By Barb Bergman
In 2008 our family moved from Memphis, TN to Hermiston, Oregon. It was the beginning of July and my husband got a job at a little rural hospital (Scott is a CRNA – nurse anesthetist). We had wanted to leave TN and be somewhere in the west. Our 2nd child graduated a year early from HS which we then felt we could make this move from TN to Oregon– the opportunity seemed to almost be presented to us. Looking back now I realize we had accomplished what we had set out to do in going there and a bit more but we were ready for something better in many ways. The other 2 kids, Ryan who was about to go in to 8th grade and Erica in to 4th grade were excited for this new start. The hospital in Hermiston, OR put us up in a small rental home they owned to give us time to find a place to live. As I attended church, talked with some other moms at church, drove around this little rural town… my heart sank. I had felt the job/move was so right. Yet here I was with a cloud of darkness. Something was wrong. Even going to church I didn’t “feel” like we meant to be here. In this congregation, this town. As we looked at homes for sale it was discouraging. There were few options of houses at all, especially 15-20 years old or newer with a medium size yard and prices were still high. The market crash had not filtered in yet. We took a $10,000 loss selling our home in TN (and we were grateful it wasn’t more) and it looked like we would not get any advantage buying at this time here. Finally we did put an offer in on a home that one of the previous CRNA’s owned that was priced too high and really above our budget. We hoped/prayed they would come down closer to our offer. I tossed and turned all night and did not sleep a wink. Everything inside of me screamed we were not to live in that house. Thankfully they did not accept nor really even counter our offer (I think they came down $500) and so we were not bound. The unsettled feelings persisted and yet I was determined to be optimistic since both Scott and I got confirmation he should take this job.
I remembered someone in my church congregation in Memphis told me right before I moved that her daughter lived about 25 minutes from Hermiston, across the border in Kennewick, WA and had given me her number to call if I ever wanted to talk or ask questions about things in the area. I went looking for where I had tucked that phone number and called her that afternoon. We talked at length and she told me how the schools in WA were SO different than Oregon – a much higher quality and standard. Hermiston was rated #2 in the nation with a meth problem. All the orchards and farms and drugs coming up from Mexico with some migrant workers. There was more housing available in Kennewick and she said she had a good friend who was a realtor. I felt so much hope and excitement after the conversation and called and made an appointment with the realtor. Scott couldn’t come as he was working but said go look for a day or two and if I came back with some good options to look at he could go late evening or on Saturday. I took Ryan and Erica with me and we looked at several homes over the next 2 days. A couple of almost completed new modest homes in our budget with a doable house payment seemed like great options as they were the same or cheaper than something comparable that was 10 or more years old. I felt so much hope, light and calm as we looked at homes in Kennewick and I visited the website of the schools the kids would be in and also the High School they would filter into was ranked very well academically.
Part of the back story I have not shared is my husband was a critical care nurse for several years and we struggled even with me working part time to make ends meet. He stared a nurse anesthetist program later in life and so we had a $150K student loan as he finished and a second child entering college. Scott took his first job as a CRNA in 2006 so we were still on the road to playing catch up and eventually getting ahead.
After a lot of discussion and prayer Scott and I decided on a new build that was not quite complete (which meant commuting kids to school for a few weeks since we were in the rental in Hermiston) and Scott, after we moved to Kennewick, would then make the sacrifice not be able to be home during his one night and every 4th weekend call, he would stay on site and the hospital offered a sleep room as accommodations since he was out of the 15-20 min range for coming in when on call. He had been looking forward to a short commute to work (5-10 minutes anywhere in Hermiston) and being able to be home when not needed during the on-call times. Fast forward – it was a 9 ½ years that he made that sacrifice for me and the kids and we were all so incredibly grateful! Life was not without challenges but we truly were in the right house, neighborhood, schools, congregation etc. Even before I knew about these laws I had the feeling that even though things felt off/wrong/bad once we got to Hermiston, I had hope that God had a plan for us. With the downs come the upswings and if we live in gratitude and trust in God we will learn lessons, experience growth, appreciate the good times even more and recognize the ebb and flow of life. This is the Law of Rhythm.
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