Therapeutic.
That's the word I often use when describing why I blog about certain things. I process things best when I write them down. It's therapeutic for me to see life through the lens of written words. That being said, I've had no time to write over these past few months. Which means...
It's high time for some therapy.
About six months ago, Joey made the statement that "this is going to be the hardest year of our lives." True. True. But true as that statement has proved to be so far, it's also proving to be one of the most exciting years of our lives. We've both grown to know and trust the Lord better. Joey started his very own dental practice, praise the Lord! It's now a fully functioning dental office. It looks beautiful. It has super employees. It has a growing number of patients. It's a dream come true.
But we've had our fair share of nightmares along the way. I could spend hours writing about the frustrating and discouraging things that have happened, but that is definitely not the sort of "therapy" I need today. Today, I've chosen not to think and dwell on those temporary and fleeting hurdles we've faced upon this journey. (They all manage to resolve themselves anyway.) I want to focus on all of the amazing things we've seen the Lord do in and through this difficult time. It's quite astounding to look at these events in light of His obvious hand. In fact, it's therapeutic. Have I already mentioned that?
Please allow me to lay back on this couch and spill a bit of the story. My hope is that in the end, you will say "Yeah God!" because He's the therapist. He's the one who orchestrated each step. He's the one working out all these details for our good and His glory.
Here are a few of the things the Lord did:
1. The Lord closed a door. January 1, 2011 was the tentative date chosen by Joey and his employer of the past seven years to be the date Joey would purchase his employer's practice. However, as any business owner will tell you, 2010 was a bad year. We still met with the business broker, accountant and bankers, but it was obvious that January 1, 2011 was not the right date. So we let that date pass. But we continued the meetings to discuss it. Each meeting we had with the business broker left me with a nervous stomach and heavy weight on my shoulders. I couldn't explain exactly why. It seemed like the next logical step in our lives was to purchase this well-established dental practice. But I couldn't shake the fear of being able to keep afloat a dental office with 7 chairs, 2 dentists and 12 employees, not to mention a business loan. But I supported Joey and his decision to purchase. During the summer of 2011, the owner asked for a meeting with Joey. "I need to know your plans. I need to know if you are going to purchase or not. Because if not, I need to pursue my other options" he said. Joey had never heard this man speak of other options. All this time, he truly believed part of the reason he needed to purchase was because he was his only option. This news was a relief, but it also sent us into a tailspin. If Joey doesn't purchase, what does he do instead? Do WE have other options? Will he get fired? What about his patient base he's worked hard to build for seven years? We fought the Lord in prayer over these things and more for a solid month. At the end of that month, his employer required an answer. With tears, Joey gave his. The Lord had closed a door. We prayer hard for a window.
2. The Lord provided a mentor. Shortly before making the final decision not to purchase, we drove up to Kansas to meet with my cousin and her husband and seek advice. Brian is a dentist and he had recently started his own practice. If the Lord wanted us to start our own practice instead of buying one, Brian was the guy to talk to. We had no idea how to start a business. Brian did. We had no idea what to expect or where to start. Brian did. We had no idea what this could look like. Brian did. He told us how the Lord directed him when he was in our shoes. His story was a testimony of God's provision and faithfulness and it inspired us. He couldn't speak to us without mentioning the Lord and without being filled with excitement for us. He offered us every help imaginable. His records, his contacts, his staff, his office... virtually anything we asked, He offered an answer or pointed us in the right direction. He was a true God sent mentor.
3. The Lord gave us peace. In spite of all the potential angst of these major life altering decisions we were making, the Lord gave both Joey and I a strong peace about the decision we had made. I'm not gonna lie though and say it was easy. We lost many hours of sleep. (Way more than I care to admit.) Joey's income dropped drastically. Things were tough. But through it all, we never questioned the Lord's direction. The Bible speaks of peace that passes understanding. We sure didn't understand the what and why of all that was going on, but we had peace knowing we were in good hands. It was during this time too that the Lord gave both Joey and I plenty of wise counsel from our parents who prayed nonstop for us and offered encouragement when we needed it the most. (Thanks parents!)
4. The Lord provided a perfect location. Our friend David is a commercial realtor and he walked us through this entire process. He is the type of guy who is calm and very professional. Every space we looked into would have required massive amounts of plumbing in order to accommodate a dental office. This would easily cost between thirty and fifty thousand dollars. A few weeks into our search for a space to lease, Joey remembered a dentist who was soon moving out of his space. His old space would already be plumbed for dentistry. He asked our friend to look into it. Sure enough, this space was to become available right about the exact time that we needed a space. David walked us through negotiating and signing a lease. He handled the various bumps and hurdles with ease. In the end, we secured the perfect location, pre-plumbed for dentistry, and proven to be a successful dental office location. It was more than obvious that this was the Lord's clear direction. And saving fifty thousand dollars in possible plumbing cost was such a sweet blessing from the Lord, not to mention confirmation we were exactly where He wanted us to be.
