To say that much has happened is an understatement.
Looks like I cannot change the name of the entire blog without starting a new one, so since 12 years have passed since becoming Texan, I think this will be the last entry here and a new one will begin.
Bethany, Joshua & Abigail were born in Houston, Texas. We celebrated 12 anniversaries together in Texas. Moved from Medical Center to Chinatown and then purchased our first house in Missouri City.
Caleb went from a post-doc and somehow made it to director of science to writing protocols, managing budgets and finance in clinical trials for Head, Neck & Thoracic Cancer at MD Anderson. The Lord did not allow any matches for residencies.
We served in HCA YES group for all these years as well. Saw many classes of graduates move on and forward. Witnessed births and deaths of beloved saints in His family. Learned to grieve and celebrate in all of the happenings of our extended church family.
Grandma & Grandpa Chu moved to Sugar Land in 2015. Lawrence came to Austin shortly thereafter, and the Lord blessed us with Kristie in 2017. Survived Joshua's oral surgery at age 5, Hurricane Harvey, Storm Uri, swore off the use of a CPAP for Caleb's sleep apnea (whew, not a heart condition after an ER visit), and then there was something called Covid-19, a pandemic that shut-down the world in 2020. The kids went from public school to online school, to homeschool and then more virtual school. Learned to stay flexible.
Our medical school loans were forgiven January 2022. Both Caleb and I felt in February that something was going to happen to us and it was going to be a big change sometime during the year. Flew to SoCal in March, wondering if there would be a job in Irvine, CA. That didn't pan out as it was not His will. (Bethany was baptized though! 🎉) So we continued on - registered and received acceptances for Bethany & Joshua to attend Stafford STEM Academy and Abby to begin at Logos Prep. It was like college applications for elementary level children: registration fees, interviews, report cards, teacher recommendation letters, formal tests - the full gamut! We continued on with our responsibilities, with Caleb even beginning to hand off some responsibilities in order to step into a new role at work.
At the end of April, while cleaning the house, I mentioned to Caleb that we should get rid of all his medical school books as they're taking up space, collecting dust and super out-dated now. Thousands of dollars of texts and he received $1.45 back from Half-Price Books... not even enough for a boba drink! It was like the full death of any hope in self, when Abraham said to God that he was past the age of bearing children. Practicing medicine was no longer some pipe-dream, as there was simply no more dream for us. Over a video chat with Mom Bor during our usual Wednesday morning time, Caleb said, "Well, we'll take it a day at a time and accept from the Lord whatever He gives or does not give." It was maybe just an hour or so later that he receives a text from Charles Minn, good ol' Chucky asking if he's interested in going to Washington to practice medicine. He laughs, thinking it was a practical joke. Just like both Abraham & Rebecca laughs when God says, "This time next year, you will have a son."
Due to physican burnout during the height of the pandemic, the state of Washington made a change in the law stating that any foreign medical graduate that had not gone through residency may now practice under a new provision labeled CE: clinical experience. Charles joined a new 1 yr old start-up and they were hiring. The company had 2 CE spots at the time and 1 was an Ukrainian doctor who was still waiting to start, and the other hopefully would be Caleb. We both marveled at the peace in our hearts when we accepted that this was no joke. This was the move, the big change and His timing. There was confirmation even in His speaking on Sundays: when the pillar of cloud and fire moves, even when inconvenient, we obey!
Practically speaking, it didn't look like a wise move at first. The compensation was minimal, the cost of living stupdendously high in Washington, the environment dark and liberal. The training would be minimal and the hours seemed ridiculously too good to be true. Yet as the days went by, God cleared the way. The compensation was increased to cover exactly what was needed, even for 3 children to be in a private school. And Grandma Bor's house would be prepared for us to move in at the right time.
Lawrence was extremely sad and even while Kristie was experiencing contractions, they came over that Thursday night to unload and express his thoughts. When he was done, he apologized, but didn't have too much to say and felt better. (Cousin Noah was born the next morning!) And of course grandparents struggled back and forth with how they felt about this move. Yet in all of what transpired in the next 2 months, it was undeniably God. Only God could have arranged and orchestrated what was to happen for us to move from Texas to Washington.
The contract was signed the day after summer conference. God's Hand was undeniable.
Cleaning and packing commenced right away. The next obvious question, what are we going to do with the house? And which private school would the kids attend? Presently, Beth & Josh began their summer camp schooling at Stafford STEM, getting a taste for what it was like being back in-person in a classroom after 2 years being at home.
My preference was to sell the house as I wasn't interested in being a long-distance landlady. However the saints asked us the amount we were to charge rent if we would rent. We figured an at-market rate and left it in our hearts as we didn't think this would really happen. Then we kept hearing about this family moving to Houston, wanting to rent. Meanwhile, I was pestering Caleb to settle on a moving company and book something early. Type-A personality at work!
