Oh, what creatures of habit we are!
We are back in California after a wonderful time spent with friends and family celebrating our Lord Jesus Christ and enjoying his blessings! But as we checked in to the hotel, we were assigned to a different room. No big deal, right? Fortunately, it's still on the same floor... however, while it's exactly the same in every other way, it's a mirror image of our previous home here and on the other side of the elevator/stairs. You would not believe how weird that is. Try to imagine if you woke up one morning and your house was reversed... the worst part of it is the location within the building. We now have to remember to turn the opposite direction when coming and going! I think we're probably at about a 25% error rate after a few days (as in 1 out of 4 times, one of us turns the wrong way and doesn't realize until we're half way to our old room). Anyway, that is all that is new and exciting here :)
Oh, except that I'll now be serving at my BSF class as a group leader (I will not have a group, at least initially, but will sub for others who may be out and may also help with the administration team). Hooray! I am looking forward to being used to further the cause of Christ in this way!
And, as another update, I have a second job interview with a company called SCS tomorrow morning at 10 am PT (1 pm ET). I am under the conviction that I need to be frank about my temporary situation out here, so I'm not sure how that's going to affect things. Praying that I not only get the job, but that this is a job I can take back with me!
Also, please join me in praying today for my brother and sister-in-law and their baby girl, Lydia, who is due in May. They are doing some additional development tests and we are praying for a clear test result showing normal development and comfort and peace for the parents-to-be for whatever the outcome is!
Ok, now as soon as I finish my coffee I'll be heading down to the gym so I can get some soup on for lunch!
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Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Job Interview
After nearly two months of scouring job openings and applying to all of the jobs that I felt I could do and jobs I felt I would enjoy (sometimes not the same job), I had a phone interview today for a position at a certification company similar to my previous employer. I happen to think I'm a very strong candidate! :)
I was very nervous before and during, but managed to keep my voice steady (I think) and answer all the questions with full confidence. I know that whether or not I get the job is in God's hands and will endeavor to trust Him no matter what the outcome of this interview. I am praying that if it is the job for me that it will be one I can take back home with me as well! The timing could also be very important as we're still waiting for the sale of my condo to go through.
Thanks to all who prayed for me! I really appreciate it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be going. I'm packing (and wondering how we fit so much stuff in this tiny room) to come home for Christmas! By this time tomorrow I'll be in the D! (I wonder if I've ever been so happy about the prospect of being in Detroit in my entire life...) Can't wait to see many of you very soon!
I was very nervous before and during, but managed to keep my voice steady (I think) and answer all the questions with full confidence. I know that whether or not I get the job is in God's hands and will endeavor to trust Him no matter what the outcome of this interview. I am praying that if it is the job for me that it will be one I can take back home with me as well! The timing could also be very important as we're still waiting for the sale of my condo to go through.
Thanks to all who prayed for me! I really appreciate it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be going. I'm packing (and wondering how we fit so much stuff in this tiny room) to come home for Christmas! By this time tomorrow I'll be in the D! (I wonder if I've ever been so happy about the prospect of being in Detroit in my entire life...) Can't wait to see many of you very soon!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Church Search + Monterey Adventure
Our church search was short and intense! Starting the first Sunday morning I arrived, either Steve and I or just I attended a service every Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday evening. Our friend Jason from Cornerstone recommended a church that we ended up falling in love with, called Trinity Bible Church. It's about 40 minutes South of us, but well worth the drive! It's a small church (~200 people) who are very warm and very devoted to the faithful and careful teaching of Scripture. We are very much enjoying the teaching on the Gospel of John. Pastor Manny is a really passionate and studious teacher and he always seems to answer the questions that a careful reader should have but that we often overlook, especially in a book as familiar to most of us as John. And he has been teaching on the providence of evil in the evening service, which challenges the capacity of my brain! God's sovereignty and His holiness are so evident in this series!
Anyway, there are about 5 1/2 hours between the end of the morning service and the evening service, and since we are already 40 minutes South, we have been using our time to explore! Just about 45 minutes further South and West is a gem of a coastal town, Monterey. Steve had the Sunday after Thanksgiving off (hooray!), so we went adventuring during the time between services.
It was a great chance to take in the California landscape. We passed through Gilroy, the garlic capitol of the world, and another town that declared itself the artichoke capitol of the world!
When we got there, we didn't have much time (we noted a lot of traffic heading back North due to the Thanksgiving holiday) since we wanted to be sure to be back on time for church. But we after a quick stop at a candy shop and carrying $20 worth of saltwater taffy (which we still to-date have not finished, although we are close! I keep shoving handfuls into Steve's coat pocket when he leaves for work)...
