The Scoop

We believe the Lord is leading us to move to Santa Cruz on March 1. That means we have to give notice within the coming week, so please pray for us this week!

Colin feels called to be a part of the ministry of Vintage Faith/First Pres. church. I don't feel called to a particular church at the moment, but I am passionate about the theology and mission of both churches and my heart goes out to them in this time of transition (the two churches just merged into one). So I can totally stand behind Colin's sense of call and I am excited about being there! (My personal sense of call is also to Santa Cruz, but not to a particular church. I feel a need to go deeper with people who do not call themselves Christians and ... I don't know. Just build relationships and hear other perspectives, I guess.)

We also feel led to switch places, with me working full time outside the home and him being a stay-at-home dad as well as doing his music ministry. I don't have a job lined up yet. I am still applying for jobs, and I registered with a few temp. agencies. The temp. agencies all say that they will likely be able to find work for me, but can't complete their screening process until I am actually a local resident.

Becoming a local resident without proof of employment is not easy! Managers don't want to sign you to a lease if you can't prove that you will be paying the rent. If we had 3-6 months' expenses in savings like we should, that would not be a problem, but we have more like one month's expenses and that's just enough to hit the ground running.

So that is the catch 22 -- we are praying and working on it as the Lord leads (and by the way, I do believe God works through people too, so if you have any suggestions, please feel free to make them! Maybe your idea is exactly what we were meant to do and it just needs to be said ...). If He really wants us down there by March 1, He will make it happen!

I Feel Good!

I just walked 2 miles on a treadmill going 4-4.5 mph the whole time -- in socks, jeans, and a polyester shirt -- and I barely broke a sweat! I had to really work to keep my heart rate up in the target range. Yay me! Of course, now my feet are killing me ... "Why socks?" you may ask.

Well, I had been basically on my own with the kids for like two days straight while Colin was working, so he came home from work on Saturday, handed me a Starbucks gift card, and said, "Why don't you go out tonight after dinner, and I'll put the kids to bed?"

Woohoo! This is why I love my husband! So I went to Starbucks and enjoyed my first ever Chai Latte -- oh my gosh! It has got to be the yummiest thing I have ever tasted! Good thing I'm poor, or I would be developing a habit fast! I sipped my latte and read until they closed at 8pm, then I walked back over to our building and stopped on the second floor to use the restroom. The restroom just happens to be across from the exercise room, so instead of heading down to the car to sit and finish my book, I wandered into the exercise room.

I was wearing boots, which aren't the best for walking in, so I took them off ... hence the socks. I worked with the weights a little while too, and found that I can do pec flyes and bench press more weight (and more reps) now than I could in college (when I was doing 3 types of dance and karate)! Dang -- I guess chasing after small children keeps you in good shape!