Who knew that being an unemployed minister could be so exhausting?  I don't know how I ever had time to hold down a real job.  Between working with my husband on the music career effort, homeschooling my daughter, and trying to keep life moving forward while preparing to move, it's just kind of relentless.  I spoke with a woman today who has been assigned to us as a homeschool resource person.  We've never met and as I gave her a brief overview of our current situation, she said it sounded like our lives were "fraught" with possibilities.  It was a perfect description.  "Fraught":  full of or accompanied by problems, dangers or difficulties; full of or expressing nervous tension and anxiety.  Possibilities and peril, potential and pitfalls.  It's all there.  

     We continue in leap mode.  The church kindly extended our stay in the parsonage until the end of March giving Mick time to continue rehearsing and recording with his band.  We hope to be able to solidify that musical relationship so that it can better withstand a move.  I've also found a small income source in typing manuscripts of congressional hearings, etc. for a company in DC - it's something I can do from home on a flexible schedule.  And, I'm meeting with a small group of folks who are picking up pieces of dreams/visions that God had been planting in Calvert County to open a Fair Trade gift/coffeeshop/bakery that would also serve as a training opportunity for people with special challenges in their lives - i.e. disabilities, single parenting, etc.  After only 3 meetings, we've knocked together a mission statement, found a space to rent, and initiated the process of becoming a nonprofit organization.  I don't know if I will still be in the area when it opens, but I am following my usual pattern of going with the "yes" until God says "no."  Whether or not I am able to deal with our housing question in order to stay and continue working with this group, it is unbelievably enlivening to sit around a table with people who are simply, sensibly, humorously, enjoyably, determinedly, faithfully committed to making something happen.  Very refreshing.  

   As I continue to do my nightly Bible readings, I discover Jacob cheating Esau out of his birthright and blessing, Laban cheating Jacob out of a wife and years of labor, Rachel stealing Laban's household gods, Joseph driving everyone crazy with his ego, his brothers selling him off to become a slave in Egypt, then Joseph getting back at them by framing them for theft.  Not exactly "Touched by an Angel."  Yet, in the midst of this human messiness, somehow God continues to be made known.  Each person's story is "fraught" with the possibility of grace, of forgiveness, of becoming, of love.  

   My life is a mess.  But it is a mess fraught with holy possibilities.