I didn’t get laid off the other day.  It was pretty intense (and incredibly wrong) how the staff of the Census reduced the work force.  There, in a giant room in the middle of this sea of 500 or so people, two men paced the floor with a list in their hand.  One by one they went up to people and tapped them on their shoulder, asked them to get their things and leave.  The room, usually filled with chatter, stood silent.  Shifting eyes followed the two men.  I felt like I was in a huge game of “Duck, Duck, Goose.”  Only nobody wanted to be “it” in this game.  Many (if not all) of the people in the room weren’t working for the Census because they wanted to…they were doing it because they had to.  For several people, it was a last ditch effort to catch up on their rent or mortgage.  Others were there because they had run out of unemployment and were still not able to find a job.  (I can relate to these people now – having a Master’s degree and after applying for dozens and dozens of jobs, I know it’s tough out there…I’m out there).

The next lay-off is in early June.  So, for now, I’ve got work for another month or two.  $14/hr. isn’t paying the bills, but it’s keeping the creditors off our backs.  God has been good, as always, and He continues to be faithful.

I didn’t go into work today.  I don’t feel one bit guilty either – today is Maria’s birthday.  I’ve been spending the day playing with her – hopefully Katie is feeling a bit of a break from her normal routine.  Kate’s really pregnant and uncomfortable.  She’s ready to have this kid, and so am I – we’re both very excited.  This Thursday night I’m going to attempt to have a Bible Study here at my house.  I’m inviting the people that I’ve been meeting at work.  I’m praying that this will be a good experience as I dip my toes back into the sea of ministry.

Tonight Katie and I are going up to my folks house – we’re going to have a birthday party for Maria.  I’ll be sure to take some pics/video and get it on the blog tomorrow.  Tomorrow I’m not scheduled to work – I’ve got to get this book finished and to the publisher this week.  Those who have pre-ordered the book have been so patient – this publishing process takes much longer than I had anticipated.  I finally got the copyright license back from the U.S. government, and the editor submitted her final copy to me a few days ago.  We’re close…very close.

This Friday is the first round of “work force reduction.”  The selection is random, so I have no idea if I’ll have a job next week or not.  I’ve been glad for the work at the Census, but I’m ready to move on.  I’ve had some great conversations and connections with people on my crew, and I’m planning to hold a dinner party and Bible study and inviting them to it.  I need to start aggressively applying for jobs again, but I just feel defeated before I’ve even started.  I think that God is slowly leading me into full-time ministry again, but I don’t know where, and I don’t know how, but I do feel that His plan for me is not to keep rolling me from one secular job to the other.  But perhaps He’s got another place for me to serve in the secular work arena…it will be interesting to see.

Tonight Katie and I visited a gym here in Baltimore.  When we used to live in Lancaster, we went regularly to Universal Athletic Club, because Katie was working there part-time.  Since we moved to Baltimore, I haven’t been in the gym.  (Actually, since last August, I gained over 30 lbs.)  Last month I weighed almost 200 lbs.  This scared me a bit, so I’ve been working my way (slowly…very slowly) back down to my normal weight which is around 165.  Anyway, we’ve printed out several trial-passes to gyms in the area and we’re going to go around to several of them.  I doubt we’ll join any of them – it’s pretty expensive and I don’t really have steady income right now.  But, it’s free to try out the gyms – tonight we all got in a great swim.

So last night Katie and I drove down to Greenbelt, MD to visit with Joel and Noel.  They have an old dining room table that they gave us.  They also watched Maria for a few hours so that Katie and I could go out on a date to the Spring Maryland Dance Ensemble Concert (www.dance.umd.edu/).  It was quite an experience – both Katie and I had an awesome time out.  There were some dances that we enjoyed more than others – some of them pushed the boundaries a bit, but of course this was expected for a liberal arts performance at a public community college.

Perhaps one of the most memorable occasions of the night didn’t happen on stage, it took place during the intermission when I decided to use the restroom.  I made my way out into the hallway in search for the Men’s Room…I passed by the door to the Women’s Room and then I came to a door that had a picture of a man and a woman on it.  “This will do,” I thought to myself.  I’ve seen these sort of bathrooms in places before, you know, a tiny bathroom for one person at a time, and it can be used by both men and women.  As I went to go inside, a man and a woman came out at the same time.  “That’s strange,” I thought.  But, I just chalked it up to the fact that the couple was probably very comfortable with themselves, or maybe he was helping her get her zipper unstuck on the back of her dress.  I went into the bathroom, and when I went into the stall, I heard someone else in the bathroom.  I peaked through the crack in the door and realized that a woman was in the bathroom with me!  It turns out, that this bathroom was a “Unisex” bathroom, something I didn’t even know existed.  Apparently these unisex bathrooms are ones for both men and women to use (not separately, but at the same time!)  I’ve been way out of the loop on this one – but, now I know.

Wow – it’s like 90 degrees today! I just got off work from the Census, I don’t have to go back to work until Thursday (which is great because I got a ton to do around the house. Just want to share with everyone that Katie just was interviewed by a CBS Radio employee – she is being featured by the Ben Carson Scholarship Fund for her work with Bridge Connections, Inc.

Last Wednesday night Katie and I went to the 8×10 to see Dumpstaphunk.  It was really awesome.  We went with a couple that I met through work – I’ll have to introduce you to them on another blog.  Friday night we went to HCC’s Good Friday service, Saturday night we went to NCCC’s Dinner Theater, this morning it was back to HCC’s Easter service and then to the in-law’s for an afternoon of relaxing and eating.  I’ve added some pics below.