Where next?

I have been reading back over my blogs and I just can't believe where I've been over the past few years. What a trip -- literally! I've been in Tennessee, Indiana, Texas, Nebraska and now Arizona. Who knows where I'll end up next. I know where I'd LIKE to be at some point, and that's Southern California. But the time is not yet for that. Instead, I'm snuggled in northwest Arizona, about 80 miles east of Las Vegas, in a small city called Kingman. I'm working for the newspaper here, and I really do like the area a lot. There are nice people, interesting stories to write, beautiful mountains all around and lots of fun places to go. I'm pretty happy here right now. I got here last April by way of a job at the newspaper, and I haven't regretted the move. I was living in northwest Indiana and got a chance to head to Memphis for a newspaper job there, but that didn't work out for me. So when I got an offer from the newspaper in Kingman, I knew this was where I was supposed to be for the time. It's a very pretty place, if you like the high desert, and the weather has been spectacular this winter. While everyone was shivering and shoveling snow back home, I have been enjoying sunny days in the 50s, 60s and even 70s range. It makes me feel so much better physically. The long Indiana winters of cold, snow and gloomy days is enough to make anyone depressed. So once I got out here, Emily and the kids decided they wanted to be here, too, and out they came! Emily is working at the newspaper with me as an editorial tech, and the two older kids are in school and doing very well. I really couldn't ask for a better situation for all of us. Emily has found some good friends who care about her, and that has been a positive experience for her. It's good for all of us to settle somewhere for a while. I can't believe that school will be out in a few months, though. And I will have been here a year next month. I don't think I'll ever head back to the Midwest to live. Just too cold for me. I just wanted to give everyone an update on how we are doing here in Arizona. If you ever want to come out to visit, let us know!

Kimisms: Jobs jobs jobs jobs...

Kimisms: Jobs jobs jobs jobs...: Well, I have another job interview this week. Lets see, that makes about 100 since I've been back in northwest Indiana, right? Getting old, ...

Jobs jobs jobs jobs...

Well, I have another job interview this week. Lets see, that makes about 100 since I've been back in northwest Indiana, right? Getting old, folks. But there is more promise with this interview -- it's a job that I like to do, am familiar with and have the skills to master. There's finally some light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, it's been a long drive through the dark for me these past couple of months. I moved back here in June to be with family, and I thought for sure that I'd have a good job -- or at least a decent job -- in a week, tops. I've always managed to land something before, even if it wasn't in newspapers. See, I'm a journalist, and I have been for years. Probably almost 30 years now. I got started in the business when I was working as a night attendant for a veterinarian in Michigan City. I lived in a little apartment in the clinic and took care of the animals at night, as well as assisted with emergencies. I didn't know I could write back then, but that vet spotted my talent and had me write up some informational sheets for him about heartworms, vaccinations and whatnot. This vet also took care of the animals at the city's zoo, and when a tiger got a rubber tire (his plaything) stuck on his  tooth, the vet had to tranquilize the animal so he could remove it. Why not write it up and submit it to the newspaper, along with a photo he had taken, the man asked. So I did, and it was published. Wow That was the beginning of a long career that I have loved and cherished. Anyway, I moved here from a newspaper job in Texas, and didn't think it would take me long to find a job, even if it wasn't writing. Wrong. It has been three excruciating months of accepting low-paying, back-breaking work to try to pay my half of the rent and utilities. And I've only been able to do that for August. I've delivered newspapers (driving dark streets in the wee hours of the morning, runniing back and forth to my car at every stop to throw papers), cashiered at a local gas station chain (10-hour shifts with no breaks or lunch, and never any standing still, heaven forbid) and closed the meat section in a fancy grocery store (breaking down and washing equipment that weighs twice as much as my puny frame and standing in water for three hours while doing it). And I have applied to so many jobs here that I am numb from filling in blanks. I have dumbed down my resume as much as humanly possible -- who wants a reporter working for them? are you gonna write a story about us? -- and smiled at interviews until my jaws hurt. And I have to ask -- what in heaven's name is God trying to do??? Believe me, I have asked. Repeatedly. With tears. With weariness. With desperation. And there has been no answer except one -- WAIT. What???? Wait???? God, you do realize that bills have to be paid, right? And you do realize that I'm very very frustrated and even a little (well, a lot) upset, right? And you do realize that my self-confidence and self-esteem have taken a major hit because of this, right?????? It's going to take some work just to raise it up to ant level. HURRY UP AND GET ME A JOB, WOULD YOU????? Well, the answer came, finally, not too long ago. I am part of an online group at Saddleback church in California (Rick Warren's church) and have really been getting a lot out of our weekly Bible studies. These people have put up with me during some difficult times, and for that, I am very thankful. The other day, we studied about the purpose of problems. Yeah, they do have a purpose. And it really opened my eyes. God uses problems for a variety of reasons -- to correct us, to teach us, to help us grow and to lead us to trust him more. In my cases, he wanted me to learn at least one of those things -- probably more. I've been dependent on myself to find jobs in the past. And I haven't always appreciated them when I did find them. I grumbled. A lot. Kinda like the children of Israel in Old Testament times. So now, here I am, and this time, I'm listening. I've got a whole new attitude. Humble. Appreciative. Dependent. Let me tell you -- it's a hard lesson. But God's whole focus is preparing us to serve him down here on earth and up there (or wherever it is located) in heaven. You can bet I'm listening a lot better these days. Whether I get the job on Tuesday or not. (I'll let you know how it goes...)

