how we ended up in Arizona

I know this is very long, but it is a great story.


Dear Family and Friends,
What a year it has been! A baby, a job change, a move across the country, in short no lack of stress :) But above all our challenges, changes and stress levels, God has been so good.
Looking back at the past year, I can hardly believe everything that has happened.
In June we discovered that we were pregnant with our 4th! A little surprised, but pleased, we always said that we wanted 4 kids (I just didn’t expect to get them so close together)
In July, Jason’s job as Elementary Children’s Director at Providence went full time, it was a good thing but also disappointing as we realized that in order to meet our budget he would have to keep working at the restaurant. It is challenging to juggle 2 jobs and a growing family. As time went by (and with Jason’s boss’ prompting) it was clear that something had to change. We kept praying that God would guide and direct us and did He ever! Mid-September everything came to a boiling point, Jason nearly had a breakdown and was asked to step down from some of his responsibilities, which sounds terrible, but was really a good decision. That very week we had company in town; a huge blessing as they were able to watch the kids as Jason and I had some serious talking to do. Also during that time Jason received an e-mail about a job opportunity. Jason and his boss Kevin frequently got e-mails of churches that were looking for pastors and Jason usually just junked them, we didn’t want to leave our church, but this one was different, it was addressed to him personally so, I believe prompted by the Spirit, he opened it. After reading the job description Jason called me and asked me to read it “why” I asked, “just read it” he said. After I read it I told Jason, “that’s you they’re looking for, it’s in Arizona, but it’s you”. The job description outlined so many of Jason’s passions and Ideas for Children’s ministry even down to the job title “Pastor of Children’s Discipleship”.
We decided it couldn’t hurt to pursue the possibility so we started the process and Jason sent his resume to the head hunter. Within just a few weeks Jason had two conversations with the head hunter, spoken with Ron (the current children’s pastor at the church), the search committee (a process that normally takes months) and by divine coincidence, met face to face with the Senior Pastor. One of the things that also appealed to us was the fact that the current children’s pastor was not being fired, but was moving into a different role in the church as an executive pastor.
In October it just so happened:) that the Senior Pastor, Tim was visiting his son who was a student in Winston-Salem NC, so Jason was able to drive out there are meet face to face with Pastor Tim. After several more phone conversations we were asked to fly to Arizona for a formal interview. The timing was critical, there was a window where I could fly before it became too uncomfortable and the holidays were upon us, the timing in this whole thing was masterfully orchestrated by a wonderful composer!
All this time we kept praying and seeking God, asking for wisdom and direction. We prayed that God would put up road blocks, red flags if this was not what he had planned for us. He kept giving us peace, a peace that surpassed all understanding.
Jason, Kiah and I flew to Phoenix the week before Thanksgiving. We had wonderful friends who were able to watch the boys for us. Neal and Heather Lord took them for one night even though their own kids were out of town; the Bruce and Karen Oliver had them 2 nights and took them to the Christmas parade and the Derek and Leslie Washburn had them the remaining 2 nights where they got to help plant flowers and go to story hour at the library.
Our schedule was jam packed while we were in Phoenix, we had meetings with the search committee, pastoral staff, ministry team and elders. At each meeting we answered many questions and asked our own. Everyone was super helpful with Kiah, which was great since she also went to all those meetings.
The Sunday we visited the church Jason leaned over to me during the service and whispered “we’re home”. We felt so at peace and really sensed that this was God was taking us. Jason had been feeling this all along, even before we flew to Arizona and the trip confirmed it even more.
One of the contingencies for us was that if we moved before the baby was born we had to find a Dr./Midwife and I didn’t want to give birth in a hospital after having such wonderful experiences at the birth center in Chapel Hill. We looked online and found a midwife who does home births, we scheduled to meet her during our visit. The visit went great, and another piece of the puzzle divinely fell into place.
During our trip we did some house hunting, that’s how confident Jason felt about God’s direction, the wife of one of the elders is a real estate agent and she showed us a few rental properties as well as one that was for sale. That house that we looked at way back in November is the same one that we ended up buying, but more on that later.
