How do you pick a program?

I started this post and made the list below in late November, towards the end of our crazy residency interview trip. I'm posting it here to have a record of some of the things that we had to weigh in making our rank list decisions:

How do you pick a residency program? What is most important? What are vitals and what are just "it'd be nice if..."? These are some of the questions we need to keep asking ourselves over the next weeks and months before we get to submit our rankings.

Some perks that are included at one or more programs but not all:
* a solid, missional community of Christian physicians
* gorgeous mountains
* flat prairies
* $5 credit hour classes at the local state university for family
members
* former missionary doctors as attendings
* big city
* small city
* graduated autonomy
* do it all on your own from the beginning
* OB training by OB doctors
* OB training by family doctors
* longetudinal training
* service months
* opportunities to learn through moonlighting
* moonlighting is not encouraged
* lots of snow
* hot weather and no snow
* Bible belt
* Mormon country
* all expenses paid iPhone
* $100 towards a cell phone
* variety of meal plans and ability for family to join in or not
* help with moving expenses
* varying costs for health insurance
* a variety of salaries (all at least double the $22K highest salary we've ever had in a year so far)
* a variety of distances from a variety of loved ones in a variety of locations, none of them, with the exception of 1 very close to any loved ones but most closer to some than we had been

Well, our rank list is in. These aren't the only things we weighed. In our rank list we decided to place at the top the places that we thought Glenn would have the optimal training as well as the opportunity to work with missional people that could be future co-laborers or at least people who would understand what we ultimately want to do and why and will stand by us with prayer support.

We know that God knows best where we should be to best be trained and used for His glory and it is pretty easy for Him to tweak the computer matching up residencies and students for Him to place us there. I am so grateful for the amazing the work that He has done in our hearts to the point that we have held up our choices with open hands telling Him basically, "You pick, we trust You." There are things that we are really excited about each of the programs at the top of our list and we can't wait to see where God puts us. Only 20 days!

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
 but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 

Psalm 20:7