5. The Lord began providing equipment. I don't know if anyone outside the dental profession really knows the cost of dental equipment, but ummm... holy moly, that stuff isn't cheap. Right away, however, we had people introducing us to other dentists selling used, but working equipment for tiny fractions of the actual cost. We saved thousands of dollars. At first, we were sure we could only afford to outfit maybe two dental chairs, but the Lord made it possible for us to completely outfit three ops. We even managed to fit into our budget a very nice luxury - heated massage dental chairs! Woo hoo! (Side note- the dental supply company delivered the wrong chairs. Grrr! I've nagged and nagged and nagged and they promise me the massage chairs will be here by the first of March. We are waiting to throw an open house at the new place until these chairs arrive because I want everyone we know to try them out.) ;)
6. The Lord allowed Joey to leave his former office on good terms. Everyone told us that associate dentists can never leave a dental office on good terms. They told us that no matter how friendly or Christian two dentists are, the parting of ways is guaranteed to get ugly. This was disheartening news to think about. Joey didn't want to leave on bad terms. He didn't want to harm this employer by leaving either. So we bathed this in prayer. There were moments when I was dead sure Joey would get fired. I even let that fear get the best of me to the point of fainting (in front a classroom full of students, no less. But that's a story for another time.) In the end, Joey and his employer parted as friends. They worked out a deal that is fair to both and it allowed Joey to notify patients of his departure. Every person we've talked to in the dental field is shocked at how it all worked out. Our practice finance team had never heard of such a sweet departure deal. Nobody got angry. Nobody threw things. Nobody got fired. The power of prayer prevailed.
7. The Lord provided an income. I can honestly say that I don't know how we've been able to pay all our bills these past few months, but by the grace of God. I fully expected our savings to be entirely depleted by this date. Starting a business takes a ton of money. Our finance team says our loan is one of the smallest dental office start up loans they've ever done. (It still seems huge to me.) We've stayed in budget. We've kept the costs down. Now we are just trusting the Lord to bring in patients. In the meantime, the Lord graciously provided a job for Joey one day a week at another dental office, allowing him to supplement his income just enough while we wait for his schedule at the new place to fill up. That in itself was God's providence, as the dentist who asked him to work one day a week is the very dentist who inspired Joey toward dentistry years ago. He called out if the blue (not knowing we were in the midst of this start- up) and asked if Joey would be interested. Yes, Lord! He's entirely too good to us, isn't He?
8. The Lord sent us just the right people at just the right time. Besides the mentor dentists I've already mentioned, the Lord also had His hand in all the other people necessary to make this office happen. From our contractor (who handled everything so beautifully and kept it all within budget), to our logo guy, to our accountant, to our family members who helped scrape floors or paint, to our employees and everyone in between, we saw the Lord's hand. Joey will tell of very specific and immediate answers to prayer at times even. We are thrilled with the staff he hired. Lisa, our hygienist, works part time and patients are thrilled when they find out she is with us. Missy, Joey's assistant, is my sister-in-law's sister. She is an excellent dental assistant. Plus, she has the added connection of family and a strong desire to see our office succeed. Jerri is the sweetest phone voice you will ever hear and she takes care if our front office beautifully. She came highly recommended from the orthodontist at our church. We are thrilled with our staff. Then we've had the added bonus of sweet friends and family who help in various ways. A friend of a friend offered to do software training free of charge. Our equipment guys upgraded some of our order free of charge and threw in a few added perks we didn't expect. I'm sure I'm forgetting things here.
9. The Lord allowed our kids to see and experienced His workings. The kids and I pray every morning on the way to school. The details of the office start-up are a huge part of those prayers. We got to praise the Lord each time he answered one of those prayers. But not too long ago, Jonah said something that broke my heart. He mentioned that this new office was taking away all his fun and he didn't like the fact that he didn't get to play with his dad very much anymore because of it. I shared honestly with him that there have been plenty of moments that I felt the exact same way, but I also wouldn't trade this time for the world. We have learned through this time how to depend on and trust the Lord so much more. My hope is that the kids will remember this time not just for all the extra work we did (and the tears brought by that work), but also the prayers that were prayed and the trust that grew as a result.
10. The Lord did all of this.
And this.
And this.
And because He did it, we want to give Him credit.
