Changes, peeking, birthdays

My current boss is leaving at the end of the month. In light of that all of his duties are being parceled out among those of us who reported to him. It is always a delicate dance to shift priorities and assume duties that are both new and urgent; to report to someone to whom your boss once reported. It is not always a welcome exposure; especially in light of the fact that all of us have very fulltime jobs to maintain on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

This entire process is not aided by the fact that one of our peers has also left our group so his responsibilities are being taken on by one of the persons who reported to him, who also has a very fulltime job to maintain. He is very uncomfortable communicating at the current elevated level of the organization. It is kind of humorous to watch that level of discomfort evidence itself in meetings.

Mama and I are still a little lost in the process of finding a place to move to. There is still a good deal of distance between our individual expectations. The current lack of suitable properties for sale - of the type we are looking for- complicates the issue a good deal. I have suggested that we take a break from the search; no looking at realtor.com for a week, but neither of us can keep ourselves from peeking.

I stayed at work last night until about 6:40 pm as I waited on two different crews to complete work in the new office building. One crew finished up a little after 5 pm. The other asked for at least another hour. They will be back this morning. Hopefully they will not be looking to stay as late as yesterday.

It could work out okay since we have RU this evening but Mama looks forward to me getting home in time to help her get things ready for our weekly meeting. Tonight she will be putting together two Mexican casseroles for the dinner that always follows the meeting. It would be very disappointing to her for me to be stuck here in the office.

We leave in the morning for Chappell Hill. From the reports I am hearing, we will be traveling in the rain for a good portion of the trip. That is never fun with Mama. For some reason she is paranoid about driving in the rain, the snow, high winds, etc. We will try and make it a fun trip but there is always a little bit of drudgery spending eight to nine hours on the road.

I just have to keep the reason for the trip in context. At this point in their lives I do not know how much longer I will have my Mom and Dad around and birthday number 85 is a notable milestone. Dad will turn 90 in December.

At least now we are only a few hours from them versus being twenty hours away.

Where is home? Grandma Kline’s Birthday, work

Some years back, I remember hearing an interview with a Christian author who was quite popular at that time. I did not get much out of the interview but there was one thought that has stayed with me for many years. The author described the Christian life as a long, slow burn rather than a flash of fire and light. There are times, he said, that we are moved by God in mighty ways and accomplish great things in a short amount of time but those times are not the norm. Much of the Christian life is spent in patient obedience, faithful service and daily devotion; awaiting those times that God will need us to be ready for His desired purpose.

Mama and I are in one of those times of patient obedience. We know God is moving in our lives but it is a knowing of faith and not of sight. We have the rare opportunity to take our time looking for the place God has for us as we live in the place we have already sold. We know the Lord worked that out for our good and His glory. But we are having trouble finding a place we feel a peace about buying.

We are constantly reassured by the new owner of our farm that he wants us to make absolutely certain and have perfect peace about the place we buy. There is no urgency on his part to take possession of the farm and we are acting as caretakers in his absence. But as the holiday season approaches Mama really wants to have the question answered; where is home now? The final answer to that question is Heaven; but, not yet. Pray for us as we continue the search.

This Saturday we are going to Chappell Hill to attend a birthday party my sister Sarah has put together to celebrate Grandma Kline’s 85^th birthday. We have never been a family that made much of birthdays but this one seem special – especially after the open heart surgery Mom had a couple years ago. It will be a day trip for me, Mama and Victoria. I thing we are about five hours from Chappell Hill so there will be a good amount of time on the road but I think it will be worth the effort.

Work has tied me up pretty thoroughly lately. I even had to deal with a couple issues here in Decatur as I was with Maggie and Aaron and the baby in Alaska. But the past few days have been pretty overwhelming. We have had one setback after another in getting services to the new building we are getting ready for occupancy. Several crews have made multiple return trips to finish work that should have been done weeks ago.

Today I promised a crew that I would stay with them until they finished. They will be arriving from Houston this morning and want to get the work completed so they can go back home in the morning. I have been told that they expect to get done before 9 pm; but that is their best guess.

We will see.

Travel, looking but nit finding, the little van

I spent the day on the road yesterday. I met with my staff in Elk City, OK. Most of the ladies in my group had to travel to make the meeting but it was about equal distance for each office to meet in that location. We had a productive meeting; managed to get a lot of little issues addressed. Now my work begins as I follow up on various requests they had.

Mama and Victoria spent the day in Denton getting new phones – oh joy! They were each equally excited and exasperated as they tried to reestablish the games, contacts and other items on the new devices. It will take some time to get everything done and Mama will need lots of help in the process but we should be close in a day or two – depending on Victoria’s availability. For the moment both of them are carrying two phones each.

I was not overly impressed by the iPhone 6 tablet – whatever they call the biggest one they are now selling. It is too big for me. I had problems holding the device because it is so slick. I asked Mama if there was a cover available for it and she told me there is a “bumper pad” for it. I will not handle the phone until I am sure I can hang on to it. For the size, I would rather have an iPad.

