Scott & White Temple full time. He went on to tell Larry that he would be calling the next Monday or Tuesday with an offer. “Wow” was about all I could say.
We spent the next weekend getting some things in place for the possible staging of our house. We made to-do lists and narrowed down a focus on houses in the Temple/Belton area.
On Tuesday, we got the word. Larry called me and said “well, you need to go buy more boxes.” Larry might start off at Hillcrest Baptist Hospital in Waco, but we will definitely get to live in Belton. When he is on call in Waco, he will get to stay at a hospital-provided apartment. We spent the rest of Tuesday calling family to announce the good news. Our tentative move date is the week of November 16th and Larry’s start date is December 1st. We ask for your continued prayers for peace as we enter the next couple of crazy months. Larry will be making a trip in September to view houses and I will be joining him in the great house search in October. We should find out in the next couple of weeks how long – or even if – Larry will have to commute to Hillcrest before transferring to the Temple campus.
I’ve told you this story because I wanted to share how God has worked through our lives. We are so excited about being back in Texas, being close to family and being less than 2 hours away from the “Happiest Place on Earth”—Aggieland. To our Louisiana friends, we will dearly miss you. Thank you for being such a blessing to us over the last six years. We will never be able to find the right words to express how much you have meant to us—this includes those of you who have moved to Georgia and Kentucky. Our prayers will continue to be with you all. To Missy and Casey, you were our first “couple friends” here and you will always be in our hearts. Your family has and will continue to mean so much to us. Thank you for loving us. To Rachel, thank you for your friendship. It feels more like a “sistership” than a friendship. Thank you to our family. Your love and support has been incredible and we are so excited to be living closer to you.
Now, in the words of Hayden Hutson, “sing with me people!”
The stars at night are big and bright
(clap, clap, clap, clap)
Deep in the Heart of Texas.
Kori,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for you guys, and thank you for sharing the story with us. I look forward to getting together many times in the next few months. I also feel blessed that you will reside only 1 1/2 hours from my family. We can party it up "Texas style" next time we see each other! I know that you will eat a big steak and some fabulous mexican food for me.
I would sing "The eyes of Texas are upon you . . . " but I didn't think you and Larry would appreciate that!
Love,
Jamie