El Paso I Will Go

Yesterday I came to a final decision and it wasn't an easy one. I received a much anticipated phone call, but I still felt like I was deciding at almost the last moment because I did not have a really definite answer of where I wanted to go. It was down to two choices: El Paso, TX and North Carolina. I went over my choices with Captain Jones (he's going to be the White House PA starting next month) and he confirmed that both were two great choices and he helped me make my final decision based on what would be best for me professionally. Not that I wouldn't mind jumping out of airplanes (part of the airborne certification that I would have to go through at North Carolina) or the fact that North Carolina was a lot greener and not bone-dry like Texas. If I felt like I wanted to spend the rest of my career in family medicine, North Carolina would hands down be my first choice. It is the Army's medical center of excellence for family medicine and many doctors do their family residency training there. I figured I would have more exposure to emergency medicine and trauma at Fort Bliss, and since their major trauma center serves up to 25% of civilian emergencies, I may even get to keep up my Spanish a little.
When I hung up the phone one of my first thoughts was, "the desert...the brownness...the heat...why??" A funny thing was the fact that I was giving the family home evening lesson that night and it was on decisions. It was almost a sort of "decision-decompression-therapy" for me. I was reminded how all decisions, when made with good intentions, thinking and prayer, can be used to benefit our welfare and learning. There are also times when the answers to the decisions that we make are not so clear. Brigham Young said the following: "If I ask Him (God) to give me wisdom concerning any requirements in life, or in regard to my own course...and get no answer from Him, and then do the very best that my judgement will teach me, He is is bound to own and honor that transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes." And so it is with me. It will be interesting to see what experiences I will have there. I will be reporting to El Paso June 10 to start my processing and orientation and will start Officer Basic Course in San Antonio in July. I'm excited -- desert and all -- bring it on!!