Eric's Thoughts

So that bit in my last post about being “a bit more consistent”… yeah.

Things have continued to be busy. We finally found a contractor and have been getting Ashley’s art studio setup. The windows, doors, and internal wall are setup. The electric is as far as it can go till we get the dry wall up. Our next step is to get the insulation installed.

These pictures are a bit out of date. The rest of the tin has been put back on, outside lights have been installed, as well as electric on the internal wall. We’ve also run a bunch of network cable.

As far as life in the middle of a pandemic in many ways it is remarkably normal. We don’t really go to restaurants, or theaters much so we haven’t missed them now that they are closed. I go to work in the morning, I come home at night and life goes on. On the other hand church has been canceled (I miss that more than I thought I would) and I had my last Bible Study Fellowship over Zoom. My work has implemented a number of measure to try and prevent the virus from getting in. In fact I would say my work life has been more changed than my personal life.

To my shame I have not had peace as I feel that I should. I am a follower of Christ, and I know that this virus has not caught God by surprise. I know that He has my good, and the good of those I care about in mind, and that even if we die, as long as we have surrendered to Him to die is gain. I know all of this, yet the past week or so I have been on edge. In the midst of this I stumbled across this verse tonight in my devotions. As usual God’s timing is perfect.
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

The first one of 2020. I’m going to try and be a bit more consistent than I have been. Let me see if I can give a rough sketch of what has been happening here.

We are going to the Clark’s Fork Baptist Church in Bridger, and have so far enjoyed it. They seem to be a well grounded church. The people are friendly and the Word (so far) is handled well. That is a huge blessing.

Our new place here in Fromberg has hard water. It started messing with Ashley’s skin and hair, so we have gone down the path of getting a water softener. One problem. We had no place to put it. There is literally no room in the trailer for a softener. So we got a stack-able washer and dryer, and installed them at great risk to Ashley’s life (she about got crushed a few times when we were getting the dryer up). Then we bought a softener and had a plumber install it. It makes for a short paragraph, but the whole thing has been quite the process.

I guess that is our big news. We has a super busy Christmas. I got a nasty cold just as we came back from MN and I missed about a week of work. The weather in classic MT fashion has been all over the map temperature and moisture wise which has wreaked havoc on Ashley’s head. She has been fighting a lot of headaches. All in all though God is good, and He has taken excellent care of us.

And we have been for just over a month. It was quite a move and I’m glad we’ve got it done.

Moving day was quite eventful. We had some friends who were going to help us, but ended up not being able to make it. Ashley stepped on a nail (actually two nails) so we went to the doctor and got that taken care of. The UHual I rented was not only to small, but we ended up having to pay for an extra days rental as we couldn’t get it back in time. Our old neighbors did come and help us get the last bit loaded up which was a huge blessing because Ashley was pretty much wiped by then. We drove to Fromberg, Ashley helped me unload the stuff I absolutely couldn’t do on my own, and I unloaded the rest myself. Thankfully we have a large garage now which held basically everything. We got the UHaul back to Billings around 10:30 p.m. and got back to Fromberg and to bed by about midnight.

Post move was just about as nuts. Three days after we moved in we went camping with my family in Bismark, ND (which was really fun). We got back from that and four days later Ashley’s mom Brenda came for a week and a half visit (also fun). My parents came out to visit about a week after that for about five days. Basically we had a crazy month and a half. This last bit of September has been a chance to catch our breath and get our new place whipped into shape. We have gotten a lot done, but still have a ways to go.

That is the move news. There have been a lot of other things that have happened, but since I don’t blog regularly I can’t remember what they are. Even if I could I’m not sure writing a small novel once every three months is the best way to go about this.

Our church search continues, but we’ve narrowed it down to two options. We are going to spend at least the next month (or two) deciding which one to go to. With that I will bid you good night (or day, or whatever).

The move has not yet taken place. Tentatively we will be out of Billings and in Fromberg the 17th or the 18th. I would say we have got a good 75% – 80% of our stuff moved. Most of what is left is furniture. We’ve got some pretty good ideas of what to do with Ashley’s art studio, which is exciting. We’ve also managed to pick just about 18 lbs of raspberries. I’m pretty sure if we had been moved already and watering it would have been a lot more. Not much else is new. Moving is a lot of work, so we’ve both been really busy, and tired.

We finally did it. We’ve taken the plunge and as of about 3:00 p.m. this afternoon we are land owners! It is both exciting and a bit scary but we are both rather pleased. The place has an abundance of raspberry bushes, which are trying to take over the yard. There was also the pleasant surprise of a rhubarb plant in the green house. We are still trying to get our ducks in a row to move a house onto the place, but we are beginning to suspect that we won’t have time this summer. We’ll have to see if the owners of the house are willing to wait for next summer, assuming of course it is possible to get the house from Grand Ave. to Fromberg without going broke.

