What's Up With Us
I've received some email from folks asking for clarification on what's up in my household these days, so I figured now's a good time to bring you up to date.
The law firm where Gary worked for more than ten years as an office manager laid him off (along with a bunch of other folks) on leap-year day. So for the past five weeks he's been home. We had some advance notice (mid-December), so he had a couple months to make tons of contacts. But firms in Dallas seem scared to hire anybody because they fear the economy is about to fail (even though Dallas is in good shape). Since March 1, he has had zero calls, either from businesses or temp agencies, requesting more info.
We can't say we mind terribly, though. He has painted the entry way and the dining room, torn down wall paper in the breakfast nook and primed the walls there. Oh, and done the taxes. And now he's getting ready to finish that nook. Also, you may recall that I left huge burn marks on the kitchen floor. (Oops.) So we plan to replace the floor, too. We had some Christmas money from my folks earmarked for home improvements, so we're making good use of it. Gary's seriously considering one business prospect, but I'll wait until we know more to fill you in.
For the time being, the house is getting some attention. And he's handling carpool and grocery runs and organizing my office. He's also been clearing the garage of unused antiques/pottery via eBay. So suffice it to say I think he's found his dream job--except for the income part.
My prof/editing job got bumped up to thirty hours' week, so we have health insurance covered. I head to Florida to do a writer's track at a conference this weekend and then to Portland for a week in May. After that I teach Creative Writing daily for three weeks at DTS.
In my freelance life, I have a couple of book deals awaiting contracts, with a possible third that I'll be flying to Calgary to pursue in a couple of weeks (assuming all goes as planned). So it looks like our needs are and will be met, for which we're grateful.
On Saturday our friend and my former co-author, Bill Cutrer, flew in for the day from Kentucky to do the service for Minnie Pearl. We had glorious weather. And our friend Carlos (the voice of Charles Swindoll in Latin America), who lost his mom in Culiacan on Easter, joined us all for a group hug and amazing stories of God's comfort.
Bill started his message with Ecclesiastes 7:2, "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart." And in the house of mourning recently, I've been reminded of and reflected on the fact that the unthanked, unknown caretakers (like my friend Virginia) have a special place in God's heart. As Jesus said, "Anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward." Indeed, the way up is down.