Looking back in amazement

It's a Saturday afternoon. My beloved called me earlier today and told me she probably can't make the trek down to join me until Monday. Possibly tomorrow, but Monday is more likely. Some things need to be done, there is no one to rely upon, and she has to do it personally. So yet another delay. I miss her desperately.

We are acting on faith that all of this is ordained of God, that He is in control, and that we can rely upon Him. He has never let us down, though we have let Him down, and the blame for that rests upon me. He has been faithful, and I haven't always been. My fault, His grace.

This has been a bumpy ride. The comments about the hollowing-out of U.S. manufacturing are based upon experience. The below is longer than I planned. It's not a pity-me, it's more of a detailed testimony.

In the last sixteen years, we have endured downsizings and plant closings associated with some of the big names and major manufacturing operations in the United States. From Packard Electric Div. of General Motors (now Delphi) through a now-defunct wire manufacturer outside of Akron, a division of what was for years the most admired company in the US near Knoxville, a top-tier supplier to the top appliance maker in the world in Arkansas, and a top-level automotive supplier in eastern Tennessee, we have seen up close the hollowing-out of manufacturing in the nation. We have also endured great privations as a result of all of this. The last, the auto parts maker, literally shut down in the middle of our move there.

That was a setback, financially and emotionally. We lost virtually everything we had as, over the next 18 months we lived on unemployment (until it ran out) and a few short-term projects, and what my wife could pick up while I sent resume's everywhere. I heard numerous versions of ''we'd love to have you with us, but you're far beyond our needs and we feel you'd leave when something better came along. Good luck and goodbye''.

Try going from 'respectable'' to destitute. We've been there, and we're still pretty close to the line. Not quite the life the college professors painted for me. And yet ......

God has, somehow, been at work through all of this. He has constantly been opening doors, making a way, providing, blessing, carrying us through some frankly tough situations. Along the way, we've met people and encountered situations that, left to ourselves, we would never have been in. We've found wonderful people in a number of churches who have ministered to us, prayed with and for us, loved us, and generally been the walking presence of Jesus Christ in this world. We are grateful beyond measure, and looking forward to what He has in our future.

Moving update

Just as we were hoping to get this blog up and running on a regular basis, we are going into a period of uncertainty. I will be leaving in a few hours and, leaving the family behind for a period, heading out from the mountains of East Tennessee to the rolling terrain of Montgomery County Alabama. It is always wrenching to leave behind those you love, the friends that have come to mean so much to you, the roots you had begun to put down. It is also exciting to look forward to the new places, the friends you will make, the people that God will put in your path. We have faith that all of this has not taken Him by surprise and that somehow He will be glorified in our lives. May it be so.

Sunday night we said goodbye to our church family at Second Baptist Church in Clinton. Brother Mike once again referred to me publicly as a Job character. I don't know about that, Job is described as being a righteous man, and what little of that applies to me certainly is not a product of anything I have done on my own, but perhaps little glimpses of Jesus in me. May that be so as well. Personally, I feel more like Abraham, going from one place to another, not knowing where he was going but having faith in the One who called him.

So come along with us. The next few months are likely to be interesting. Anyone having some insights on a new church home for those of us of the ''Bapti-Costal'' persuasion is invited to comment.
Grace and peace.

In the beginning ...

Beginnings are always delicate times, and since this is the very first posting here, one wants to be careful.
This is a blog that accepts moderated comments only. The reasons for that should be evident to anyone who has been around been around the 'Net for any length of time. To steal a concept from Lucianne Goldberg, ''this is a salon, not a saloon''. Even more so, this is intended to be a family-friendly Chistian site and we intend that the Almighty be honored here.

I have my own beliefs and opinions on a variety of matters. I have been wrong before, and possibly will be again. Discussions are intended to generate light, not just heat, and I am willing to enforce that principle. Flame wars are intended for other venues.

Since I will be asked, a few personal references. I am an engineer by training and inclination, with some twenty years in manufacturing operations. I live in the area of Clinton, Tennessee with my wife and the second of two daughters. We are members of Second Baptist Church in Clinton. Anyone is welcome to join us there on Sundays, and visitors will certainly be made welcome, particularly as we move into the new buildings around the first of September.