The beginning of July, Caleb and I took a trip to Seattle to get his driver's license so that he could apply for WA state medical license and to purchase some beds for the kids.
Next, while looking around online for private schools for the kids, we found one we liked, but after talking to admissions, we were informed that since we were so late (admissions usually begins the process during the fall of the school year before), our chance to have all 3 admitted would be <1%. We then spoke with 2 other schools, and while it was fine in collecting information, it wasn't until the 3rd one where the conversation was just different. Again, we experienced His peace knowing that this was the right school, despite it being one of the most expensive. The Lord will and has provided. School would begin August 31.
After reading about how many moving companies cheat their customers based on box sizes, we were very careful in counting and labeling everything. Even when I struggled with wanting to bring many of the children's books and supplies, it was a lesson of a mom's heart to let go, even when I wanted things on behalf of the children. Near the end of July, I had moved the entire household's worth of boxes (nearing 50 lbs each) from upstairs to downstairs, from one room to another room and back, sorting by both size and company label. 💪💦 Now I knew why I had such a drive to do strength training for the last 1.5 years during the pandemic in addition to my desire to run. There were no physical injuries during this time. After learning to be quiet and waiting patiently for Caleb's timetable, a moving company was decided on the last week of July. 😅
The decision was also made that instead of driving from Houston to Bellevue in the heat of summer with all our possessions, we would fly on August 15.
Still thinking we were going to sell the house, I began clearing things in a way to take photos for putting the house on the market. At the same time, we began to hold furniture & moving sales, trying to sell as much as we could, realizing that the moving quote was almost 10x the amount we paid to move from Bellevue to Houston 12 years ago. We were going to move light, and purchase what we needed when we arrived. Yet when the first week of August arrived, we were contacted that the same family that was looking for a house could not find anything close to the husband's workplace and needed to be out of their AirBnB by Friday, 8/5, after extending an extra week at their rental. Workers had come in through the previous weekend, painting our living room ceiling and the movers were scheduled to come either on Monday 8/1 or Tuesday 8/2. Since Sean, the husband was away on a work trip, Evelyn asked to come see our house Wednesday morning 8/3, so it was scheduled. I sent her my few house pictures that we took in preparation for sale. They were interested!
The weekend before we had already moved over to Lawrence & Kristie's, staying in their spacious upstairs rooms. Painting finished on Monday and movers came in Tuesday right after the AC maintence was completed by Brother Wan. I immediately began cleaning after the movers left, but Brother Wan forgot to turn on the AC unit when he left! I was cleaning and dripping with sweat when Caleb came into the house and wondered why it was hotter inside than outside... in Houston, no less! After calling Brother Wan, and giving him all instructions in Chinese (!!), Caleb was able to turn on the AC units, allowing me to continue in a bit more comfort. It was a mad cleaning frenzy for the rest of the day.
*Side note: both Caleb and I watched the movers take apart the grand piano, pack it up and move it to the truck. We also watched them take the white piano cover off and walk it out into the truck as it could not be wrapped onto the piano itself.
Joshua was so tired and unknowingly stressed with this major life transition, he slept-walked down the stairs from the playroom at Uncle Lawrence's house, looking around while completely asleep. Auntie Kristie was startled, asking him if he wanted water, but Josh didn't answer, turned and then walked back up the stairs. 😄
We returned on Wednesday to finish cleaning both inside and outside of the house, and I received a text from Evelyn telling me they were running 15 minutes late. I was thrilled with the extra 15 minutes of rest, as I needed to clean myself up and catch my breath. They arrived and were in awe of how big the house was, asking questions on house maintence, preparations for cold weather, and thrilled with the remaining furniture (again, 3 kids about the same ages as B, J & A!) - even happy to take all my leftover food and pantry items as they are Taiwanese. Sean is the foreign ambassador for the Taiwanese embassy, relocated from South America to Houston. Throughout the house viewing, Evelyn told me that she's totally happy with everything, and just waiting for the agreement from Sean.
It was nearing noon, and I was getting slightly hungry... okay, to be honest perhaps hangry, and Caleb suggested we take the family to see the neighborhood, surrounding grocery stores and amenities as well as town square. I honestly and silently balked at the thought of driving to Sugar Land Town Square... thinking, "Why? How is seeing town square going to help them in this decision?!" But the Spirit told me to hold my tongue and so I held it in. We put them on speaker phone while we drove in front and they slowly followed behind us. I didn't know that they were driving THAT slow, but I started to feel anxious and really uncomfortable when we turned onto Hwy 6 and crawled at 25 mph, when it's posted at 45 mph... here in Texas. 😒 When we finally got to the town square area, Sean started exclaiming, "I've been looking for this place! A friend brought me here more than 10 years ago and I've been wanting to visit this same place but have not been able to find it. This is it!" We were just as surprised hearing him say so. Thank the Lord for His mercy in having me hold my tongue! I did have peace to say to them though, that for the sake of raising a family, this place was a very suitable place though it may mean more of a longer commute for the father.