And six months later...

Ok, so I haven't been very faithful in writing. I know, I know. But I'm ready to update everyone again. Last time I wrote, I was in Texas, hoping to end back up in Tennessee. And yet, here I am in Northwest Indiana, just outside of Chicago. Crazy, huh? I came here by way of Nebraska in mid-June, leaving Texas and driving north to the Grand Island, Nebraska, area. I left Texas to head to where my daughter, Emily, her husband, Dave, and the grandkids -- Alana, 11; Ethan, 9; Levi, 3; and Arrayah, 7 months -- were living at the time. I was there about a month, living in a hotel until I could get myself established. I got a job as an inside sales rep for a company that makes machines that manufacture wall panels, doors and stairs, and I was enjoying that and starting to do pretty good with it. Then Dave's brother got very ill and they traveled back to Indiana to be there for the surgery. And while there -- they hadn't been back in several years -- they decided they wanted to return to this area. So Emily came back on the bus and we packed up as much as we could into my car, and we all came back. We are renting a house together and sharing the rent and utilities, which is a cheaper way to go. In many ways, I'm glad to be back, as this is home to me. My parents are buried here. I was born and raised here. The kids will be starting school in another month -- they have been homeschooled for several years, so it will be a big change for them -- and they are looking forward to it. I start my new job tomorrow afternoon, and while it isn't in newspapers (my profession), it is working with people and ministering to their needs. And it is fulltime, which is something difficult to find these days. We are adjusting to the change. I'm really glad to be involved in the kids' lives again on a daily basis, and have sure missed that. God is good, and I am grateful. Just catching everyone up...

Kim

I'm baaaaaack!!!!

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I've posted anything here. Where has it gone? I was going to be consistent with a blog, but life happens, I guess. In fact, I lost my blog address. Fortunately, I found it again. So let me update everyone on what's been going on in my life. I've been in Texas for the past year, and it's been a crazy time. I have never seen such a hot place. Literally. Here it is, February 14, and it was 72 degrees today. Supposed to be 75 tomorrow. I used to think I would really like that -- the heat during the winter, that is. But I've discovered that it's not as fun as I figured it would be. Being from northwest Indiana, I just plain ol' got tired of the snow every winter. There was tons of it each season. Big, thick blankets of it, even. And months of dreary days. Blah. Depressing. I hated that, and I still do. I don't want months of snow, ice and frigid cold. But I don't want months of heat, either. I guess I should explain. This past summer here was, in my humble opinion, pretty much hell on earth. I got here in January, and by March, it was pretty warm. Ok, I thought, I can handle that. Then it got warmer. And warmer. And by May, it was reaching the high 90s. It just continued to get warmer and warmer. We had a whole summer -- literally -- of 100-plus degree days. No break. Day after day after day. No rain came. Just scorching heat. I have never seen such a dry, crackly place. There was a pond at the place I was living, and it almost dried up. Everything was parched. In fact, the fire danger was sky-high, and the area where I was living had a massive wildfire that destroyed numerous homes. Suffice it to say that by the time October rolled around, I was hoping for some relief. But it hasn't come yet -- we have been mostly in the 60s and 70s this winter. We had 10 minutes of snow the other day. That was it. I MISS the snow -- at least a little of it. I want to experience the seasons again. I don't think there will be a spring here. We'll just dive right into hot summer in about a month and it will be here for a long time. I am not looking forward to it. I'm really missing Tennessee. I loved it in the Pigeon Forge area, and if God allows, I'd like to head back that way. It would be a relief to be back there in the green beauty of the Smoky Mountains. It has been so dry and brown here. So this is my update on my life for right now. We will see how and where God leads. He might have me stay right here, and I guess that's OK if it's being in the center of his will. I'm hoping for something else, but I'll do whatever he says. Stay tuned and I promise to write more!!!