Once Mama and Victoria were back in Decatur they met with the realtor and looked at a large log home on fifteen acres. I was curious to see the setup of the house and outbuildings – as well as the proximity to what looked like another house very near the one we were interested in seeing. As it turned out, the log home was set us as a retreat facility rather than as a home. As such, it has a very small kitchen, no master suite and fairly undefined living areas – more like meeting rooms with dormitory space.

Mama loved the house; Victoria not so much. I will go see it on Friday but I am not excited by what I can see on Google maps or by the report from Mama and Victoria. The sale is the result of a pending divorce and the nearby house, the residence for the conference/retreat building is being retained by one of the offended parties. It would have to be a great find for me to pay the asking price for what looks to be a headache in the making just to dissociate the two properties; set fence lines and agreed boundaries, etc.. Mama was pretty bummed out by my lack of enthusiasm.

The weeks are starting to pile up on us as we look for another place to live and I have to admit a sense of desperation setting in for both me and Mama. I know the Lord will work it all out, but as we watch one property after another come and go, we are a little apprehensive about still being able to find the right one. The real blessing underlying all the insecurity is that we still have a place to live. That, in and of itself, is a blessing only the Lord could have put together.

Our Uplander is still at the shop. I talked to the mechanic Monday evening on my way home and he told me he has not spent much time on the car since he was out of town for a few days last week. He thinks the problem is in the alarm module but he is not totally sure. We should know more this week. We miss having the little van at our service. I am not overly worried about the charge to fix it.

The mechanic has been very fair in everything he has done for us in the past.

Eating out, more looking, getting stronger

That weekend certainly flew by. Saturday started off with us losing electricity as Victoria was leaving for work – about 7:40 a.m. It was off for the next several hours because of a downed power line somewhere up Paddack road from us. It provided a good excuse for Mama and me to go out to breakfast. So we went to the Longhorn Cafe in Bowie for the breakfast bar. It was really good.

By the time we made it back home the power had been restored. Mama and I fed her menagerie as we usually do and I made a couple quick repairs to a few small items but we really did not get into too much because that afternoon we were scheduled to go with the seniors from our church to a restaurant in Jacksboro for dinner. Between both of those meals and the nap required since neither of us had slept well the night before the day was pretty well used up.

We did go to look at a couple of properties after we left the restaurant in Jacksboro. (We had met the group at the restaurant vs. meeting them in Deactur.)None of the properties were worth a second look but that’s why we take the time to do the initial investigation – to save us and our realtor the time and aggravation of meeting at a property that will obviously not meet our needs.

We appear to be no closer today than when we first began our search for a replacement home but I think we are closer than we are able to see. Mama and I both believe God is leading us and in His time we will stumble into the answer. I wish we would be less concerned about our needs and focus more on what exactly God is doing through us in our quest to honor Him in this move, but our human nature often overexerts its influence into the struggle – causing doubt, frustration and confusion. This too shall pass.

A missionary spoke in our Sunday School hour and told the story of a young Christian Army recruit who was placed in a platoon with a sergeant that was vociferously anti-God. The sergeant piled the extra duties, extra weight in the pack and extra push-ups and miles of running on the young Christian in an effort to demoralize and break his spirit and faith.

On one bivouac, in a remote, wooded area the sergeant was bitten by a poisonous snake. Immediately succumbing to the venom he passed out. When he woke in the Army hospital he learned that that young Christian had carried him – almost running – the entire way to the hospital.

Anxious to make amends for his behavior toward the young man, he called him to the hospital room and began to apologize but the young Christian interrupted, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. If you had not forced me to do all the extra work I would not have had the strength to carry you to the hospital.” The moral of the story: Our trials should serve to make us stronger.

At least, that’s His intent

Walking away, trash, Brittany

Mama and I received the news yesterday that we had been outbid on the property in Alvord. I was ready to walk away but Mama insisted on putting in one more offer. It was not enough to win the contract. Mama was pretty bummed out and our real estate agent was heartbroken for Mama. I was a little disappointed and felt the loss was because I was being too cautious but it is all in God’s hands. We will regroup and begin again.

It did teach us a lesson – that if we really see value in the property we need to be more aggressive in getting it under contract rather than trying to save a few thousand dollars. The realtor that negotiated the sale of our farm in Bowie advised us thusly, “Don’t let your money get mad.” In other words, when you like what you see, if it has real value to you, buy it. Don’t let your quest for a bargain get your emotions twisted up.

I took some time last night and finished the grout of the tile in the shower in the apartment. It turned out pretty well. At the very least, it looks better than it did with the little white spacers sticking out from between the tile. I also took some time to discard some more items from the farmhouse –trying to make the best use of the dumpster while we have it.

Mama was in the mobile home making calls letting everyone know we were not going to get the Alvord property so I went to sit with her but I got up and looked in the fridge. I had to nearly empty it out because of the shriveled, molded and rotting items inside. It is a good thing that the dumpster is going to be emptied tomorrow. It would not take long for the items I placed in it to stink as they warm up. Between the two sources we managed to fill the dumpster.

Brittany, aka, Princess Sparkles, called me yesterday and was telling me about her last day at work. During the day her coworkers would put a small gift on her desk every time she stepped away. One was a bad of Reece’s Pieces. It sat on a card that said, “We will miss you to…” with an arrow pointing to the pieces. Cute! And just down Brittany’s alley.