...we strolled down the beautiful coast for a bit toward the next town, Pacific Grove...
And we said hello to the harbor seals!
And finally, I got my Starbucks on at Cannery Row :) While I sipped on my latte, Steve enjoyed the most expensive (and quite delicious) chocolate milkshake EVER from the Nestle store.
Overall a fun adventure! They have a famous aquarium there, which we hope to get to someday as well. We have taken one more Sunday adventure (a shopping adventure to the Premium Outlets in Gilroy) since being here, and plan on taking more at every opportunity! We are thankful for these fun adventures and the privilege of witnessing the beauty of God's creation.
Hope you enjoyed the photos! :)
Anyway, there are about 5 1/2 hours between the end of the morning service and the evening service, and since we are already 40 minutes South, we have been using our time to explore! Just about 45 minutes further South and West is a gem of a coastal town, Monterey. Steve had the Sunday after Thanksgiving off (hooray!), so we went adventuring during the time between services.
It was a great chance to take in the California landscape. We passed through Gilroy, the garlic capitol of the world, and another town that declared itself the artichoke capitol of the world!
When we got there, we didn't have much time (we noted a lot of traffic heading back North due to the Thanksgiving holiday) since we wanted to be sure to be back on time for church. But we after a quick stop at a candy shop and carrying $20 worth of saltwater taffy (which we still to-date have not finished, although we are close! I keep shoving handfuls into Steve's coat pocket when he leaves for work)...
And we said hello to the harbor seals!
And finally, I got my Starbucks on at Cannery Row :) While I sipped on my latte, Steve enjoyed the most expensive (and quite delicious) chocolate milkshake EVER from the Nestle store.
Overall a fun adventure! They have a famous aquarium there, which we hope to get to someday as well. We have taken one more Sunday adventure (a shopping adventure to the Premium Outlets in Gilroy) since being here, and plan on taking more at every opportunity! We are thankful for these fun adventures and the privilege of witnessing the beauty of God's creation.
Hope you enjoyed the photos! :)
Friday, December 16, 2011
First Weekend Off
Unfortunately, Steve only has about every third weekend off from work, so we've only had one such weekend so far to get out and really explore the area. (This weekend is our second! Today we are just relaxing and Steve is recuperating from a long stretch of working straight.)
Steve had never been to San Francisco before, so we decided to make that our first adventure! Unfortunately, the first day off was rainy and dreary, so rather than spend it outside exploring the city, we went to the California Academy of Sciences, which is a great museum located in Golden Gate Park. We drove to the museum and spent the afternoon geeking out! And Steve got to see a little bit of the city on our way.
It's a pretty cool museum -- they have a rainforest display (complete with a upward winding walkway that allows you to check out each layer of the rainforest), a planetarium (showing a very God-less explanation of earth's and life's creation), a living roof (covered with grass and plants), an aquarium, and more. I think the rainforest was both Steve's and my favorite with the diversity of creatures and plant life.
The aquarium was a lot of fun to explore, too. They had a section that corresponded to the rainforest aquatic life as well as other sections for other parts of the world. The coral reef fish are absolutely beautiful with their many colors.
And they are all interesting! One of the neat things about the aquarium was that they had a portion dedicated to the aquatic life of California. So it was interesting learning about the local wildlife. We look forward to checking out the famous aquarium in Monterey, a small city on the coast about an hour south, to see more and learn more about the local aquatic life. Everyone we've talked to says it's the best.
Anyway, we spent so much time between the rainforest and the aquarium that we were just barely able to make it to the last planetarium show. Hm, dark auditorium plus comfy chairs have always added up to nap time for me! So despite my efforts to listen and watch, I definitely fell asleep! The animation was very cool from what I did see, though. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the presentation of the "facts" of creation were definitely from a scientific and atheistic world view.
After the museum closed, we headed to Berkeley for some coffee and Oakland for some delicious deep dish pizza. All in all, a good first day in the city.
We headed to the city again the next afternoon, but that I'll leave for the next post!
Steve had never been to San Francisco before, so we decided to make that our first adventure! Unfortunately, the first day off was rainy and dreary, so rather than spend it outside exploring the city, we went to the California Academy of Sciences, which is a great museum located in Golden Gate Park. We drove to the museum and spent the afternoon geeking out! And Steve got to see a little bit of the city on our way.
