Wow, has it really been 3 months since my last post? I guess I’ve been busy.
Where to begin?
School. I have decided to tap the brakes on my MS Accounting degree – at least for a little while. It’s just too much for Jenny and the kids to bear at the moment. Going to finish out the semester but take a break from the Fall semester. It will still be here when i’m ready to come back.
Health is still going to plan. Trying to maintain a nice, even BMI /weight range for now. Of course, my mom now thinks I’ve lost too much weight and looking unhealthy.
Work. Been extremely busy, but I’ve been given lots of opportunities to participate in some pretty important meetings, analytics, and projects. I feel like I’ve built a good working relationship with my team, my boss, and partners across other lines of business. I’m also hoping to have some good news to report in a few days or so.
Church. 2 of the 3 elders have left in the last month for various reasons, though a lot of it ‘feels‘ like there’s been some bad blood. As a result, there’s a lot of turmoil and uncertainty right now. A couple dear families have also left. My family and I are daily seeking God’s direction. There have been a few good things to come out of all the chaos. But i’m praying that God will make His will known to me so that I can lead my family.
Repairs. Our house is about 7 yrs old. We have 2, original A.C. units – one for each floor. Well, the larger, downstairs unit died a couple weeks ago. Thankfully, it’s been raining, and we’ve had a relatively mild TX summer ever since. But the one unit can’t keep the whole house cool when it’s 110 outside.
I had 4 companies come out to give me their sales pitches. And for those of you who have never been shopping for AC, it’s a nightmare. Imagine inviting a bunch of used car salesmen into your home to spout off a bunch of confusing, technical sounding jargon and trying to convince you that everyone else out there in their industry is crooked and thieves, but THEY are going to be honest and trustworthy. And you know there’s no uniformity of quality / service because prices range all over the map. I got quotes as low as $6000 and and as high as $12,000.
Seriously?!?
And of course, they’re counting on the fact that you can’t tell one from another so, if you don’t do your research and comparison shop, you will surely get taken.
Anyway, one older gentleman came to the house that sounded legit, his prices were very reasonable, and I felt like I could trust him. Most likely going to hire him in the next few days, but that’s a big chunk of change that I wasn’t planning on spending this summer. The upside is that his prices were reasonable enough that I’m considering replacing both units – instead of waiting for the other one to die as well. We’ll see.
Politics/News. Don’t want to spend too much time here other than to say that I’m not looking forward to the ramp up for the Presidential race. Can’t stand either candidate and I hate having to explain to my friends and family that Romney is just as bad, if not worse in some cases, as Obama.
Does anyone else think the Olympics is a major non-event this time around? Seriously, I haven’t paid attention to anything Olympics related. No clue what’s going on, though I’ll admit I didn’t really pay much attention to it in previous years either.
Looking forward to our family summer vacation in less than a month. Driving to Williamsburg, VA and meeting my parents there. Kids are looking forward to just spending time around the pool for the most part, but we’re also planning on hitting some of the historical sites. Jenny’s been making up kids’ colonial costumes to wear in the historic districts. I’m looking forward to it because it will mark the end of the summer semester, the end of a major forecast cycle at work, and just completely relaxing for a week.
txfatherofseven 
I am so glad that you are taking a break on the schooling thing – once again, you prove your commitment to what is best for your entire family and God will bless you for that, I am certain.
Will keep you in prayer regarding the changes in your church fellowship. Been there, done that and survived with God’s help. Again, I am certain y’all will do the same.
Regarding the a/c thing — wish you were not so far away, as we have DEAR friends in Huntsville who own an a/c and heating business. Trustworthy beyond reproach and dedicated Christ-followers (they led a bi-weekly home fellowship in our living room for over a year when we attended the same church while we lived up there when Jami was a baby), I will pray that whomever you end up doing business with has the same commitment to integrity and service.
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Thanks, Laura. Wish your friends were up this way as well. If I’m spending that kind if money, i would much rather give it to someone i could trust.
As for our family, we will survive even these trials. My greatest concern now is meeting my children’s spiritual needs. I’ve always said that teaching our faith was not the church’s responsibility but our own. I do, however, want them to build friendships and have good memories about their church family when they look back on their childhoods.
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Hi Tim! Good to hear from you again! Sounds like your life is quite full right now–no wonder you haven’t been blogging much. I haven’t written much in a while either, for much the same reason. So much going on–where to start?
I can relate to your church situation. We had been growing apart from our church family of 12 years for some time, and at this point we’re pretty much “free agents”, which feels weird. We meet with a couple of small groups, one somewhat regularly, and just have fellowship with believing friends where we can find it. We just don’t fit into the traditional church anymore, so we have to go where the Father leads us.
I’m pretty much in the same boat talking politics or government with anyone. Nobody really gets it. I live for our liberty discussion group where I can vent! Tom still has his radio show on Tuesday nights at 10:00. You should listen in sometime and say hi to me in the chat room. I’m sure you’d enjoy it. I also had a jury duty experience you’d probably find amusing, so I’ll have to get around to a blog post to update soon.
I can’t relate to your ac troubles, but I feel for you! Although we just had to replace a septic system, so I guess I can relate to unexpected expenditures! We have a little borrowed ac unit that we use on the occasional hot day, but most of the time open windows do the job up here in the northwoods. I can’t imagine 110 degrees, yikes!
Enjoy the rest of your summer with your family! I’m sure they are glad you’re making it a priority to spend time with them.
Thanks for updating!
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Thanks, Tanya. We’re just praying for healing and direction.
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