To pack or not to pack, that is the question!

Oh my! Where have I been for a month?! Too busy living to blog, I guess. :)

For the last year or so, we have been considering moving to the Carolinas. All the reasons we moved to TN no longer exist, and we would like to be near family. We've prayed a lot about whether we should stay put or move and feel absolutely no particular leading one way or the other.

Sometimes God leads by dropping a little scroll outta the sky giving explicit instructions, and we tend to like that, but I have learned that the times we get the little scrolls are the times when we need most assuredly to know later that regardless of what we are experiencing, God placed us there. (That being said, I really don't prefer the scroll method!)

Other times God leads by letting us use our noggins to make the wisest decision we can and then let the peace of God be the umpire in our hearts (Col 3:15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts..."), and, while this method is less dramatic, I have learned that the peace times are the times when we don't seem to need something as tangible as a little scroll to let us know God has placed us somewhere.

Well, we haven't seen any little scrolls so apparently this is to be a "peace-be-the-umpire" decision. Where's the fine line between "putting feet to our prayers" and "getting ahead of God"? So, we're moving (or more like shuffling!) in this direction, going slowly enough to change direction or stop altogether if the peace is disturbed.

After living in TN for 11 years--and never having lived in the Carolinas, it would be a big move for us, but we are excited about the possibility of being nearer to family. We know that there are other things to consider as well: church, job, finances. Wow, finding one place that answers all four of those needs is a challenge! Eventually we realized something has to give, but which one? We have literally gone in circles (yes, plural!) on this issue.

We initially thought that Ken should not quit his job, only transfer within the company so he wouldn't lose his accumulated benefits, which meant Greensboro, NC, or Charlotte NC (live over the border in SC, however). After investigating the Greensboro area online and in-person, we decided the cost of housing/living is too high. Can't really "give" on finances. In the Charlotte area, we were unable to find a suitable church solution. Can't "give" on church either. Should we give on job? We started entertaining the idea of quitting his job and starting anew in Anderson/Greenville, SC, because that area does meet family, church and financial needs--and 3 outta 4 isn't bad! (We also discovered that one of the companies offers the same or better wages he has now, and another offers almost the same paid time off benefits he has now.)

For various reasons, we knew we couldn't move until at least January 2008, so we were not overly concerned that nothing worked out before then. From January to the present, however, several medical supply warehouse and hospital receiving positions have been available, and Ken has applied for them. We've also found several houses within our price range near to those jobs, although we can't make an offer until we know where Ken will work!

The first place to which he applied (a friend referred him there) was not hiring even though the friend thought they were. The second place had 6 positions open, and Ken applied, but they have all evidently been filled with someone else because the vacancies are no longer listed on the company website, and we haven't heard a peep! The third one is another friend referral that to our knowledge has no vacancies. Ken still applied because who knows when a position might be opening! (When he applied for his current job, the Human Resources lady wondered how he knew about the position because it hadn't yet been posted! Ken said, "Early Edition!" jk) Just this week the first place announced on their website that they are hiring! So Ken just re-applied.

If you have a second, we would appreciate if you would breathe a prayer for us to have wisdom about this whole situation. At this point I think more than wanting to stay or go, we just want this process to be over! My dad used to say, "You get used to hanging if you hang long enough!" ... Then he'd pause a bit before adding, "Of course, once you're dead, the hanging doesn't bother you so much!"