Let wonder replace worry

Moving

Moving, moving, moving, moving.

All worked out

I just heard that Country Wide is going to do our loan.  The best part of the whole thing is that class we went to is not required after all.  Oh well, we are going to close by the end of the month and I'll be living in the condo at the first of Feb.  I am excited.

Tall Timber Work Weekend

I took my youth group over to Tall Timber last November for a weekend.  We worked on helping them get the camp ready for winter by moving the snow skiies into the lodge, delivering firewood to all of the cabins, cutting out a trail up the sledding hill, and hiking out into the woods to chop down a Christmas tree for the lodge.  We had a great time together as a youth group and Saturday night we had an amazing time of worship.  I got this note in the mail today from Tall Timber:

Dear Whidbey Presbyterian Youth,

I apologize for this long overdue Thank You note. Sometimes we overlook the most important things in our lives.

I just want to let you know that each and every one of you; Ryan, Jennifer, John, Margaret, Kery, Cameron, Ashley, Mike, Katie, Youth Pastor Justin, and his helpers Becky and Pat are some of the most important people that God has bless Tall Timber with.

All of your hard work done here is so much appreciated. We all thank you so very much.

We also enjoy your kind spirits and just your overall presence here.

God bless each and every one of you,

                Tall Timber Staff:

                     Chris & Del

                     Stan & Becky

What a great job I have.

Shopping

Went to Bells Square today and found the coolest blazer.  It was about $425 and I got it during a sale and paid just over $100 for it.  Good deal.  Nicole and I had dinner at the CheeseCake factory.  It was really good.  Back to work tomorrow.

Shibboleth

This morning I was reading my bible and was looking for a certain story in Judges.  I came across the Shibboleth story in chapter 12.  I read it and continued on to the story I was looking for.  Tonight on "The West Wing" (possibly my favorite show on television) there was a great reference to this passage.  The episode is actually named Shibboleth.  Watch this show from the second season if you ever have a chance, it is good.  I am going to use this story in youth group sometime soon.  When I realized what the show was about, I was thinking, I just read this, today.  Pretty wild.

In case you have no idea what a shibboleth is, here is a quick version.  A shibboleth is a kind of linguistic password: A way of speaking (a pronunciation, or the use of a particular expression) that identifies one as a member of an 'in' group. The purpose of a shibboleth is exclusionary as much as inclusionary: A person whose way of speaking violates a shibboleth is identified as an outsider and thereby excluded by the group.

In the story, two Semitic tribes, the Ephraimites and the Gileadites, have a great battle. The Gileadites defeat the Ephraimites, and set up a blockade to catch the fleeing Ephraimites. The sentries asked each person to say the word shibboleth. The Ephraimites, who had no sh sound in their language, pronounced the word with an s and were thereby unmasked as the enemy and slaughtered.  If someone were to look at your life at by what they saw, ask you to say "Shibboleth" would your fruit pronounce it correctly? 

Snow

It snowed tonight.  Not just a little, it snowed hard for about 4 hours or or.  Nicole and I went to Mi Puelbo, which over looks the ocean and had dinner and drinks with the snow falling hard just outside the window.  It was nice.  I am sure it will all be gone in the morning.  I am sure that it will have an impact on our numbers at church tomorrow.  Oh well, what can you do?

Sad day

A young girl has been missong for a couple of months.  Her body was found late last night.  I am going to be at the High School all day.

What's going on???

Just got a call from Wells Fargo and they are not going to do the loan.  There are not enough owners living in the complex.  Did no one think this was important information to find out before we got this far.  I have a meeting at Countrywide.  I am not giving up that easily.

Tomorrow

We are closing on the condo tomorrow.  I'll be moving this weekend.  I'm excited.

Home Buyers Education

Nicole and I had to go to this class today on buying a home in order to qualify for the the mortgage.  I found the class interesting and informative, poor Nicole was about to fall out of her chair.  I had to wake her up a couple of times.  The presenters of course made a pitch that as a free benefit of the class, we get to have consultations with them.  So here a real estate agent and a mortgage rep are giving us free consultations.  The ironic thing is that one of the first things they covered was that you should never pay either of these up front if you are buying a home.  Crazy.