The house hunt resumes

Posted on 11/15/2008 by RLW3

Having accepted the job offer, I got back to work on finding a house in Blue Springs. When I looked for the house that my wife and I visited, I couldn’t find it when I looked online.

I had to drive out there to see if the house was still for sale. Sure enough, the sign was still in the yard.

I called the owner while parked in his cul-de-sac. I hoped that he would be willing to meet and begin earnest discussions on selling his house to us.

Since our last conversation, he and his wife had second thoughts. It turns out that his realtor is the daughter of the man who they have contracted to build their next, smaller home. The couple is afraid that if they don’t sell the house through their realtor that the builder will raise his price by $9,000.

Well that is clearly not what I want to happen. The man who taught us to purchase real estate using creative financing stressed that both sides win in every deal he puts together.

I reminded the homeowner that the listing expires at the end of December. We won’t be able to qualify for a loan until the end of March. So I am proposing that we rent the house from them until that time and then purchase the house.

I advised the man to call his realtor and ask if the contract on their new house would be affected if they rented their current house. He is supposed to call me back tomorrow.

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I accept

Posted on 11/14/2008 by RLW3

After several e-mails clarifying the offer of employment, I accepted the job in Blue Springs. I will start work on the first Monday of 2009.

I have mixed feelings about this.

First, the man that I was supposed to replace will now be my boss. Oh well, God is ultimately in control.

Second, the salary that I agreed to is 15% below what I had realistically hoped for. However, I don’t really have much leverage. They currently have two shifts working 32 hours per week in order to avoid any layoffs. Additionally, since I interviewed, they have also scheduled two unplanned (and unpaid) week long closures for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

It strikes me that this situation is almost a mirror image to the sale of our house earlier this year. Because of market conditions in California, I had to take MUCH less than I wanted to. After all of the work that I put into the house, it was painful.

To be honest, it felt more than a little emasculating to accept the offer, just like this does. There is a little voice that says that “if you were a REAL MAN, you would hold out until you get what you are really worth!” But that voice said the same thing in California. “If you were a REAL MAN, you would hold out until you get what this house is REALLY worth!”

What is anything REALLY worth? In the world of commerce, worth is determined by whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

For example, when gas was $2/gallon, a big SUV was becoming THE status symbol. With gas at $4/gallon, the dealers can’t give them away.

Look at the stock market. How can a company be “worth” $70 per share on Monday and $2 per share on Friday? Because no one who is willing to pay $70 for a share of stock in that company.

When I objectively looked at the sale of our house a few months later, I realized what had truly happened. First, I achieved my goal of moving to Kansas City. Second, my house sold in the midst of a COLLAPSING housing market! Just eight months later, the value of that house has dropped AT LEAST $100K!!!

If I objectively look at this situation, I am being hired in the midst of a COLLAPSING job market. Although my ego and expectations are taking a hard blow, I am grateful that I will be working. I am glad that someone thinks that I am WORTH hiring.

Posted in Money, Providence, Work | 1 Comment

Uncle Sam wants you

Posted on 11/12/2008 by RLW3

The U.S. Army recruiter arrived just as we sat down to eat a quick meal. He was 15 minutes early.

He informed us that he had just re-enlisted and was going to be deployed in Iraq in April. He said that he originally joined to pad his criminal justice résumé and ended up finding his calling.

He was very straightforward in his presentation and did not try to sell us.

There was one touching moment.

As I was walking him to the door, my son asked him what the “kill rate” was. The recruiter grew very quiet and soberly said that he couldn’t really answer that because several of his friends have died in Iraq and he just couldn’t look at them as a statistic. He said, “I’m not going to lie to you. There are very real, very big risks in joining the military. You need to think about that.”

My son has much to think about.

Posted in Parenting | 1 Comment

Two in one day?

Posted on 11/10/2008 by RLW3

After the interview, I was still not feeling right so I pulled into a parking lot and slept for an hour. I was awakened by a call from my wife asking me to pick up our son from school.

By the time I got to the school, he had vomited. The nurse said that his symptoms were inidicative of a MIGRAINE HEADACHE! He has only had two or three in his life and that was several years ago.

Kinda weird…that both he and I got hit with the same thing on the same morning. Makes me wonder if there is more to this ministry opportunity than first appears…

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A hired gun

Posted on 11/10/2008 by RLW3

This morning I was interviewed by two men for a position as a pastor.

On the way to the interview, I had a little excitement. As I was driving to the interview, I started losing the sight in my right eye! My right eye is my dominant eye!

