Sometimes when it rains, it pours

As Herschel and I have shared with some of you, we've had a couple of rather interesting "church shopping" experiences since we've been in Florida. For example, there was the congregation which was made up of about 10-15 people, all of whom where at least 65+, where we were required to wear name tags. I mean, really?? The young white girl and the Mexican guy didn't stick out enough for you?

Anyway, after coming from a fabulous church family in Little Rock, we were beginning to become a little bit discouraged that we weren't finding anything that seemed to fit us. It was starting to sound a little bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears - this one's too big, this one's too small, this one's too traditional, this one's too contemporary, etc. But on Sunday, it would seem that we found a church that was "just right." At least for us.

A few weeks ago, we were in Kansas City for a meeting for a church board that Herschel is a part of, and while we were there, one of the representatives from Florida heard that we were moving to the state. He made mention of a couple of churches and made a couple of promises that people often say in those sort of settings, and even more often don't keep. However, a couple of days later while we were packing up our house back in Little Rock, Herschel received an email from one of the pastors from a church in Florida. He said he was given Herschel's name by the guy we'd met in KC and he'd love it if we could come and visit. Needless to say, we were impressed.

Herschel replied and let him know that we planned to attend his church on Sunday, and things were left at that. Little did we know that the pastor, in anticipation of us attending his church on Sunday, had gathered a few young couples and invited all of them over for lunch after church for barbecue. So, of course, when we went to church there on Sunday, the pastor nonchalantly mentioned he was having some people over and asked if we'd like to join them. We did, and it was like we'd known these people for years. We were getting to know one another, laughing, sharing, and there was even plenty of sarcasm - which made me much more comfortable.

We left that experience feeling blessed beyond words. This was exactly what we've been praying for since the moment we found out that we were moving.

But it doesn't stop there.

Literally less than an hour after we'd left the pastor's house, I received a call from a family friend that heads up a public relations office in Palm Beach. A couple of months ago we'd talked about the possibility of an opening at her office, but with the economy the way it is, it didn't look like they would be hiring anyone new - at least not right now.

Well, apparently, God had other plans. My friend was calling to tell me that they had an opening come up completely unexpectedly that they were needing to fill immediately, and she wanted to know if I was interested. We talked again yesterday, and I start work on Monday!

And just to sweeten the deal a little bit, I got a call from one of the girls we had lunch with on Sunday, and she and another girl wanted to know if they could come over and help me finish unpacking on Thursday. Absolutely! The funny thing is, if they had asked me even a couple of days earlier, I probably would've said no. At that point, I think I still thought that I could handle it all on my own. But the truth is, it took three professional packers most of a day to pack us up, so it's certainly going to take more than just me to get it unpacked and put away in a timely manner. Plus, it will be nice to talk to someone besides Oscar for a little while. He's a lot of things, but one thing he's not is a great conversationalist.

I am overwhelmed with the blessings in our life right now. We've sort of been on an emotional roller coaster over the past couple of months, so I'm absolutely thrilled by every bit of this. And I'm trying to soak it all in as much as I can, because I know these moments are rare.