God-incidence or Coincidence?

I don't often have my eyes open, or antennae up, for signs from God. In fact, I'm downright skeptical about visible, audible, tangible signs from God--at least in my own life. When they happen to other people, in the plentiful stories I've read about miracles, spiritual signposts and divine interventions, I can only enjoy them from afar. Signs in other people's lives are in the realm of possibility, a realm that I don't necessarily inhabit.

I started memorizing verses a week and bit ago (read my other posts), and Jeremiah 29:11 was one of the first verses I memorized. "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  (Jeremiah 29:11)

As I previously wrote, I have never had much confidence in my ability to memorize things. I hated history classes because I had to memorize dates and names. Ignoring this blatant obstacle to my intentions, I just sat down each morning and memorized the verses (while I searched through the job ads). I had it firmly memorized for a few days.

On Saturday, I took my son out to look for some reasonably priced toys at a local second-hand shop. We love going there because you never know what you might find, and you're almost guaranteed a major bargain. Upon entering the store and heading right to the toy section, we found a play kitchen that would be perfect for the kids, especially our toddler. Within a few minutes, we had paid for the item and headed back home.

For some reason, I decided to head back to the store a second time. I don't often do this, returning to a store twice in one day. But I thought I would give the Halloween costumes another look.
As my son and I browsed the isles, I wandered over to the picture frames section, simply browsing the items for sale. I picked up a silver frame that had some words engraved deep into the frame. I read the first few words and I knew where the sentence would lead to: it was Jeremiah 29:11.

I don't know if this is a sign or not, but my wife was very encouraged by this God-incidence. What's more, the following day there were some baptisms during the church service, and I was able to witness two baptisms. The tradition is to bring a family member, close friend, to say some words to the baptismal candidate to mark the occasion. So the fiancée was called up, and one of her first words were from....Jeremiah 29:11.

Now I took it all in stride, but I'm beginning to think that God's trying to reassure me of His plans for me. In moments when I feel that pang of panic--and it comes quite frequently--I can mentally return to these moments of reassurance. God's in control, He knows and cares, and ultimately He's got the plan that I can't see.

Crispiest Roast Potatoes Ever!

Getting away from the gloomy task of looking and applying for work, I've been very keen on learning new things, reading and experimenting. I've decided to try as many different kinds of coffee beans available at the bulk food place, and I've been reading Cook's Illustrated. For those who don't know, Cook's Illustrated is a wonderful magazine and online publication that offers beautifully crafted, written, and illustrated recipes for common dishes.

I happened to read a recipe for the "crispiest Roast Potatoes Ever," and I became determined to experiment with the recipe. In my own experiment, I first used the average white potato that I bought in bulk from the discount supermarket, the kind that sells at a ridiculously cheap price for a 10kg bag. The results, using the skeleton of the recipe from Cook's Illustrated, were quite good: crisp skins, nice colouration.

After two attempts with the ordinary white potato, I decided to try Cook's Illustrated astounding conclusion: Yukon Golds. Actually, I tested three kinds of potatoes: whites, reds, and Yukon Golds. The Yukon Gold had the perfect, and I mean perfect, amount of crispness and creamy softness in the middle. I was so pleased with the results that I couldn't stop trumpeting about them to my wife as we ate.

I suppose the reason I couldn't believe it was because I don't often find recipes that work, nor do I find recipes that explain the science behind the process. Cook's Illustrated did (and continues to do) a wonderful job at making the testing phase of cooking understandable to the common cook, and I have never been more thrilled with my roast potatoes.

Yukon Gold roast potatoes are the absolute best potatoes to use!

1 Peter 5:7

Continuing on in my memorization of Bible verses for the unemployed, I decided to memorize 1 Peter 5:7: "Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you."

Waves of panic encroaching on your everyday life and thoughts? Bouts of hopelessness and feelings of helplessness?

The truth about it all is that God's got it all under control, and that He demands of us to cast our care onto him. His yoke, as it were, is light. Our yoke, clearly experienced by the unemployed, is extremely heavy.
When we cast our cares upon him, no matter how often (it could be daily, by the hour, by the minute even!), we're living the instructions set out by God. What benefit could anxiety have for the unemployed person? It does nothing to improve, benefit, or encourage. Instead, anxiety destroys and divides the spirit, taking the false claims as truth and reality. God has our lives firmly in his hands. If we forget that, we are forgetting the truth.

1 Peter 5:7 reminds me that God cares about me in ways that I can't understand. By trusting him, and entrusting my worries and anxieties with him, I can then experience the fullness and freedom of a life found in God.

Anything and Everything: Philippians 4:6

I find it immensely difficult at times to not worry, to not be anxious about my current situation. Unemployment is a rollercoaster I want to get off, but this time it's not letting me off so easily.

