Sunday, June 10, 2012

Why Memphis?

Here we are in Memphis! Erik and I drove up with both sets of parents Tuesday, stopped overnight and made it in time to close on our new house Wednesday. The closing lasted about 45 minutes, and then we began the fun unloading of our 16' truck. As we were starting, 2 of our very nice neighbors came and helped us! It only took about 40 minutes to get it all unloaded! The first day we met 5 neighbors, and Erik's dad met 2 more the next day. Our place already looks like a home (pictures to come soon). 

Now, you may wonder why we moved here to Memphis. Erik and I attended a conference in January and there was a Dr. from Memphis that spoke that weekend. He and 3 other Christian physicians started a clinic in the inner city of Memphis. They have now grown to 7 clinics and are the largest provider of primary care here in Memphis. Some of the physicians and their families decided to move into some of the inner city neighborhoods to have more of an impact on the community here. They started house churches in their communities, and they take international trips a few times a year. They have also sent out missionaries from their communities. 

Erik and I thought joining up with this group of people would be an awesome opportunity for us. Erik was able to get an interview for the Med-Peds (Internal Medicine and Pediatrics) program at the University of Tennessee (UT) the next week after the conference. He was accepted into the program in March. He will be doing his 4 year Med-Peds residency with UT, but he will get to do his clinic time with the group of Christian physicians and will get to go on international trips with them as well. We also decided to move into the inner city as well. We have joined a house church in our neighborhood (which is only a block away), and we have already met several people in our neighborhood from the Christian community here. We are excited for this new experience, and also missing everyone from home already! 

We should be out of our boxes in a week or so, and then I'll post pictures of our house! 

7 comments:

  1. Reminiscent of days gone by, of a lanky little girl in braids with a quiet smile that lived down the street. It is awesome to see who you have become, a beauty, a wife, a woman of God and soon to be a mother. May God bless you in your endeavors and keep you safe. I will be grateful to read of news to come and God's will for your days...

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  2. So excited for you, Laura! Keep us posted! :) Love you!!

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  3. I'm so glad you started a blog. I read it to Steve and we can't wait for an update. Memphis is fortunate to have you and Erik in it's midst. You brought joy and love to our family at a difficult time in our lives. I'm so happy you've both been called to serve others there. You're sweet baby will have a rich cultural first few years of her life. We miss you already too.

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  4. Yay a blog! Great idea Laura. Miss you guys!

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  5. This is really neat, Laura. I'm excited for you!

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  6. I'm so excited for you, and glad you started a blog! I'll look forward to your posts. : )

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