Of course the kids got excited when they passed by the aquatic center and as soon as we got back to the house, Sean became very serious and said, "Okay, let's talk details." He then told us the rental amount that he was willing to pay and to our complete surprise, it was the exact amount that we had in mind from the beginning of July. The details were hammered out and before we departed, Evelyn said, "Wait! Before we go, we must pray and thank God for this house and arrangement!" And Sean who is not yet a believer said, "Yes, God was saving the best for me!" And we stood in the empty living room and gave thanks with such gratitude and awe.
The next day when we came back to the house to pick up remaining items, we saw that they had already moved in their luggage and household items and they were able to fully move out of their AirBnB in time. Totally a God-thing!
After the last remaining week in Houston, with lots of dinners with saints and play-times with church families, we flew to Seattle. Unfortunately, we had to get up around 3-4 a.m., which meant Abby did not sleep much and became terribly air-sick, throwing up a total of 6 times, even during the drive from the airport to the house after arriving in Seattle. Thankful for Mom and Dad picking us up with our many over-sized luggages and we started to settle in. The house still needed lots of cleaning and sanitizing, even though Mom had been cleaning as well. Surprisingly, the temperatures were just as high as Texas, and even more unbearable due to not having blinds or air conditioning. When we opened the cards and gifts from the saints in Houston, we were amazed at the generosity of our dear brothers and sisters! The sticker-shock of food and gas prices, the utilities and car registration fees, everything was adding up, yet the Lord was so good to us in providing exactly what was needed.
Caleb continually scoured Craigslist for furniture. We needed a kitchen table and chairs, sofas and lots of general household items as using plastic bowls and silverware while eating standing or on the floor was only sustainable for a short while. Then he came across this family not too far away that was relocating to the East Coast, and needed to clear everything out quickly. Bundling was the name of the game that Caleb's familiar with!! 😁 Their kitchen table matched our house decor, their formal dining table became our downstairs craft table, their sofas, air filters, majority of all kitchen items, glassware, the same bowls and plates I had left behind in Texas, now given to me multiple times over, the kids clothes (guess what? They had 3 boys), rolling backpack that Beth needed, adjustable beds that Caleb and I needed, laundry basket, tool chests, etc, etc. Getting to know the family, Caleb starts chatting and finds out the husband is Sister Joanna Wu/Sun's cousin! This certainly is no coincidence, but another proof of our God's great love.
Our boxes and few pieces of furniture had been delayed for one week in Dallas, but it was okay given that we were well provided for by Grandma Bor's foresight. When the moving company arrived, the 2 men balked at the stairs in regards to moving the grand piano. They simply refused saying they did not have the right dolly and were not insured. This angered Caleb as he had already mentioned this as we signed the original contract. But the movers didn't care about the contract and just simply dug in their heels and said no. They left the piano, still wrapped up and standing on its side in the garage. We were at their mercy. For the next handful of days, I began to worry about where the piano cover was ... remember that?! I had unpacked just about all the boxes, cleaning like crazy so Joshua could recover from his allergy cough, but no piano cover in sight! I asked Grandma Bor how much she spent on the cover when she bought it almost 20 years ago, and it was hundreds of dollars. We shared this with the kids, unsure of what had happened, wondering if the moving company had lost the cover, in addition to 2 other smaller boxes. We had to then call and hire a local piano moving company to come, and they began charging us as soon as the phone hung up, for every minute until they arrived and finished the piano set-up. They milked us for the entire 45-minute process. And when they had finished, there was our original white piano cover! Both Caleb and I had seen the first movers hand-carry the cover to the truck, but now for some reason during the unpacking, it had been repacked onto the piano! Abby's rendition goes like this: "The moving truck stayed in Dallas for an extra week, so God let the piano cover go: boing, boing, boing and it jumped onto the piano inside the truck!" Well, our God is a God of impossibilities, so sure, that may be exactly what had happened!
We shared a meal together with Susan, Asaph and Joy Ecklund a week or so later and learned about how Joy's brother had recently moved across the country, and after weeks (or months?) of delays from their moving company, the company held their boxes hostage, refusing to move anything until larger sums were paid. The family had to call law enforcement for help and supervision so that the moving company would keep their end of the contract! After hearing that story, we were so incredibly thankful for our very minor losses.
The kids began the school year at Eastside Christian School on August 31st.
Then the testing of Caleb's faith and patience came. We were hoping his work start date would be September 1st, or even Sept 5th, a Monday, so we would be able to pay rent and bills. This chapter of life and learning of His faith in us will now continue in the next WA blog! 😊