Philippians 4:6 says to stop my worrying, and instead, replace it with prayer:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (NLT)

I'm hoping that by memorizing the words of life and truth, and by keeping it closer to my heart and on the tip of my tongue, I will be able to ride the rollercoaster with a little more comfort and peace.

If I'm honest about my life, I have to be thankful for everything that I have. Skills that go unnoticed, provisions that continue to pour into my life, love that surrounds and sustains me, talents and abilities that are unique to me. So to fight my worry, a change in heart to one of appreciation and thankfulness is key.

Hoping you're encouraged by this quick post.

Jeremiah 29:11

For some strange reason, I've managed to memorize key Bible verses that are reminders of God's Truth, especially throughout my period of unemployment. In random moments of panic and anxiety, right through to times of intentional prayer, I have found the Bible verses memorized helps me to maintain focus.
Jeremiah 29:11 happens to be the third verse I've memorized since last week:

 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV)

Not knowing the plan is part of my frustration, but I am reminded that it's also part of my solution. Being goal-oriented is often a good attribute to have, but when you're unemployed, the goal is much more difficult to achieve. The verse reminds me that God's in control, that He is sovereign, that He hasn't forgotten about me, and that He has designed a plan for my life that is for my benefit (and not my harm).

Unemployment brings with it such immense uncertainty, and trusting that God's plan for us will always be for our good, will bring us back in tune with His purpose for our life. I know all too well that this faith is not always present in my life, that in my state of mind, I can spinout and think that there is no hope, no meaning, no plan. Yet the better side of me knows that Truth always trumps my own emotions and feelings. If I have the verse in my head and heart, I can quickly get off that merry-go-round of emotions that tends to take me on the verge of emotional exhaustion.

One trick that I've found useful in memorizing the Bible verses is to begin by stating the citation, and then recite the complete verse. Then after completely reciting the verse, end it with the citation once more. For example, here's what I would literally say:

"Jeremiah 29:11. For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11."

I hope this post will be an encouragement to you, especially those who are in the same situation as me.

Unemployment Insomnia

Being unemployed can often mean bouts of insomnia, either minor or severe in duration. With a baby who wakes up two to three times a night, I sometimes find it difficult to get back to sleep in the middle of the night.
Last night, after soothing my little one back to sleep, I tried reading on the sofa. The book was interesting to read, if a little eccentric and economical in prose, and I found myself with heavy eye lids after about a half hour. My mind, however, immediately went into unemployment mode. The thoughts, worries, anxieties, and self-doubt appeared.
I had plenty of ideas that flashed before my eyes, ideas that I probably will never act upon. The other thought that followed was why I found it so hard to act on ideas that made perfect business sense in my mind, but somehow there was too much fear in me to act. Hmmm….

Putting things into perspective

Sitting here in the library on a beautiful sunny autumn morning, the sunlight streaming in, I'm watching a mother teach her two young boys. I observe the children's faces as they learn, concentrating, struggling, achieving, looking for praise and reinforcement. Smiles of accomplishment. The mother smiles and laughs to celebrate with them.

The weight of unemployment is a hard one to bear at the best of times, so it's these brief moments of respite and re-focusing that help me. My life is not merely this weight on my shoulder. My life consists of so much more, so many more possibilities, so many more experiences. I imagine my own children learning, growing, taking the world in, one letter at a time. That macro view of life puts things into perspective.

I would also add that we need to see our lives in the moment as well. Each moment we have to live is a moment to make an impact, to encourage, to live a life that's worthy.

Thanksgiving

We had such a nice Thanksgiving weekend despite my unemployment woes. It was nice to be reminded that enjoyment of life is not entirely dependent upon having a job, and that the provisions for me and my family are still here. I'm thankful for friends and family who uplift us, encourage us, and keep my heart smiling.

The sermon at church on Sunday was from Psalm 103:2, which by some extraordinary feat of memory (I'm usually terrible at memorizing verses), I've managed to memorize this one: "Praise the Lord, oh my soul. Forget not all His benefits."  So fitting for me as we were able to experience all the provisions and blessings of the weekend.

I've managed to send off more applications this morning, but I'm still hoping to make some kind of connection with someone in person (who might be able to connect me with another person). I realize that statistically, the e-mail applicatino process is dismal, but I''m still not sure what else to do. I'll be volunteering soon, and I'm sure that will help me to be fruitful.

Struggling, but Praying

I found this great website/blog about dealing with unemployment depression, or at least bouts of panic and anxiety associated with unemployment. It's called 2praisegod  and it gave me a quick reminder that I'm not alone in this struggle, that someone is watching over me, and that I can get strength from that. The biggest reminder is to guard my mind, my thoughts, my heart, and don't let any gap to break that healthy seal. Once that gap of anxiety starts, it's hard to stop it.

Struggling

At this very moment: struggling. Trying not to succomb to the negativity, the powerful negative feeling of not seeing an end yet. but I'm fighting it all the way.