I’ve decided to cancel our internet connection for a while. It’s hard for me to give up such a useful tool, but it seems to be sucking away my time and causing problems in my family. I won’t completely disappear from the world of ones and zeros, but the internet will be limited to once a week or so, to fulfill my commitment to my church. Other than that, I guess you’ll have to call or write snail mail to reach me, so get on it!
Last Friday, Chris and I were working in a commercial building of a company that does a lot of the kitchen and bathroom remodels here in town. They needed some work done and decided to try us out which could lead to lots of business for us.
Not wanting to shut anything down, we were working on everything hot. It’s not difficult, you just have to be careful to only touch one thing at a time. Unfortunately, I had to re-wire two switches, which means pulling wire out of the stab holes that are made to hold the wire in. So I had my trusty Leatherman in the release hole which is also hot (apparently). I was pushing the wire out with my other hand and as my arm pivoted, my elbow hit the coffee maker. Needless to say, I got more of a jolt than caffeine from that coffee maker as it completed the circuit through my body!
Everything went black and faded back in with a hum as I stared at Chris in front of me. I laughed it off, but it was kind of scary and left my head and arms feeling weird for a while. It was my first real hit besides getting tickled, which I figure officially makes me a “Sparky”.
Yesterday, Jamie’s parents took us at their own expense to Mackinac island. It’s a place with lots of history and peculiar in its ban of vehicles. That’s right, the majority of travel on the island is done by bikes and horse drawn carriages. It has many beautiful homes including the governors summer mansion and a historical fort the British built during the revolution.
Thanks to our parents’ generosity, we were able to experience a catamaran ferry ride, a horse drawn carriage tour topped with ice cream! Jamie and I even rode a tandem bike and, along with Jessica, we rode the eight miles around the island. I couldn’t help slipping into the cool, clear water half way around the island which made for some strange looks as I rode into the downtown section in my dripping underwear! Back in Mackinaw City, we had to have a family supper of delicious Pasties before heading home to sleep.
My plan to make a daily documentation of this vacation has not worked out so well and was quickly discarded after arriving at family camp. One thing was that I was so busy, I didn’t have much time and two, what we were doing didn’t seem so exciting in the explaining. We played lots of great volleyball games, some cards, several family meals and events, lots of good discussion, a variety show, lots of carb ingestion and I built a raft with my brothers. I guess I don’t have quite the energy or skills that my brother Stevish has, so I left the storytelling up to him.
One clear message throughout the week of “Family Camp” for me went beyond fun and games. In all the fun was fellowship. Good, old fashioned Christian love and unity. In the unity was a clear picture of God’s gracious blessing and faithfulness. All of my grandparents’ family (including a brother), which brought us to 52 people not only were able to make it to Family Camp, but they all profess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour! God is good and we were overwhelmed by the reality of His goodness as we spent time together and worshiped Him.
I am now in Michigan with Jamie’s parents and sister who was able to attend Family Camp with us. I have just finished the book my Dad gave me, an autobiography by Chinese Christian Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway, The Heavenly Man. In this book, I also saw the goodness of Jesus and His mercy even though Brother Yun and many other Christians experienced intense suffering and persecution. He teaches hard and important lessons of suffering, discipline and Biblical study as a part of the Christian life which has convicted and encouraged me. Yun describes his struggles, temptations and even disobedience showing even more that Jesus is gracious and loving in using us as His vessels.
Praise God!
This was drivig day to get the parents, two brothers, Jamie and I to the hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. We have set up a base of operations to rendevous with Stephen and Jessica. Yes, that means eight people in one room! Tomorrow, it’s hotel breakfast and on to Roach, MO to begin “Family Camp”.
On the way, we listened to Terminal Man, by: Michael Crichton. It was a annoyingly predictable book that did produce some interesting thought patterns. The ending certainly left plenty to be desired, but it was an enjoyable book.
Here’s a quick update on what has been going on in my life and why I haven’t written here:
During all that, I was trying to get settled in a new house (still ongoing), read three of the Dune books and did homework while it lasted. Needless to say, I have had very brief spurts of internet usage and I still have no internet service at home which tends to put a damper on things.
Life is busy and life is good! More later, if I have time….
Jamie and I attended a rush loan appointment with People’s Mortgage today. Justen, the loan officer has been working hard for us since we first started looking for a home and we’re happy that we may be giving him business after all. We found out from him yesterday that after talking with his underwriters, he has approved us for an FHA loan with CHFA. This means a lower interest rate (probably 5.625%) and less closing costs! Evidently, Richmond has also agreed to pay the $3,000 incentive if People’s can get us into an FHA loan. People’s closing costs are less, meaning even more savings. We can see God’s hand of blessing in this apparent loan mess!
Background: We decided to try Richmond’s lender because it was the only way to get their incentive. Right away I was not comfortable with our loan officer there, but decided to see it through. Two loans that would be “no problem” to get approved on have been denied and we’re now past our closing date. I must say that Richmond has been great in working with us over all and our loan officer there really did work hard. We are excited to have this great opportunity with People’s, though and are hoping it will pan out.
Because our loan fell through, we’re now renting a beautiful place with great potential. It will take some work to “make it home”, but I think we can manage. It’s quite a tight fit, though. Hard to find a place to relax in 70 square feet and besides lights, we have no electricity.
We decided that it would be better to let our stuff reside in our storage unit while we seek asylum elsewhere…like our parents’ home. Thankfully we have a place to go, but we really want to either get into the house we’ve been “buying” or move on to something else. It’s hard to be in limbo.
Our pastor gave a good sermon today, Understanding The Season. It got me thinking that we’re probably in a “sowing season”. We’re spreading lots of seeds, but only the harvest will show us which seeds bore fruit. I’m glad we had that word today and feel good about the “season” we’re in. Not the most comfortable or exciting, but with the breath of God it should produce great results.
We just found out that our “approved” loan has been denied on this, the night before our closing. How that happens, I don’t know, but the why is apparently because we were doing our DTS, not working. The broker Home American Mortgage was working with required two years of steady work for the loan in question.
There are still some options to get into this house, but they probably won’t be as good and they definitely won’t be done tomorrow. Unfortunately, we already broke our lease on our apartment and are supposed to be out on the 18th. It looks like we’ll be moving back to the parents’ house for a bit.
I believe God has a plan in all this and I believe it’s a good one. I just have no idea what it is. We’re open to anything, but the disappointment is certainly there. I guess it wasn’t exciting enough.
I just found out that it is possible to create multiple “Permalink Structures” in WordPress! This is great if you want to change the structure (i.e. /2005/05/10/multiple-permalink-structures.html), but already have people linking to your articles using the old structure (i.e. /archives/2005/05/10/129/). It’s also good if you have an existing site with a certain structure you want to match as well as making a new custom structure. Here’s how I did it:
(more…)
www.TheNakedGreen.com © 2023