Highlights of the Week:

1. Received two excellent grades for the two digests I had to write for class
2. Had a snow day on Monday. Giselle crawled in it, took a face-plant, and came up laughing. She was really cute.
3. Spending quality time with Amanda and Giselle has been great! I wouldn’t exchange it for anything in the world.
4. The Well had a beautiful Lenten service on Thursday. Amanda, Giselle (only kid there), and I went. It was a time of personal repentance, communal repentance, and taking part in communion together. Giselle slept through most of it since it was past her bedtime (she’s not as spiritual as us…haha).
5. We had dinner over the weekend with our friends Caite and Eric Rivera. They are expecting a child in August. Amanda’s known Caite forever, and Eric’s a pretty swell fella, too.
6. My mom was diagnosed with cancer in August. It was a recurrence of breast cancer. She had a PetCT scan on Friday, and, on Tuesday, it came back with awesome results! Some of the cancer spots aren’t there any more, and what is left has decreased in 1/2. So, this is great news! She’ll continue treatments until all of it is gone. Please continue to pray for her.

Books I’m Reading:

I’m having a book face-off right now between:

(a) The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier by Tony Jones and (b) Why We’re Not Emergent: by Two Guys Who Should Be by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. I like Tony’s book (though Tony and I don’t always agree). I think he explains the emergent movement well, as I understand it to be, and he clears up a lot of misunderstanding that comes from the “outside.” DeYoung and Kluck make some valid points, and I do believe they did their research. Most times, when I read things that are against the emergent movement, I find them poorly researched and (if not always) mean-spirited and cynical. The authors did their research, and they are pretty kind…for about 25 pages. But I will keep reading along. I’d like to know what others think about the movement.

Put It on Repeat (what I’ve been listening to): I haven’t been listening to much music since my cassette-insert for my iPod broke. I bought a new (but cheap) one, and it sucked. My car’s cassette player kept rejecting it. So, I bought a more expensive one. I tried it for about 5 minutes, and it seems to be working fine.

Job update:

Here’s where a part that’s not so interesting becomes very interesting. On Thursday, I received an offer from the temp agency for a position at Wells Fargo. The location was in Chester. I had my reservations, and, since I felt slightly pressured to make a decision immediately (probably because they said, “We need an answer by the end of today”), I took it and was scheduled to start (that) Monday. On Friday, I told Calvary I had accepted the job, and Friday was my last day. They were cool with it.

Well, over the weekend, I attended my parents’ church because my dad was sharing how he has handled financial decisions in the past. He may have encouraged budgeting, but I can’t remember. But, whatever it was, Amanda wanted to re-do our budget that would include my new job.

So, that evening, we sat down to do it. We wanted to move out of Amanda’s parents’ home (where we live now) so we needed to see what we could afford. We did the math and came out $33 in the red (…not good). Here’s what we determined:

• Wells Fargo: x amount of dollars (multiplied by) 40 hours per week (minus) daycare for Giselle (minus) transportation costs (minus) more taxes = $40 profit (!!!) from what I was making at Calvary.

I also found out that I would have to take the train for about 4 hours a day plus working for 9 hours would add up to be 13 hours every day. So, the $40 profit combined with the stress on my family is simply not worth it. Thus, I called and emailed the temp agency, apologized multiple times, they responded not so nicely (somewhat understandably), and we parted ways. Also, emailed Wells Fargo, and they were much nicer and understood thoroughly.

Needless to say, I called Calvary, and I resumed working there on Tuesday (because of the snow day on Monday). I guess what made the decision to go back to Calvary the easiest was when my dad talked about enjoying the “precious moments” in life on Sunday. My grandpop died in 2004, and my dad said, “I always think: How much would I give just to spend one hour with him now?” So, yes, the Wells Fargo position is full-time, and, yes, I have a better chance at keeping the position after the temp position runs out, and, yes, I would be making (a little bit) more money. But what about the toll it would take on my family knowing that I would be gone 13 hours a day and not reaping many benefits from it? So, that was a huge part of my decision not to take the position.

I have another job interview for a non-profit company coming up next Friday so keep me in prayer. I’ve been also communicating with two churches now about youth pastor positions. So, something will work out soon.

Seminary update: No class this week.

How I’m doing with Lent: I’m not doing so hot with the one-visit-for-up-to-one-hour-on-the-internet limitation. I’ve failed multiple times since I’ve been using email to corresponding with potential job opportunities. But I’ve kept up with the fast. That’s good. Amanda and I are enjoying working through Lent together. I have yet to crack Matthew so failing big-time there. I’ll get on it. Trust me.

Looking forward to:

1. Continuing Lent
2. My other job interview on March 13
3. Getting a job that fits my needs, as well as my family’s needs
4. Giselle is to be dedicated on April 5^th
5. Her first birthday is coming up on April 21^st
6. Going to Toronto with Tim in March, speaking at a youth retreat in April, and going on a seminary retreat in May. Should be some good times.