Other than that not much is new. We are both still tired. Work has still been crazy. The weather has been cool and wet which is ok. I think that is all I have to say.

Well, I have not been “a bit more consistent.” A lot has happened in the last six months. We have been sniped (for lack of a better term) out of two different properties. That has been very discouraging. Our new landlord has continued to remodel the other side of our duplex, and removed a number of trees from the yard. We have put an offer in on property in Fromberg, and the offer has been accepted. The home inspection is tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes. It is 1/3 of an acre, with a mobile home, garage, shop, and green house. It has a well for the lawn, and the lawn is beautiful. We are hoping to put in a basement and move a house on top, but we are still in the process of getting quotes etc.

Work has been very busy, and every time I think I’m caught up we get another bunch of work orders. I got six computers built today, and will be deploying them tomorrow in Red Lodge and Laurel. I’ll get caught up eventually but in the mean time it is rather tiring.

I think that is all the big news. We haven’t had any vehicle trouble. Our families are good. My dad is just about to retire, so he is pretty pumped about that. The cat is fine. So with that I’ll end this post.

The first part of chapter 3 is all about the horrible things God has done to the author. It is amazing to me in the midst of the pain (pain he doesn’t try to hide or pretend isn’t there) he remembers the character of God and takes comfort and strength from that.
Lamentations 3: 19-22 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

I clearly need to be a bit more consistent. Let me see if I can get you up to speed. We went to AZ for Christmas and had a really good time. It was very restful and rejuvenating which we both needed. We got back and Ashley promptly got a week long cold. She got better and I promptly got a 24 hour flu bug. We both got better, but Ashley got sick again today. So our health has been a bit rocky.

We still have not found a house, and our search now has a bit more urgency to it as our current place has been sold. We will have a new landlord by the end of the month. It would be wonderful if our rent stayed the same and we could stay, but if we have a huge rent increase or the new landlord wants to remodel we may have to go. Once again we are reminded that we need to depend on God for His provision.

I think that is all the big news. I upgraded my email server, which ended up being way more of a project than I thought it would. I got the upgrade done, but knocked out all of my websites for about a day and a half.

I read this in my devotions this evening and thought it fit our current political landscape rather well (especially verse 17).

Ecclesiastes 9:17-18 The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.  Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

More like trying to be patient. I am learning again, how to trust God and His provision. We still do not have a house. Our land lady is selling our duplex, so we may have to move soon regardless of whether or not we have a house. I have a couple of possible job opportunities but I am at a loss as to what I would like. This is odd to me. Normally I don’t have a problem knowing what I want. All the while I chafe at having to wait. I’m a slow learner.

In spite of all that life is going well. God is good and we are well taken care of. My favorite mother-in-law Brenda was up for a week and it was good to see her. Ashley is getting ready for a couple of shows and is busy making ornaments. I got a really cool Windows 98 virtual machine (with hardware video and sound pass through) working. My brother and his wife had their first baby! That was cool.

Any ways, I came across this verse in my devotions this evening. Given my impatience and the lottery craze (I admit I’ve been tempted to buy a ticket) that is going on it was very appropriate.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

God is taking care of Ashley and I. In so many more ways than just physical. I am so swift to forget that and become discontent because I don’t have what I want when I want it.

I was reading my devotions this evening and I came across these verses–

Titus 3:1-2 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

As long as the earthly authorities in my life are not telling me to disobey God, I am to obey them.  The part that really stuck out to me though is the last bit.  Do whatever is good, slander no one, be peaceable, considerate, and gentle.   As I look at the U.S.A. and the division and strife I hope that myself and my fellow believers are living that out.  I fear we do not.

I couldn’t think of a better title.  A short summary of what has been happening.  We put an offer in on a house in Roundup Montana which was accepted.  We paid our earnest money, and got the home inspection done.  At that point we had some irreconcilable differences with the seller and backed out.  So now we are once again trying to figure out where to go.

In March a door bell transformer in our basement decided to over heat.  The basement filled with smoke, and Ashley inhaled a bunch of it while we were trying to figure out what the problem was.  Thankfully the house didn’t burn down, but it has done a number on her lungs and she has been having trouble breathing since then.

I did manage to pass my Security+ test, so I now have that certification.  I’ve been trying to study to get my Linux+ but our housing search/almost purchase kind of took precedence.

I said this would be short and it is getting long.  Here are some verses that stuck out to me during my devotions this evening.

I Timothy 6:6-9  But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

I Timothy 6:17  Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.