A month of changes

Have you ever followed a cloud by day and a fire by night? Hmmm, you're wondering. What's she talking about????

Let me explain. Do you remember the story of the Israelites and how they wandered in the wilderness? In Exodus 13:21-22, it says "And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night; the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people."

Clear leading. If you have a pillar of cloud in the day and a pillar of fire in the night, it's kinda hard to miss the twists and turns in front of you. That's how my life has been this past month. God has made it very clear where I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to do. It doesn't always happen that way, let me tell you. But it's exciting when it does.

I'm in Texas right now. I was in Tennessee. How did that happen, you wonder. Me too, sometimes. And yet it did. A series of events unfolded before me -- that cloud by day and pillar by night -- that began with getting laid off from my job in Tennessee and moved into a clear leading on what I was supposed to take with me to Texas (I stored everything that I couldn't fit in my car and it waits for me back in Tennessee) and when I was supposed to leave (there was a small window of opportunity between the snow storms that kept pelting Tennessee).

So I left the Volunteer state and drove for two days to Texas. On the day I pulled into Austin, I got a phone call from a newspaper that I had sent a resume to the week before. Now mind you, I had been sending resumes out for several months, and had not received one call about it. This paper is two hours from Austin -- close to Emily and the kids, and closer to Houston than Austin. I did not care for Austin.

I drove out for the interview, and was hired that day. Amazing? No. One more step along the constantly illuminated route. I had been trying to find a cheap weekly hotel in Austin, but when the job came through, that plan quickly changed and I paid for a week at a hotel 25 miles from my new job. I started work that next Monday, and began looking in earnest for an apartment, as I only had enough money for one week at the hotel and did not get paid for two weeks.

Was I going to be homeless after that week? No. Pillars again. I looked at several apartments and none seemed to be right. Finally, I was directed to a man who owned several apartments in town, and he let me move into one with no cash outlay until my paycheck came. People have brought me a couch, a tv, a mattress and more.

I am where I am supposed to be. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. No doubts. I am working at a newspaper as an editor, and I am enjoying it. And I am very aware that God has me here for a reason.

It is satisfying to know that God has been leading me so obviously. Scary, too. It has been a month of big changes, but God has comforted and led me through it all. I await the next twist and turn on this road before me.

God is moving...and so am I!!!!

Wow. I stand amazed at how God is working in my life right now. Overwhelming.

I have been wanting to go to Texas to be with my daughter and grandkids for several months now, but the time has not been right. I needed to work and save up money to make this grand move, so I stayed. And I waited for a sign that it was time to go. Well, several weeks ago I just knew it was right. Time to get started packing and readying to move down the road. I wasn't sure how I was actually going to do it -- takes a lot of money to make that kind of a change, and I didn't have a job or apartment or anything.

I've never been one to shy away from stepping out on faith, but this one was pretty scary. I've been steadily packing. And packing. And I put a bunch of stuff up on Craigslist that I was wanting to get rid of before I left (and of course, the money for it doesn't hurt, either). Well, I was planning on staying here and working -- to save up more money -- until the first part of February. But everything changed today.

I went in to work and there was a note in my mailbox that said to see the Human Resources lady. This is the lull in the year, and our theaters typically lay off several hundred people until March, when the shows resume. Everyone pretty much knew they would be laid off -- but I worked all winter last year and thought it would be the same this year. So the HR lady says she gets the dubious honor of telling me that the company has decided to eliminate my position and I am being laid off -- immediately. Wow. I was counting on several more paydays to give me some extra money. Guess not.

Actually, I had been worrying about this move, because I don't have a job. It's called falling without a net. Hopefully, I could get a job quickly when I got there, because no more money would be coming in for me. Well, it's funny how God sees ahead of us. Because I will be on unemployment very shortly, and it pays almost as much as I make working full-time. So I can make this move knowing that there is an adequate net underneath me. And while I was kinda bummed about being laid off, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

And to top it off, I've had people at my house this evening, looking at some of the bigger items that I have to sell. And they bought both of them. So I have enough money to make the move, and enough to live on until I can find a job. And because I am laid off now, I qualify for food stamps, and I'm not too proud to accept them while I'm transitioning.

Praise God for his compassion and care!!!!!