Still Seeking a Home

The Haps
Listening to: Rose Melberg, Cars Can Be Blue and similar artists on my "Recommended Radio" at Last.fm, which always plays me a lot more "twee" than it ought to. Kind of nice on a hazy Saturday morning, though.

"Please, we just need a house
before I'm as big as one!"

This has been a much quieter week by comparison. We're not much closer to getting the house than we were last weekend, unfortunately. Tara is still working hard with our realtor.


She woke up noticeably larger yesterday. She showed me an illustration of what our babies look like now, and they're a lot bigger than I realized. We're getting into the third trimester now!


This week I got to write copy for a "tear pad" for cancer patients. It's just a stack of sheets with chemotherapy information that the doctors will rip off and give to their new patients. While lung cancer is a very serious condition, it's exciting to me that one of the first things many newly diagnosed patients will receive will be a page of information that I wrote! That's the kind of thing that drives and motivates me in this job.


Tomorrow we'll finally visit a church and try to make some friends. We could really use a few right now! I guess it's been three weeks since we had anything to do with church. The one we're looking at seems exciting.


Thoughts
The difference in my attitude this month and my attitude when I started my previous job has been very obvious to me. At the end of 2007, I had just been let go from a job, been on unemployment wages for two months, ended up having to move literally a thousand miles away to be employed again in a place far from any place I'd ever been. Not only that, but I had just become engaged to a girl I'd known for about nine months, and it was to be a very short engagement! Looking back, I'm actually happy about how well I was able to get through it, and I know it's only because I was looking to the Lord, and He was beside me the whole time.


How completely different it is this time! My last company actually misses me now, because I suddenly got a lot better at my job at the end of 2009. I'm in one of the happiest marriages I've ever seen, back in a state I already loved, in a workplace that amazes me with really nice people, and about to have twin girls! And, importantly, I have twice as much confidence as I had a few years ago thanks to the experience I've gained since then. I no longer feel like the account executives are talking way over my head--just a little over it sometimes. In short, I'm pretty much right where I want to be in life.


The only question now is...am I where God wants me to be yet? With the Holy Spirit living in me, I can't help but ask that. And I'm glad, because that lets me know He indeed lives in me!


Today's Scripture
2 Samuel 8
Key verse: (11) "King David also dedicated these [gifts] to the Lord, along with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued..."


Reflection
A short but action-packed chapter. King David is taking over large chunks of the Middle East, including strong nations such as Syria and Edom (an ancient kingdom in what is now Jordan). Apparently God did not have a problem with Israel subduing peoples beyond the borders of the land He had promised His people. It seems as though David made a hobby of that, though it's more likely that he was merely defending his country from the surrounding nations who were threatening it.


David had a rare, special relationship with the Lord. The more powerful he became, the more he recognized the hand of God in everything that occurred. This is very clear when we read his Psalms. How opposite is his mentality from that of so many Israelites in the Old Testament who forgot the Lord in the good times. Unlike them, David didn't need to be defeated by an enemy before he would remember the Lord. He walked with Him in good times and bad and constantly looked for opportunities to show the Lord his gratitude. Who would have expected his predecessor, Saul, to dedicate to God precious metals acquired from his enemies? The word "dedicate" is not used in the Bible during Saul's reign at all!


Prayer
Lord, thank you for this time of blessing in our lives. May we always look for ways to show you our gratitude and give you all of ourselves. Let us walk beside you closely and call upon you in times of peace and plenty as well as in times of need.


Please help Tara and keep her healthy during this final trimester. Help us to find a place to live soon so we can fully prepare for our babies' arrival. And please provide friends for us who will be willing to help when we are in need. Thank you, in Jesus' name.


Final Thoughts
We finally drove through downtown Columbus the other evening, and I felt a little let down. I expected it to be like Dayton only bigger and more exciting. I was not impressed. Fortunately, we really like the northern area where we are staying and working, and we like the little town north of Columbus, Delaware, where we are hoping to live. Northern Columbus is the booming part of town, and it's exciting to be here.


UPDATE: Before I was able to edit and post this, we went up to Delaware to look at the house again. While we were up there, we looked at another, more expensive house. We're seriously thinking about switching. We'll let you know!