It's a pretty cool museum -- they have a rainforest display (complete with a upward winding walkway that allows you to check out each layer of the rainforest), a planetarium (showing a very God-less explanation of earth's and life's creation), a living roof (covered with grass and plants), an aquarium, and more. I think the rainforest was both Steve's and my favorite with the diversity of creatures and plant life.
Steve's favorite critter was definitely the gecko!
I enjoyed the brightly-colored but teeny-tiny poisonous dart frogs (can you find see them?)! But my favorite was in the aquarium - the turtles, of course! They are so beautiful and majestic!
The aquarium was a lot of fun to explore, too. They had a section that corresponded to the rainforest aquatic life as well as other sections for other parts of the world. The coral reef fish are absolutely beautiful with their many colors.
But most fish are not very attractive... like this one below. However, I have found that unattractive fish tend to be delicious! :)
And they are all interesting! One of the neat things about the aquarium was that they had a portion dedicated to the aquatic life of California. So it was interesting learning about the local wildlife. We look forward to checking out the famous aquarium in Monterey, a small city on the coast about an hour south, to see more and learn more about the local aquatic life. Everyone we've talked to says it's the best.
Anyway, we spent so much time between the rainforest and the aquarium that we were just barely able to make it to the last planetarium show. Hm, dark auditorium plus comfy chairs have always added up to nap time for me! So despite my efforts to listen and watch, I definitely fell asleep! The animation was very cool from what I did see, though. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, the presentation of the "facts" of creation were definitely from a scientific and atheistic world view.
After the museum closed, we headed to Berkeley for some coffee and Oakland for some delicious deep dish pizza. All in all, a good first day in the city.
We headed to the city again the next afternoon, but that I'll leave for the next post!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Scenes of Life
One of the things about the Bay Area that I've always loved is that it is situated near the ocean, mountains (including snow if you drive far enough), rolling hills and valleys, forests and hikes, ahhh.... the only thing I never realized is that there is little fresh water here and it's quite dry! Michigan winters can be hard on the skin because of the dryness... and so can California!
But no complaints about the weather; it's definitely an improvement! It has been consistently about 60 and sunny -- not bad for winter! It does dip lower during the night and has noticeably less precipitation (my car is filthy because it won't rain so I can get it "washed!"). The humorous thing is that the Californians think that this is cold!
It was 57F at the time this photo was taken, but this man is prepared for winter in Michigan!
Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos from my walks and hikes in the area to give you an idea of what the scenery is like. When I first arrived, I was invited to go on a hike by some people at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Here are a few shots from my hike on the "golden" hills of California (including one of the cows!):
I stuck with the nice folks from BSF, so we didn't make it to the top. I look forward to making the hike to the top of the peak one of these days!
There is also a man-made lake nearby that has a nice paved trail around it that is a 2-mile loop. If you frame the shot right, you can pretend that it's not in the middle of wild suburbia...
In reality, it is in the middle of suburban paradise and even has a major construction project going on that is extending the public transportation system further South. But I can pretend, right?
Did I mention that it's been 60 and sunny most every day? :)
But no complaints about the weather; it's definitely an improvement! It has been consistently about 60 and sunny -- not bad for winter! It does dip lower during the night and has noticeably less precipitation (my car is filthy because it won't rain so I can get it "washed!"). The humorous thing is that the Californians think that this is cold!
It was 57F at the time this photo was taken, but this man is prepared for winter in Michigan!
Anyway, I thought I'd share some photos from my walks and hikes in the area to give you an idea of what the scenery is like. When I first arrived, I was invited to go on a hike by some people at BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Here are a few shots from my hike on the "golden" hills of California (including one of the cows!):
I stuck with the nice folks from BSF, so we didn't make it to the top. I look forward to making the hike to the top of the peak one of these days!
There is also a man-made lake nearby that has a nice paved trail around it that is a 2-mile loop. If you frame the shot right, you can pretend that it's not in the middle of wild suburbia...
In reality, it is in the middle of suburban paradise and even has a major construction project going on that is extending the public transportation system further South. But I can pretend, right?
Did I mention that it's been 60 and sunny most every day? :)
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Coffee Woes
Well, I have to update you on an important part of my life: coffee! At home I have a Keurig instant brewer to cater to my coffee needs. That baby heats up and dispenses a cup of hot (or cold, if preferred) coffee in just four minutes. This is one of the things from home that I miss dearly. Now, you would think it wouldn't be too hard to get a cup of good coffee, but in my first few weeks here, good coffee was scarce! The hotel's coffee is possibly the worst I've EVER had. It's inexplicable, really, how grotesque it is. I tried to drink it a couple of times, but it's really undrinkable. In fact, I marvel every morning at the poor hotel guests who fill their mugs with it.