We flew back to North Carolina and anxiously awaited the phone call that would tell us if the job was ours and what the salary was. One thing that was important to us was that the salary be enough so that Jason wouldn’t have to work another job. Well, what do you think happened? Yup, we were offered the job and the salary was perfect. We won’t be rich, but no more working 2 jobs!
That was the very end on November. Then things kicked into high gear, we contacted a real estate agent to sell the house in NC, spent a week or so packing and putting things into a POD in the driveway and painted the interior of the house. It was crazy, our wonderful neighbor and friend took the kids for 2 days while we painted, and another friend power washed the exterior of the house. The house went on the market just before Christmas, was shown 55 times and sold April 23rd for full price. Praise the Lord!
Now, how were we going to move all our stuff and 3 children? The church had set aside a certain amount for our moving expenses, so I began contacting moving companies. To make a long story short(er) the brother of one of the pastors flew to NC helped load our stuff into a U-Haul, pulled our van behind it and drove it to AZ while Jason the kids and I got to fly. I was so thankful that we got to fly and didn’t have to drive for 4 days, 7 months pregnant.
So, where were we going to live? One of the men from church offered his home to us. Grant is a very humble and self sacrificing man, who let us live in his home, sleep in his rooms while he slept on the couch. Everyone wonders how we lived like this for almost 4 months, the only answer I have is God’s grace. Grant was usually not home, he works long hours, so we had the house to ourselves for most of the time and we felt so blessed to live rent free for that time. Grant even allowed us to have a home birth! The kids adored him and miss him now that we are in our own home.
After months of house hunting we finally bought this one, well actually our realtor bought it and we are renting it from them for a month and a bit, we close in June. It is another one of those God things. We started looking at houses right away and saw several that we liked and even put offers on 3 other homes, but they were all declined which, in this market, was crazy. Finally we said that’s enough, we’ve got to choose one and be done with it. Well, that week the house that we really liked came back on the market. It had been off for a while, but had been empty the whole time. Remember this is the house we first looked way back in November. However it had to close by a certain date, before the house in NC sold and we couldn’t get a loan on our own (because of the house in NC) so our gracious realtor and her husband bought it for us and we will buy it from them (they are making no profit). This is not the only thing that they have done for us, she took her commission and put it into an escrow account for us to use. From that account we purchased all new appliances and put in a new door to the patio. We moved in on April 23rd and are quickly making it our own.
Oh, let’s not forget about that baby I was talking about. Tobin Joseph Doughty arrived February 13, 2008, at 2:10 am weighing a whopping 10 pounds and 3 ounces. His labor and delivery went smoothly and was only 6 hours long. It was so great to have a home birth, no traveling in the car while in labor and we got to stay in our own bed which was very comfortable and relaxing. He is growing fast and is a happy little guy, well not very little:)
Justin, Isaac and Kiah are adapting well to all the changes we’ve experienced. They’ve made many new friends, but still miss people back in NC, it is the same for Jason and I. It is comforting knowing that this is where God has us and that we won’t have to move for a very long time, maybe never.
So many things happened, none of them a coincidence, we truly believe that God had this all planned for us, He could not have shown us more clearly the way that He wanted us to go. He gave us such peace and grace, from little things to big ones, we have been so blessed. It’s not easy to move to someplace new and start all over again, but knowing that this is where He has led us makes it all so much easier. I hope that you have enjoyed hearing about how we were brought to Arizona, but most of all I hope that God was glorified through it all.
I was hoping to have a new family photo to put with this letter, but I’ve put this off long enough. To see pictures please visit our blog, and hopefully you’ll get a picture for Christmas.
Our new contact info: 3830 E. Yale St, Phoenix, AZ 85008
Jason’s cell 602-301-6524
Bridget’s cell 602-301-6906
Home #602-324-3538
E-mail jason.doughty@gmail.com, bridget.doughty@gmail.com
You can visit our blog at www.doughtdigest.blogspot.com

With much love,


Bridget, Jason, Justin, Isaac, Kiah and Tobin