24 July 2010, 1307, Saturday

We reached a major milestone yesterday.  We now have a mobile home on the property.  It is fastened up and awaiting the crew to come out and trim it out.  Of course, it is also awaiting power, water, septic, and internet.  My existence for the next week is pressing on all that stuff so we can start moving our stuff in.  The house in Clear Lake is on the market, but only one couple has come through.  We will host another open house a week from tomorrow and hopefully that will get a bite.  The house is beautiful.  Anna did a fantastic job getting it up to snuff.  The real problem is the economy is keeping people shy about buying homes right now.  So, we continue to trust God.  This morning Anna commented that it will be interesting to see how God’s timing will be evident in the timing of the sale.  I wonder if it will be perfect timing for the buyer.

We will definitely need some more income other than my job at Books a Million.  There are a couple of options.  We could both work part-time.  Anna could work full time and support me ranching and writing for a year.  I could work full time somewhere.  We could also not pay back the money to the IRA, pay the tax penalty, and live off the rest until we can make something happen.  Of course, the idea of not having to work at all, that is, not to work for someone else, has its appeal, but I like neither the depletion of our savings or the idea of being supported by my wife.  Once again, God has engineered a situation by which we must rely on His answer.  The other day, I was driving down the camp road on the tractor and Grandmother’s dog Tye was trotting alongside.  From my vantage point, I saw a rabbit up ahead that he would just love to chase.  Tye couldn’t see him, but I could.  I knew that if he stayed with me he would see it eventually and he did.  It occurred to me that we are like that with God.  If we stay close to God, even though we get off the path now and then, we will progress down the road and get to what He wants us to get to.  Because Tye wanted to stick with me on the tractor, he got to chase a rabbit.  If Anna and I follow God and desire to be with Him for the sheer pleasure of being with Him, then we will see what He wants us to see.

The mobile home is very exciting.  We spent some time just looking through the windows at our views and walking around planning where the sheds, barns, porches, fences, and car ports will go.  I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.  So much to do, and I believe God will provide the time and resources to do it.  I love bringing order to chaos.