Reality check, work woes, a messy, happy home

There is so much to pray about but thankfully we have a very big God. It never ceases to amaze me that as we take on new challenges we get little or no opportunity to either finalize or drop the challenges we currently face. Moving forward rarely resolves what we are carrying from the past. So we go through life adding weight to our lives with unmet goals, unrequited dreams and unsolved problems as we seek after something to make us feel like we have succeeded.


But most dreams are better suited for movies, many goals are not only unrealistic, they are dangerously dishonest, and those who have put in multiple decades in this life have found that many problems resolve themselves – they are often a figment of our imagination. The lingering question in many people’s minds is “What do I let go and how?”

Assuming that nothing is worth fighting over, what is worth fighting for? The short answer, through prayer; real honest, soul-searching, “What is God interested in?” prayer. I am not sure about you but I have often found that I am not honest with myself. It helps to find a way to force myself to be honest; in my home, just talking things through with my wife keeps me from going too far afield in my ambitions. But in those times when we are both willing to strain the bounds of realistic objectives – generally in buying what we cannot afford – it helps to make a list of pros and cons or use Excel to make an expense tracker. I did the latter to help with the decision about buying land.

It is amazing how quickly a simple spreadsheet can answer questions about our ability to do what we are dreaming about doing. The answer we found is that we can make the purchase if the bank allows, but there will be a pretty big sacrifice in all areas of our spending when we do. I showed Mama the program and she understood right away what I was talking about. It was a shocking dose of reality. So the question becomes, “How badly do we want this?” That’s where we are right now.

Seth should have an interview with a landscaper today but I am not sure if he will take the job. It would require him to go to the GED schooling at night rather than I the morning. He has been seriously bothered lately and until last night we were not sure why. He is struggling in the schooling and worried he will not get it. He wants to go to both sessions, morning and evening, to see if it will help. That will limit his ability to get a job, but in the long run it could be the wisest solution. We will also start him on paces at the school to bring him up to speed for the GED test, hopefully this year.

Chase is hoping to get on at JCPenny’s. I have a hard time picturing that but it would get him more hours than anything he has interviewed for so far. One of the young men from our church works there and will put in a good word for him. He is chomping at the bit to start getting a paycheck.

Mama is sitting the three little boys I wrote about earlier. She and the girls are loving it. Our house is a happy mess again.