I had opaque stars flashing in my eye. For me, that marks the onset of a migraine headache. I called my wife and asked her to pray for me. 

Her prayers were answered. By the time I sat down for breakfast, everything was returning to normal.

I think that the interview went very well. I was as truthful and transparent as I know how to be. I think that they are going to recommend me to a small church that cannot afford to support a full-time pastor. Right now, they can pay a stipend for someone to preach and teach on Sundays. Then, as the church grows, their support will grow.

That is actually a perfect situation. It will allow me to gradually step back into the ministry without taking on the full weight of a congregation. Then, if I like it, I can grow in it. However, for now, if it works out, I will be a hired gun.

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Does it matter anymore?

Posted on 11/09/2008 by RLW3

I want to keep this blog free from politics. But, I think that there is a news story that you have not heard much about that really matters. I think that it goes a long way toward proving that our usual sources of news information have become politicized. I posted it on CounterCulture².

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You thought what…?

Posted on 11/07/2008 by RLW3

Something amazing happened tonight. My wife and I came to understand each other a little better.

You might say, “What is so amazing about that?”

Well, it’s just the way it happened. (This is going to be a long post so you should probably get comfortable)

My wife and I had just been marveling that I will be interviewed by two men on Monday morning for a position pastoring a church! It is such an unexpected turn of events.

A few minutes later, I looked up from my laptop and I could tell that something was bothering her. After 5-10 minutes of the “What’s wrong, honey?” – “Nothing” dance, she finally told me.

“Well, I was picturing your interview and I started thinking about your teeth.”

Many times over the course of our relationship, my wife has very nicely and gently mentioned the fact that my bottom teeth are crooked. They weren’t always that way. My wisdom teeth were impacted and reconfigured my smile when I was 21 years old. 

Now, you need to know that we have been under financial pressure for our entire marriage. We have NEVER had a savings account. It has been paycheck to paycheck for 22 years!

So, when she would ask me if I wanted to get my teeth fixed, I evaluated it in the context of our finances, the innumerable things that we needed as a family, things that needed to be done on the house, etc., etc., etc. I didn’t say this but I would think, “Are you crazy? No, I’m not going to fix my teeth. I have all these things (take your pick and fill in the blanks) that are much more important! I’m definitely not going into debt for it! I don’t care if people don’t like my teeth!”

Tonight, I learned that throughout all of these years, she thought I wouldn’t consider it just to spite her!

Then she really rocked me. She told me that it was more important to her than a new diamond ring! I had no idea! WOW!!! I still can’t quite get my mind around that one!

I mean, I talk to my wife all of the time. I am CONSTANTLY asking her what she is thinking, feeling, etc. Yet, even with that effort, here we have had a significant misunderstanding for our entire marriage!

And, if she didn’t tell me that it was more important to her than a diamond ring, that misunderstanding would have continued to harm our relationship! I would have been secretly saving for a ring and she would be wondering why I was “refusing” to fix my teeth.

It is just amazing to me.

Posted in Marriage, Money | Tagged | 2 Comments

An appointment with who?

Posted on 11/06/2008 by RLW3

My wife had been out on our sometimes “prayer walk” around the track near our apartment for about 10 minutes when it became obvious that I needed something to cover my head in the cold. As I hopped the fence, my wife received a call from a Sergeant. She called me back saying that the call was for our son and asked me to take the phone to him.

We both thought that it was a follow up call from the local police department regarding his recent accident.

I took the phone to him, grabbed a “beanie” and rejoined my wife.

When we finally came in from the cold, we heard

“I am going to meet with the recruiter next Wednesday at 6:00.”

RECRUITER???? What recruiter?

It turns out that the Sergeant was a U.S. Army recruiter!

WHEN DID THIS BECOME AN OPTION?!??!

Son, we have to talk…

Posted in Parenting | Tagged | 1 Comment

Finally, an offer

Posted on 11/05/2008 by RLW3

I finally received an offer from the company. It was not close to what I was hoping for.

On the one hand, we could live on that salary. On the other hand, I could almost make as much working for Costco.

Now, I will begin the negotiation process. I really don’t like doing this, but…

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Trying to prepare for everything

Posted on 11/05/2008 by RLW3

I took my son to the doctor for his annual sports physical. I had hoped that I would have received and accepted an offer from the company by now and have transferred my children to the new school…

but that hasn’t happened.

His paperwork has to be in to his current school by tomorrow.

We are going to make a copy and hope that it will work for the new school if everything works out with my job offer. I am beginning to wonder…

however, I am staying relatively peaceful considering the circumstances.

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