More rain, two homes, two offices

Another storm blew in last night and it looks like it dumped a lot more rain on the area. Praise the Lord! It will keep Mama and Grandpa from working on the farm but they still may work on the house. Grandma has been busy getting the trash thrown out and it looks like a workable project now. We are still clearing a path in the back bedroom so Grandpa can get to the electrical panel but the house is cleaning up pretty nicely.


Last night we had a little trouble with Chase – one of those teenage moments where the attention of friends is more important the attention to parents and their rules. It emphasizes the difficulty in living in two places at the same time. All of our current family responsibilities are tied to Amarillo while our focus is turned toward the farm in Bowie. It is a difficult balancing act and it will require some extensive prayer to come to terms with the balance to make it work.

Financially it is more difficult than I anticipated and it became even more difficult as we got the tax bill for the farm - $2400, due by January 2012. It appears the heirs did not maintain the agricultural exemption and the taxes more than quadrupled as a result. Unfortunately we are fully responsible for the entire tax burden for 2011 even though we have only owned the farm for a couple months. That was very upsetting to discover.

We can reapply for the exemption in January but we have no recourse to apply it to this year. On the upside it will lower my income taxes by the same amount so we will get it back after a fashion. In the mean time it will slow us down financially so I have to decide what will have to wait. At this point we will not borrow any more money so I am not sure if we will even be able to plant our meadow next spring – which is where the income will eventually come from. God knows. I’m still trying to figure it out.

It is difficult to work out of two offices also. I enjoy being in Bowie but the office in Decatur is not nearly as pleasant a place to work as is the office in Borger. There are several people here who have some measure of authority and they are quick to let it be known. Since my boss insisted that I be involved in the moving of personnel within the office, the person who has handled all such requests now routes every office request through me – regardless of how small that request may be. I guess my boss offended him so he is being quite a stinker about it. I put up with it so Mama and I can be here but it is not pleasant.

It is one of those situations where a believer must decide if his witness is more important that his pride and work the conflict so that it brings glory to the Lord. I have not figured out how to do that just yet but it is still early in the game and the victory always goes to the Lord. If I stay on the side of God, I get to share in that victory and right now I could use a victory.

It is still quite early as I write this so I am praying for and working on having a positive attitude. I read a marquee outside a chiropractor’s office that said, “Having a positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort