A cup o' Joe, a lost application, and a parking ticket...

Hey there!

Things here in Eugene seem to be heating up quite a bit. The weather has been abnormally hot the past couple of days reaching the mid to high 90's. We hear that Indiana has had some "Eugene-like weather". I can't lie; I'm a little upset about that. So...it's been a pretty busy week this past week, as searching for jobs has overtaken most of our lives. Drew, Derek, and I have managed to step away from that for a few hours to play the occasional game of frolf. We originally thought it would be good to get away from the frustration of not finding jobs just yet, but quickly realized that the frolf course out here is HARD. So, we continue to play trying to conquer what seems to be unconquerable (is that a word?).

Two days ago I decided to go downtown to have a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks because I received a gift certificate from Jenny before I left for Oregon. As I was sitting there reading outside a gentleman approached me asking for some spare change to buy a cup of coffee. Startled, I looked up to see a man dressed in dirty clothes, enveloped with a full beard, and wearing a ball cap to cover his "not-so-clean" hair. After buying him a cup of coffee in at Starbucks I invited him to sit down with me. He hesitated, but then gladly accepted. As we sat there and talked over the next hour, I learned all about Ward's family, past jobs, and current struggles. Ward is epileptic. It's hard for him to get a job because of the severity of condition. (Time out: I could sit here and type out Ward's life story, but I will not drag this out) I tell you this to share the battles that were taking place within my own heart. I sat there genuinely interested, but found myself judging whether his story was true or not. Maybe he really didn't have epilepsy... Maybe his second wife really didn't die of alcoholism... Or maybe I had painted Ward with the wrong brush. Were we all not painted with God's beautiful brush from the beginning? God has really shown me a new type of love the past couple of days. I continue to pray, and would ask for you all to as well, for a greater love for God's people here in Eugene.

After our conversation I headed over to the public library to sign up for my new library card. After I signed up, I headed up to the Internet room to finish a job application and print it off. After working on the application for about an hour I discovered my time on the computer was almost up (there was a 60 minute limit). I pressed print, and then headed over to the printer to collect my work. It didn't print. I repeated the process, but still received no results. I inquired about the status of my application if my time ran out on the computer, and the response was, "You'll lose everything." Great! This was just wonderful. After a few troubleshooting processes, the printing failed. I panicked, and then realized I was helpless. I lost it all. After talking with one of the library staff members, I started for the car. I walked out only to find a parking ticket....FOR $30!!!!! Lesson learned....don't overpark in Eugene, Oregon.

By this time I was very frustrated, and really wanted to give up for the day. I had started to believe that I would not be able to get this position because of the computer malfunction. Isn't God much larger than this? Drew and I were talking the other evening about the need for God because of the way He works through ALL things. God's going to provide jobs for us, not by our strength and timing, but by His. Please pray that we all enter into a state of submission to Him through this difficult time of finding jobs in a community whose job market is poor. We love you all, and I hope things are well back in Indiana (or wherever you're reading this from)!

-colb