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My first year anniversary at my current job has come and gone this month without much fanfare. But I quietly celebrate anyway for it’s been a blessing working there and I’m happy to be at a place where I can use my graphic and web design skills effectively. In addition, the hours are flexible and the people I work with are very nice.

But things weren’t always this way.

Before this job, I was without a steady means of employment for a little over a year. The company I worked for at my previous full-time job had ceased operations. I was part of the team that survived several rounds of layoffs but who saw the company eventually shut down. I entered a job market replete with displaced web industry workers. Although I would sometimes get good responses from job inquiries and sometimes get as far as the second round of interviews, actual work was few and far between. Pounding the pavement had become a full-time endeavor in itself.

It was a difficult time. Here I was with several mouths to feed and mounting bills to pay. After six months, my unemployment insurance checks had ceased coming. As any typical household going through a crisis like this, domestic tensions began to emerge. Pressure to provide for my family was increasing while job prospects hadn’t gotten any better. Even this cautionary verse was hanging over my head rather ominously.

My identity as a man was being challenged. But where was I to base my confidence? Should it be on my education, on my accomplishments, on my vocation, all of which at this point had failed me? Or was I to base my identity on Christ who has given himself up for me?

Frankly, I felt a lot like Job. Job was that Bible character whose riches were wiped out, whose children got massacred, who got boils all over his body, whose wife wished he was dead, and whose friends did not support him. The extent of my trials was of course far from what he had gone through but I had an inkling of what he must have felt. I strove to be like Job whose response to all this was to believe that God was good to him.

It wasn’t easy. But the Lord has been faithful in so many ways during this trying time. My kids never starved - there was always food on our plates. We never lost our place of residence. Our basic needs were being met. God has brought forth people who lent a helping hand, whether monetarily or in kind. My family and I witnessed a tremendous outpouring of kindness towards us. The Lord also allowed my wife to step up to the plate by giving her the time and energy to open up a licensed child day care at home. That helped tremendously.

Through it all, I learned that in order for God to increase, I must decrease. In this place of humility, Christ’s faithfulness was demonstrated and His glory manifested.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. James 1:2,3

It was Church Night at the Oakland Coliseum (Network Associates) last night. Church Night is when the A’s organization invites churches to a game and reserves for them a section of the stadium with seats at a discounted price. The invited churches also get their names flashed on the scoreboard. A bunch of us showed up to watch the Oakland A’s play against the Baltimore Orioles. The A’s won.

 
I brought cornick to the game.

These are markers cops placed over blood spots left by a man who was shot on our block this evening. He was walking with a friend when he was shot in the stomach by men driving by. He managed to run to our next door neighbor’s to ask for help. His companion took off and left him in front of our neighbor’s house. Paramedics soon arrived and took him to the ER. Cops suspect the shooting’s gang-related. So much for one of the safest cities in the U.S.

Update: here’s an article covering the shooting. It turns out the one who was shot was a juvenile and the one who we (neighbors) thought was his companion was actually his assailant. It’s good to know the kid’s injuries are non-life threatening.

Update 2: ok, I guess I don’t make a good investigative reporter. The kid did have a companion but just wasn’t never mentioned in the news item. He was later picked up by the police and questioned according to our next door neighbor who spoke to the cops.

Update 3: Forgive me for sounding more concerned about the safety of my neighborhood rather than the welfare of the victim. In an attempt to write an interesting blog entry, I failed to urge you guys to pray for him. My heart was not in the right place.

These are geese grazing across the street from our cul-de-sac. They come and graze on these fields around this time every year.

6-year-old: Dad, who were the first ones on the moon?

Me: The Americans.

3-year-old: No. The cow! The cow!