Thinking, thinking, thinking

Current post disclaimer:
Usually my posts are filled with pictures, stories, and hopefully some giggles. This one will be boring for those of you eager for a story fix. This is just me blabbing about our lives. Ok, now I can begin!

Lately we have been doing a lot of thinking. Usually we try and stay away from pointless tasks such as that, but right now we are forced to think. And yes, it hurts! You see, our lives have been undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts in the last 6 months. And that process is not quite done. Which leads us to think our way through it.

It all started a few years ago, now that I think about it (ugh, have we been going through metamorphosis for that long?). Kenny resigned as lead pastor at the church we planted. His desire was to reach out to the community. So he started a youth drop in center and it has been going strong for 3 years. Since that job didn't exactly pay (free candy doesn't pay the bills) he has been doing other jobs (2 years at Ashley Furniture and the last 6 months construction). It's been a growing time for us and also a nice break from church ministry.

That leads us to now. We know that God is going to bring us back into church ministry. For the last 2 years we have felt that way and we have opened ourselves up for that. To this day nothing has transpired on that front. So, we have come to realize that God still has us here for a reason. We know that reason is the youth center. It has taken us a while to come to that conclusion and we are finally ready to embrace this life of construction jobs, and community youth work. It may last a month, a year or more, but we are feeling pretty happy in it all.

So now that we have realized we may be sticking around this area for a while, we decided to really get settled in. You see, we have felt like we have been in limbo for years and have not settled into a house, a church, or a school for the kids. So we are in a process of settling now. The kids are all settled in their new school which is in Salmon Arm (about 15 minutes away). Kenny is about to start a new construction job and is excited to settle into that (also in Salmon Arm). We have found a church to go to and are trying to plug in there. It is a place where Kenny will be able to use his preaching and teaching giftings well (that is also in Salmon Arm). Obviously, the trend here is Salmon Arm. So, we have started looking for a house there.

Here comes all the major thinking now! We found a great house. Perfect for our family. Built in the 70's but renovated quite nicely. It is around the corner from the kids' school and backs onto a forest (perfect for little boys). However, the price is making us do major thinking. If we bought it, we would be very financially strapped. That is nothing new for us since we have lived that way most of our married lives. The question is, do we want to live that way again?

Now here comes even more thinking. I plan on working in the fall when the boys are in school full time. The question is, can I find a job where I will only have to work while the kids are in school? My priority and my calling is to my kids and my home. I have stayed at home for 9 years so that I could raise my kids and they could have the security of knowing that mommy was around. To me, my career changed the minute I had kids. Anything else I do to make money is just a job. So, what kind of job will allow me to fulfill my calling as a mom? I have a few thoughts rolling around in my mind. But do we buy the house now and live tightly until I start work in the fall? Do I try and get a job now so we aren't so tight with this house? Or do we wait until the fall when I have a job to buy a house and miss out on this great house now?

Thinking, thinking, and more thinking. Jobs, houses, finances, future plans, etc, etc. Time to stop thinking and go make some cookies!

For those of you who made it through this post, thanks for listening to my "thinking out loud". I'll keep you posted as to where our thinking takes us. But one thing is for sure, thinking would be a lot nicer on a hot beach! (I just had to put that in there)!