Count Your Blessings...

Our warmest greetings to all of you who have been faithfully and continually praying our way through these last two months. It has been a fury of up and down moments but we must praise God who is good. I (Jordan) have privilege of writing this blog and am more than excited to share the good news with all. Since our newsletter to everyone there has been a series of events that we can clearly see God moving. Our first interview-trip to Chicago was the week of June 13. That was also the day I got in that "whittle" fender-bender. After that week Rachel and I spent a week with family, after which I was called back for more interviews with the companies I was interviewing with. This continued until after the Forth of July where we took our last trip after the holiday weekend. When we returned to Detroit after that trip we had no idea what to think. It was down to two positions that I really liked in the Chicago area but I had no idea if either of the firms would offer me a position. July 26th was the day we call "The Day of Decision". If there was a day all summer that we could point to and say that God out-did himself was that day. I did not receive one job offer on that day but two job offers, allowing me to fully pray and seek wisdom on which one I felt God was leading me towards and in the end He did.

So the good news is this: God has blessed our persistence and our commitment with providing me with a position at First Trust Portfolios in Wheaton. My start date is next Monday and we are overcome with excitement and fear all at the same time. Excitement because our season of "not-knowing" is coming to a close. We no longer need to hesitate to answer the basic questions "What do you do?" or "Where do you live?". Now we can say, without reservations, where we live and what we do! But, as we've come to learn throughout the last few years, the underside of excitement is normally fear, and today we are no different. For starters, we have yet to find a place to live, even with my job starting next week! If that doesn't motivate you to find an adequate place to live I don't know what will! Also, Rachel is still on the search for meaningful employment so as much as we would like to think the journey is over I think we both know, in many respects, it is only just beginning. What comes to mind is a favorite passage of mine found in 1 Samuel 7:12, "Thus far the Lord has helped us". I return to this passage in light of all we have ahead of us which, understandably, can seem daunting. This passage, however, helps focus on what God has done to get us here and asks the rhetorical question, "Would He take you this far only to leave you?". The answer of course is "no". So then, we continually thank God for bringing us this far and trust that He who has brought us here will take us safely home, especially now that we know whereabouts home will be. We love you all and God bless.