Before I had my car here, even, I trekked to McDonald's (whose Canton store had wonderful coffee but whose local store here does not) and Starbucks for a decent cup of java. But I realized this could not go on because it was neither cost-efficient nor convenient. So there were several days, weeks even, maybe, that I went without any kind of coffee at all. Many of you know that this could not be good for me! Or anyone! :)
So, I finally purchased some Dunkin Donuts blend at the store to brew in the coffee maker in our room. It was still less than good. Thinking it was my fault somehow, I tried brewing several pots and each was worse than the last. I decided it must be the coffee maker. It took what seemed like an eternity to brew and not as much coffee came out as water went in. So I requested that the hotel replace our coffee maker and they kindly obliged. I made a few more pots of mediocre coffee (it was an improvement but still not wonderful) before giving in and buying the French Press I'd been contemplating for some time. I just could not go any longer without good coffee!
So now each morning I heat the water in the regular coffee maker and then add it to the Starbucks or Peet's coffee I recently had freshly ground for my French Press. Minutes later, I have a hot, fresh, strong cup of delicious java ready for consumption! Add some coconut creamer and I'm ready to greet the day and begin my morning BSF ritual. Ahhhh......
Before I had my car here, even, I trekked to McDonald's (whose Canton store had wonderful coffee but whose local store here does not) and Starbucks for a decent cup of java. But I realized this could not go on because it was neither cost-efficient nor convenient. So there were several days, weeks even, maybe, that I went without any kind of coffee at all. Many of you know that this could not be good for me! Or anyone! :)
So, I finally purchased some Dunkin Donuts blend at the store to brew in the coffee maker in our room. It was still less than good. Thinking it was my fault somehow, I tried brewing several pots and each was worse than the last. I decided it must be the coffee maker. It took what seemed like an eternity to brew and not as much coffee came out as water went in. So I requested that the hotel replace our coffee maker and they kindly obliged. I made a few more pots of mediocre coffee (it was an improvement but still not wonderful) before giving in and buying the French Press I'd been contemplating for some time. I just could not go any longer without good coffee!
So now each morning I heat the water in the regular coffee maker and then add it to the Starbucks or Peet's coffee I recently had freshly ground for my French Press. Minutes later, I have a hot, fresh, strong cup of delicious java ready for consumption! Add some coconut creamer and I'm ready to greet the day and begin my morning BSF ritual. Ahhhh......
Monday, December 12, 2011
Not Home Yet
Steve and I are far from home and looking forward with great anticipation to being home at Christmastime! Today I was reflecting on the parallels between the attempts that I've made even here in our hotel to make ourselves feel more at home (even though this room is clearly a counterfeit "home") with the attempts that we (mankind) make to make ourselves feel more at home here on earth. The truth is, however, that this world is not our home no matter how hard we pursue the comforts of this world to help us feel more like it is. I was reminded of a quote from this blog post that spoke on the anticipation of the advent season and why we fail to anticipate Christ's return as we should:
Today we were reminded again of the fact that we are not home when we found out that the youth pastor at Cornerstone, Patrick, has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. It breaks our heart to know the loss his family will go through and we mourn with them; but we do not mourn as those who have no hope (1 Thes 4:13-18). For we know the hope that Patrick has in Jesus Christ and we rejoice that he will meet Jesus face to face. But we are still very saddened and reminded by this that, again, we are not home yet. Our prayers are with Patrick and his family and friends. We pray for their strength, hope, and peace to be in Christ and that He would be glorified in this sad situation. And we look forward all the more to Christ's return!
"To borrow a thought from John Piper, the weakness of our anticipation for Christ’s return is not because it is uneventful or unimportant. It’s because we keep ourselves stuffed with smaller anticipations. As C.S. Lewis said, 'We are far too easily pleased.'"
Today we were reminded again of the fact that we are not home when we found out that the youth pastor at Cornerstone, Patrick, has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. It breaks our heart to know the loss his family will go through and we mourn with them; but we do not mourn as those who have no hope (1 Thes 4:13-18). For we know the hope that Patrick has in Jesus Christ and we rejoice that he will meet Jesus face to face. But we are still very saddened and reminded by this that, again, we are not home yet. Our prayers are with Patrick and his family and friends. We pray for their strength, hope, and peace to be in Christ and that He would be glorified in this sad situation. And we look forward all the more to Christ's return!
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