The Move And 3 Days Thereafter

Jeremiah 10:23 says, "I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps."

My life isn't mine. God called me to this move (here's that story). So here I am.

Saturday morning, everything went well. I had a bunch of help, and the whole packing ordeal was over in a little over an hour. I walked down the 3 flights of stairs, 21 steps, crossed the landing with the mailboxes, 2 more steps down, a sidewalk, then 2 more steps up, and a step off the curb to my car and left good ole 15F forever. Arrived at my temporary home in Lancaster and once again accomplished the unpacking quickly and with help. Seven steps up to the porch, a step in the house, 16 steps to the first landing, and 15 more up to my room. It's nice. A little bit hot up there since there's no air conditioning on the third floor, but I like it.

I'm living with Ashley and George and their 3 children until I can make some money and live on my own in the ghetto. It's a big dream. Doesn't sound like it, maybe, and shouldn't require too much mula, but it's a big step. And it's a big step to be living here. Ashley and I mainly know each other only from lots and lots of text messages. She likes golden oreos, and I like chocolate. She loves corn dogs, and I can't stand them. But we both go barefoot all the time. She adds -o to her words and I add -ness to mine. And I've visited a handful of times. I just hope we know one another well enough to make this live-in thing work! It's been good so far - at least from my point of view.

I still wonder if I'm going home. If this is only a visit. But it isn't. It's real. This is home now. I visited my first church up here. I don't know. Might go back, but I'll probably try a couple others first. I'm hoping to try 2 or 3 more next weekend - one on Saturday night and an early and late service on Sunday morning. Trying to find "home" as quickly as possible!

Part of the story of my moving up here is the way I was hired as a nanny so quickly. I was excited about the part-time job which would make me a little bit of money while I found another part-time job to pair with it. Today, those plans crashed to the sidewalk as I walked through the city, talking on the phone with my soon-to-be boss. She got laid off at work and no longer needed me. Goodbye job. Goodbye paycheck. Goodbye why moving up here was even possible. But here I am anyway. I continued to walk around the city with my eyes open for ideas of full-time jobs now, instead of just part-time. I walked and walked. I can't parallel park that well so walking is my better bet, but after a couple of hours walking around the city in my jeans and my hair down in case I stopped in some salons in 92degrees I was hot and sweating. I got off the phone with my suppose-to-be boss, and walked in a coffee shop for a cool strawberry drink.

I walked by the library. A library. Perfect. Maybe my day was about to get a little better. I went inside. I roamed all three floors and found a book I wanted to check out. When I asked at the counter for a library card, the woman told me I couldn't get one or check out the book since my driver's license still had my maryland address. Tears flooded my eyes. I turned and walked outside, sat down on the steps on the side of the building, and cried. I couldn't help myself. It was turning into a very bad day. I hadn't had much sleep since the temperatures were a bit high in my room, then I got laid off before I even started work, and now I can't even borrow a book from the library.

I calmed myself down, and headed to a cafe Ashley had told me about to apply for a job. I couldn't find it. I gave up and walked back to my poorly paralleled parked car. I found my way around the one-way streets, stopped at the grocery store, and made it back to my new home sweet home. Applied for a couple more nanny jobs, and now I'm just waiting for someone to call me back, or my next job search outting - whichever comes first.

I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.

And the saga continues . . . .