In the Past Week

Last Friday, Jesse and I drove up to Newberg to visit my brother David, and my friends Jenny and Sam, who are all attending George Fox University. After touring the campus and visiting a bit, I went back to the hotel while Jesse hung out with the guys. My cousin, Ben, was just getting off of work in Eugene around 11:30 and planned on taking the 2 hour journey to Newberg, arriving in the little town close to 2:00am. At this point the guys were gonna visit the "Man Hole". Having never seen this place, I can't really tell you exactly what it is, and, being a woman, I'd probably never go, but the way it's been described to me is being a drainage system just under the highway in which you can slide down into a little pool. I've been assured it's not a sewer system, though. Well, at about 3:00am, David walks into my hotel room and tells me I need to get up and get dressed. We need to go to the hospital. Apparently, each guy slid down once and on Jesse's turn, he turned his foot in a way that scraped his ankle against, most likely, a rock. This cut Jesse's ankle open, right on the bone, and it was clear he needed stitches. So we loaded up and met at the local Emergency Room as Jesse got sutured up. This is, of course, not how any of us wanted to end the night. However, what made it the most frustrating is the fact that Jesse's insurance has not kicked in and we had no idea what this hospital visit was going to cost us. We all tried to keep positive attitudes and made light of the situation. I knew that it was necessary for this to be done. Therefore, my response was just to trust that God was going to provide and not worry about it. Now, 4 days later, Jesse is healing very well with almost no pain at all. We're hoping to have my aunt, who's a nurse, remove the stitches saving us another hospital visit. He won't have them removed for another week and 1/2, though, to ensure healing.

After getting back into town and back to work the following Monday, I had a job interview concerning a new position available at my work. As of right now, I work at the Teen Center which is an after-school program for middle-schoolers. They drop in whenever they want and have games and activities. We provide snack and help them with their homework and I simply supervise them until it's time to go home. The new position would make me Site Coordinator over the after-school program at the school itself. Here, the kids devote themselves to staying after school and working on their homework with assistance and attending classes such as jewelry making or dance. I'd be organizing and scheduling the classes that the kids would be attending, and I'd be overseeing the teaching of those classes, making sure everything is running smoothly. It'd be a $3 an hour raise and I'd be working at least 4 more hours a week (when you only work 15 hours a week, that's a big deal). Well, I felt God pulling at me to apply for this job. I know that I am more than qualified to do it and it'd provide opportunity for some nice changes. I had the interview on Monday with my current boss. I didn't feel that the interview really showed my ability to lead the program, but I hoped my reputation with my boss and my application would shine. I had no clue, though, the type of competition I may be against and wasn't sure how I'd stand up. Well, today, 2 days later, I was informed by my boss that I did not receive the position. I have quite mixed feelings about it, mainly because I don't know what kept me from getting it. However, I know that I prayed as I went to apply and as I did my interview, and I'm trusting that God shut the door for a reason. Obviously He has something else in mind, either a different position or I'm supposed to stay where I am. My boss, however, does want to meet with me in the next couple of weeks and discuss how I could move up in the company and says she does see that happening. Perhaps, God will give me direction through that. Meanwhile, it allowed me the opportunity to witness to my boss simply telling her of my faith in God to lead me where He wants me to go. Perhaps, that's what it was all about. I don't know. As of right now, though, I feel like God is taking me through a time of change and preparing me to step into the ministry He has for me, but I have no idea what it looks like or how to get there. So for now, I'm waiting on direction.

As for Jesse and me together, we're finally settling into our routine again after a stressful week last week. Jesse had a lot of demanding orders with his job and was working overtime to compensate for it. I was pulled between school and work and all sorts of family obligations. That left both of us exhausted once we got home. And we'd been going out of town nearly every weekend for the past month. So this week, we are enjoying the relaxation and highly anticipating the upcoming weekend...