A Season of Thanksgiving.

Well, we’re just finished a busy year. We celebrated my mother’s 80^th birthday and Thanksgiving in the same week. It’s been like that this year. Time really does fly when you’re not paying attention.

TJ and some of her friends made a thanksgiving feast at our house while the rest of the fam celebrated at Jack & Annie’s. That was interesting. Then we came home and watched Transformers II with her friends. I forgot how strange that movie was. TJ’s still looking for work, and that can be a little discouraging.

Corrie is a married woman, and is back in Germany. She & I are trying to negotiate some complicated German paperwork to get some financial aid for her & her husband Dani. He’s studying engineering; she’s studying architecture, and they’re both running pretty hard. Corrie isn’t getting nearly as much “alone time” as she has been used to; I’m concerned that that’s wearing her out. And she’s fighting a bug that’s hanging on. And of course, there are one or two adjustments that come with a new marriage.

Sue preached (well, “shared”) at church last week. Was an out-of-the-ballpark hit, and folks have been asking for some of her notes and her declarations to use themselves. I teach every so often at the RT School of Supernatural Living. It always stretches me, but I really enjoy it. We both like making a difference in people’s lives, I guess.

Sue’s also looking for work. Her old job (as a “temp” for 5 years) has been posted, and she obviously has an inside track toward that, but it’s certainly not a guarantee. Still looking. Still looking. We’re thankful for her unemployment check. We’re tight, but surviving. Everybody’s making homemade gifts this Christmas. That’s actually kind of fun, though it seems to be working better for TJ & Sue than for me.

My work is challenging. Fewer people, more to do, less compensation for it. I really love my job (I see myself as a contracted Tech Director for ten thousand churches. I’m glad I don’t have to go to all those staff meetings!), but I’m getting a little frazzled. On the other hand, I have a job. That’s good. I like my job. That’s even better. I’m not complaining.

We've been working on the skylight still. We're very happy that it isn't leaking even a little bit! Another place in the roof has been though. It's been raining like crazy over here, but I think we got that fixed. We’ll see next rainstorm.

We finally had the bright idea to get help from Rex Roney to help with the floor where the fireplace once stood. That man is amazing. Once that is done, we'll get a beam up to hold things (like the ceiling) where they ought to be. My dad says that the ceiling is engineered to be self supporting, so it shouldn't be too big a load. Then we can finish out the space and take down the plastic. I have learned that I’m not real fond of sheet rock mud in weird angles and oddly textured places. Sigh.

Sue’s mom is still amazing us. She’s ninety something and still at home, and pretty much alone. She does get a hot meal from Meals on Wheels every day, and that’s probably making the difference. It’s a little ironic that one of the people that she relies on the most is Dave’s mom.

It’s been a good season. But I probably ought to acknowledge that these things bring lots of pressures: individual stress, interpersonal challenges, new obstacles. Great fun, yes?

And there’s lots to pray for, if you feel so inclined. Thanks for caring!

March 2009

So we haven’t posted any updates here for a while; we’ve been trying to stay in touch with folks via Facebook (find me by searching for admclain@gmail.com; find Sue in my Friends list). But updates on this blog are helpful as well; I always admire my daughter’s faithfulness in writing her newsletters. Apologies for the silence.

So what’s going on? Here’s the short version:

• Corrie is still in Germany (sigh), is learning lots (yay), and is dating a young German man named Daniel (mixed emotions here, but I think “yay!”).
• Josiah is still in college, of course.
• TJ is still at home. She divides her time between her craftwork (very cool), volunteering at the Library (cool), looking for work (yay) and being bored (yay). We really enjoy living with her.
• Sue is still working ¾ time for the Department of Revenue (yay). She has applied for a full-time and permanent position, and then they hit the latest hiring freeze.
• I (David) am still working at CCI (yay), where we’re working extra hard because of our lovely economy; I’m teaching more (love it) at Revival Town.
• We have a wonderful new cat named Mia who rules us with grace and humor.

We’ve been fighting a flu bug this winter, far more than any other year; all of us have missed work with it, Sue & I more than the kids. We really aren’t pleased with this! Sue, TJ & I are working our way out of the most recent round.

We inherited a car from Sue’s brother-in-law a year and a half ago; we think we might be able to actually take possession of it in the next few months. Talk about a lesson in patience.

Speaking of patience, we’re finding ourselves in a season of Proverbs 3:5&6 (outlined here), focusing on the phrase, “Do not lean on your own understanding.” I’m being confronted with how much I have trusted my experience and knowledge of how God does stuff (eg “my own understanding”), and how different that is from actually trusting Him. Quite the adventure.

Along those lines, Sue & I are finding ourselves more challenged in our “moving forward” this year. I’m hoping that Sue’s leading of a “worship and testimony” night at church recently (which was wonderful!) will prove to be the start of a new trend; she has a real gift in leading worship. I mentioned I’m teaching more, and that will no doubt continue while our church’s team leader is on sabbatical.

In addition, I’m planning a “home group training workshop” for later this spring. It will be for leaders, proto-leaders, hopeful leaders, and non-leaders, and I’m looking forward to it with some trembling. Talk about “leaning not on my own understanding!

Sue’s mom is still going strong. She’s still 93, she’s still living at home, mostly on her own (I helped her interview a new once-a-week caregiver this weekend.), and she still has strong opinions. Her world is getting smaller, but I expect her to hit 100 years old, which is another “yay!”

Blessings y’all!