She is going to concentrate on school work over the next few months but especially when they move to Altus, OK where Andrew is to be stationed for a period of time. While they are there they will be only about three hours from me and Mama. It should provide more opportunities to visit before they are stationed in the UK.

Tomorrow evening, Mama and I are planning to meet the seniors from the church at a restaurant in Gainesville. It is always fun to hang out with that group. Mama and I will meet them rather than driving to Decatur, then to Gainesville, then back to Decatur, then back to Bowie. Besides, a feed store there had some bargains on feed that we need at the farm. It will put Mama ahead for the coming several months. It can always be relocated with us.

I have a small list of “to do” items for Saturday but, if I know Mama, we will be looking at properties somewhere.

Waiting on the Lord, changes at work, Ebola

Mama and I made a counter offer yesterday afternoon but have not heard back from the seller. Mama is tired of haggling and wants to get on with the sale. I am curious to see what God is doing in the delay. There is always a higher purpose and it is rare we get to see all the nuances of God’s hidden works but I think in this one we will get some insight into how we are being led, blessed and protected.

One outcome of the slow progression of the negotiations has been our introduction to another lender. One of the problems with buying land is that many banks will not finance the purchase. Those that will have lending tools that do not necessarily treat the buyer very well. Most land loans are written with a set period of time - usually five to seven years – that the loan will run followed by a balloon payment for the remainder of the load at which time the borrower is either reevaluated for extending the loan for another provisional term (at the prevailing rate at that moment) or required to pay off the loan in full. Not the best customer product on the market.

Our realtor gave us the contact information for another lender that will do the land loan on a conventional loan; one that establishes terms that will carry through the length of the loan. That would definitely be my preference. I will be getting all the required information to that bank this morning in hopes of meeting with the lender on Friday or early next week.

At work, the official announcement was made that my boss will be leaving for another position. He is going back to what his expertise is in – Liquefied Natural Gas. He will be leaving at the end of this month. In ways it is a good thing for us as an organization; in way not so much. Time will tell.

With the first acknowledged case of Ebola now announced in Dallas, it puts a special sort of angst in the air here. We are distanced enough from the area that there is not the panic that seems to be building at that local level; especially since there are school age children involved. I do not know where the truth is but it seems to be believable that the infection is pretty difficult to contract. If not the infectious rate in Africa would be far higher.

It also seems to be fact that it is frightfully expensive to treat but that it can be successfully treated. An outbreak of the disease in our country would quickly overwhelm our health care system.  It is a frightening scenario. For a potentially lethal disease, it is getting a lot softer sell that the normal hype that accompanies “flu season”. Perhaps that is due to the lack of marketable vaccine.

Liberal use of soap and hot water for hand cleaning is always a good preventive measure – especially until we know more. I would not trust the alcohol based hand wash solutions so ubiquitous in our lives right now. They are great for bacterial control but not too much for virus containment.

I am more concerned about the infected minors that have been inserted into communities across the US and the disease they are transmitting to our school age children than I am bout an Ebola patient. It is a little overwhelming to think of where this could end.

Fortunately, God is still in control.

Missed queues, bad movie, running

Mama and I heard from the seller of the Alvord property. He does not seem too interested in coming down in price enough to meet our offer. I was a little disappointed to see the slow progress but as I started to replay the bits of conversation that had been repeated to me I began to understand the hesitancy. I think, when we made to offer to deal with anything he does not want to move, he is considering the tractor and other fairly high dollar items in the selling price.

To answer my question I have asked our agent to investigate how our offer was interpreted by the seller so we are all on the same page. It is like two people almost talking about the same things until one of the two in the conversation says something so irrelevant to the other person’s frame of reference that it brings up the question of what exactly is being talked about.

In one scene from the Fiddler on the Roof, the main character is talking with the butcher. The butcher is trying to feel out the father about asking for his oldest daughter’s hand in marriage. All the while the father thinks the butcher is talking about his milk cow. It is a pretty funny conversation. Ours has not been as humorous, but it may have been as misdirected.

Victoria rented the new Transformer movie last night. It was awful. Mama and I were talking about the two hours wasted in watching it. I even left after about an hour and a half because some of the fight and chase scenes were so drawn out that they were not entertaining. Much of the storyline was so convoluted that it made absolutely no sense. There was some funny dialogue but it was sporadic at best.

I feel that I can follow a storyline as well as most people but I could not connect the dots at all – especially when they were trying to infer that the transformers were millions of years old. It was poorly written and acted. The graphics were good but they could not carry the movie. At least it only cost a dollar to rent.

Mama ran pretty much all day yesterday. In the morning she returned Victoria’s tablet – I do not remember what kind it was – to Sam’s and in the early afternoon she had lunch with me in Decatur. That was after she had gone to the Post Office and the cleaners in Decatur. I think she was home by naptime. All in all, we are not getting too much done at the farm right now but we still have time to get it all done over the next few days.

It is already October. That’s amazing. If we want to be in a new place by Thanksgiving, we had better get a move on.