So long, Lone Star State. For now, at least.

In a little under a month, we’ll be loading up a rental truck and hauling our belongings across the country to my parents’ house in Maryland. It seems very sudden, but, in some ways, it was a long time coming.

Once, pretty much all of my side of the family lived here in Texas. Then, my father’s job got transferred to Maryland, and he, my mother, and two of my siblings moved out East. Later, my sister and her husband settled in Pennsylvania, leaving us the only ones still out West.

About twice a year, we’d get to go out East to see my parents and siblings and even though we’d use as much vacation time as I had, it always seemed far too short a time. Every time our kids would see their grandparents, they’d grown significantly between visits.

Then there was just the general feeling of disconnectedness. We have wonderful, wonderful friends here in Texas, but there’s something about being near family. Amanda asked if I’d start investigating employment closer to my parents, and I agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly at first.

Well, shortly before this last Christmas, I received a callback, asking if I’d be willing to participate in a phone interview after the holidays. The interview went nicely, and later I had a follow-up call with the CIO. Then came reference checking and a few more calls and then…eventually, they made me an offer.

It took a lot of deliberation, agonizing, talking and prayer before we finally decided to go for it. My parents were more than happy to have us as long-term house guests, which we’d be while getting our Texas home sold and our debts paid down. It was still a bit of a leap, but we decided that it was a chance worth taking.

So now we’re frantically pulling all of our belongings out, trying to find new homes for the stuff we don’t want or need, and packing the things that we do. The days seem so short, and the hours so fleeting. We’re excited. We’re terrified. We’re hopeful. We’re a little bit heartbroken. So many loose ends to tie up. So much that we’ll be leaving behind.

So much more to say, but I’ll stop now. Just wanted to let people know what’s up. Pray for us, if you would. The days ahead are guaranteed to be interesting.

So, a few things that come to mind, after the week of Icemageddon and no water…

- Cast iron cookware is the bomb, especially if you’re living La Vida Little House on the Prairie. You cook in it, wipe it out, leave a thin coating of grease or oil…and you’re ready to cook again! Our skillet is worth its weight in gold.

- Never take for granted being able to flush toilets at will. Especially in a house with a woman and two children. ‘Nuff said on that.

- You cannot put a value on having helpful neighbors.

- Uninterruptible power supplies should have ways to disable the alarms from beeping. Yes, I know the power’s out. Thank you. We’re having rolling blackouts. Now shut up so I can go back to sleep.

- I’d say you can never have enough eggs in the fridge, but that’s just tempting my wife. Still, eggs are really really good to have when you’re stuck at home for four days. Also, peanuts.

- Plumbing requires a lot of flexibility and strength at funny angles. I think if were gonna be a plumber, I’d take yoga or pilates or something. I think my Judo experience helped with the under-the-house-crawl.

- I think that I like PEX pipes a lot more than PVC. A PEX crimping tool is gonna go on my Christmas/Birthday wish list, I think.

- Every homeowner needs to own a good shovel, a pickaxe and a worklight. If you lack these, and are a homeowner, remedy that.

- Keep your tools where you can find them. That thing that you don’t ever think you’re gonna need? You’re gonna need it badly someday.

- Ice sucks. Snow sucks. People who pray for wintry weather should be beaten.

- With a hose.

- Pets shouldn’t live indoors. God gave animals fur for a reason.

So. We’ve had a bit of weather down here in Texas. And by a bit of weather, I mean a cold snap that started with an ice storm on Tuesday and didn’t thaw out til Saturday. Oh yeah, I think we also broke a 15 year record for temperature in the area. Four consecutive days of work closure for me. It was nasty. But let me tell you about the best part. The part where I am an idiot.

So…Monday night. Weather’s getting bad. Pete Delkus is dooming and glooming. We know it’s gonna get cold and frozen crap is gonna be falling from the skies. Plenty of milk and eggs in the fridge. We ought to be good, right? Then, Amanda says to me:

“Do you think we should leave a faucet dripping tonight?”
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There are a few things going on right now that could be a bit better. Things that have been the cause of a lot of grief for Amanda and myself, and have contributed to their fair share of stress.

I realized something though: All of the issues that seem so troubling right now are only monetary. This isn’t trivial, by any means. Being a single-earner family of four on an academic-level salary makes things pretty tight. Money’s always an issue. But, at the same time, money is only money. I bet there are people not very far from me at all who would fall down on their knees with tears of joy if the only problems that they had in their lives were monetary.

Of course, this could change. Tomorrow our problems might be more than just money. I’m not going to dwell on that. Problems come. That’s life on the fallen planet earth. Right now, though, I’m finding comfort in perspective, and trying to focus on the things that really matter to me.

And, I’m looking forward to the day when we’ll see everything in true perspective, when all the problems and trials of the world become insignificant in the light of Jesus.