Sliding Down the Razor Blade of Life...Yet Another Move

Not sure where I heard that, but it somehow seems to fit. Our life was all about waiting, moving, sliding (being pushed), and then ... stepping out in faith. Faith involves risk if it is real, and is expressed in action. Dow used to say, "Risk is the basis for increase," and we continued to live it.

Our time in Lexington was coming to an end—we were being sliced and diced into another part of God’s family down south. Y'all come! After my graduation from UK, Bill and I probed for jobs in the Pensacola-Mobile Bay area, where we knew God wanted us next. Bill wanted to continue his masters work with Dow and have more contact with Sebastian and Lupe. While Dow and Lois now lived in Pensacola, and Dow had been having heart problems, there was a great church we liked in Mobile, 1 and 1/2 hours away. So we knew we were going -- just not sure which place yet. So we went ahead and sold our house.

Wait, no jobs or house, here or there? Right ...

And we waited. I wrote, “It feels like we’re floating and don’t know where we’ll land. We’re both jobless, with house sold, and nowhere exactly to go.”  My prayer was, “We are not moving for our careers, but because you, Lord, have put this into our hearts as part of Your plan. Thank You for all your ways.”

And so we waited. We packed up and I spent time with some of the kids I’d taught—Christy Meadows had a piano recital, Anna was in a choir performance. In between I was writing some articles for publication—things I’d learned in my dissertation. Plus we spent time with those we had journeyed with for over a decade, Mary Fleming and Li Pi Su. And my weekly prayer partners Catherine and Judy were going to be much missed, though they have continued to be prayer partners for all the decades until now. I can still count on them, and Him, for prayer support. Meanwhile Father was doing some deep surgery, cutting and slicing out how I harbor expectations that only disappoint.

And so we waited. Following this very low place, yielding to Father all the unknowns, I received a call from the University of Alabama, with a position just opening that I could apply for. This was promising. Then before closing on our Lexignton house, the house inspection found termites! And so we waited. Two sets of friends prayed separately for us and said the same thing—that the setting had not yet been fully prepared for us and we may yet be surprised.

And so we waited. But what happened next was surprising—three universities wanted to interview me! So I drove down with my niece Anna and spent a week interviewing, one time in Pensacola and two times in Mobile. Even though Dow and Lois were in Pensacola, I sensed that Mobile was our next destination.

And so we waited.  On our return, I wrote that, “Bill and I had lunch with Paul and Rebecca (Petrie) at Dudley’s restaurant. It was a good time and faith building.“  They shared their journey with life's unpredictabilities and God's serendipities, and always God’s faithfulness.

And so we waited. On August 1 we set our moving date for August 12, regardless of jobs and houses, still unsure where. Then Bill got a potential job offer with the consulting firm CDSI in Pascagoula, Mississippi, 45 minutes from Mobile. That's the same CDSI he worked for in Lexington.

And so we waited. “I wrote, "If no jobs open, we will have to use the seed money from the house sale, our savings, to live on. It’s a scary thought ... but we know that God has given us the initiative to take this direction.” So we began a fast to ask God to release the help needed.

And so we waited until things started bursting open. Bill was offered the position with CDSI. It was at half his present salary..... and he gladly accepted it.  This meant we would have at least one job, with one small income.  Four days later, the University of South Alabama called and asked "if I’d like to be part of the team there.” I said yes! The pic below is of my office door waiting, and my true love too, and me acting as the crazy professor.

And so the waiting for this part of the journey was over, or so we thought. We rented a moving truck and packed up all our earthly belongings and said good by to those who were life long friends. You know who you are. We arrived with a bang or rather a bump. We were planning to stay with friends Steve and Sherry Rannells in Mobile while we looked for housing. Bill, exhausted from the trip, drove the giant moving truck into their driveway, through the gate to their yard, and promptly ripped the gate and fence off its moorings.  We felt horrible, and of course planned to pay for it to be fixed. Glad we don't have a picture of that one! What a grand entrance! And what a good reason to buy the extra insurance from the van company: they paid for everything.

And so we waited—oh, wait, you thought the waiting was over? Well, finding a house on the spur of the moment, with a large moving truck waiting, is not easily done wherever you live. This was in Mobile where, at the time, there was very little rental property. We considered an available house even though it was on a main street. Then, when we saw the bullet hole in the front window, we decided to keep looking. At just the right moment we went into a rental agency and a perfect house had just that moment become available. It was off the beaten path and the landlady lived next door. We took it. But, it wouldn’t be available for a week.

And so we waited. But when we found out it would cost $600 to keep the packed truck til the house was available, we moved everything into our landlady’s barn and lived out of suitcases. Fun. Not.

Meanwhile, we both began working. The next week we got moved into our rental place on Walter Smith Road in Mobile. We had much help from our new friends there. Plus as I wrote in my journal,  "To have Jenny here during  the transition was a gift. I don't know what I'd have done without her. She is a joy to my heart." As it turned out, Jenny had banked enough credit hours at college and needed money so she took off the fall semester of her senior year and worked for Integrity Music as a receptionist and a fill-in "gopher." She returned to Covenant College for the spring semester with extra scholarship money as well, to complete her senior year.

Jonathan was with us for some of this moving time, and then returned to Oklahoma. And my true love kept my heart focused. Many more adventures were to come, but this sums up the moving events and how good God was to provide all we needed in Christ Jesus.