We have internet. - Travis

Yesterday Lindsay picked up the modem that finally got in and installed our internet all by herself while I was at work. So here I am. But some of you still don't know how I got here so let me tell the story. This will be the short form.

I'll start by letting you know that God is good. On Zack's birthday I called him and told him that I thought 26 would be a big year for us (we are 1 month and 1 day apart in age so we experience 26 at roughly the same time). Later that night my boss showed up unexpectedly and told me he had to "Let me go." Let me go (intentional pun) back a bit. When I moved to Chattanooga and became a store manager I entered a $12,500 contract. That is they gave me the money (which we used as a down payment on our house) and I signed a contract saying that if I quit within 2 years I would give the money back. Now as much as I admire this company I have wanted to quit for a while. Lindsay has said wistfully, "If we could only come up with $12,500 we could do something else." I love the company, the people who run it, and their product, but the problem with 100% commission, for those of you who haven't lived that way, is that you are only paid 100% commission. Which for three years was absolutely no problem for me. In fact we thrived. Then through no ones fault I agreed to open a new store in a new city right in the middle of the worst economic time of my life.

There is a strange self-love that makes things that are happening to you seem more dramatic than they are. Everyone wants to be in the extreme case. Many people, for their own validation of living through tough times, want this to be, "The Worst Economic Crisis Since the Great Depression." And I even heard one analyst suggest that this was worse. Recognizing this, I shy away from such grand claims and would be remiss if I didn't point out that some people would claim that "The Crash of '87" was as bad financially as this and that was in my lifetime. I was just too young at the time to truly experience it.

Back to the story it's not hard to find. Ninjas.......... Anyway this economic dip meant that every week I was being paid - Minimum Wage. Do the math and you'll find that it is hard to support a wife and son on that type of paycheck, in fact I think Morgan Spurlock did an entire documentary to prove it. So for the last couple months we have been flailing to survive but unable to make any move because of the $12,500 bounty on my head.

All this was resolved in God's perfect way by my Boss walking into the store that night and "Letting me go." See he knew my situation and because I didn't quit but instead he cut me loose I don't have to pay them any of the $12,500. I want to take a second and let you know how God has used this great company so that any of you who think, "After all he's done for them they could at least have given him a warning and not surprise him like that." First of all while I was surprised (sort of), God wasn't. Secondly as upright and full of integrity as I like to think I am, I also know that I am human. So I don't bury my head in self-righteousness and claim that I would have worked just as hard knowing I would soon leave.

When Lindsay and I got married God drew us to Denver. It was almost, in our minds, as simple as, "We want to live in mountains but not in our home town....so Denver." Even as we were leaving I said things like, "I want to raise my family in Franklin." And when I started retail, "I'll only work nights and weekends until my children are old enough to have activities for me to attend." Once we got there instead of setting us up with a fast-pace high-pressure job. God got me a job as a furniture salesman which meant that while I worked weekends I had Wednesday Thursday Friday off with Lindsay. (If you have ever been skiing in Colorado you know how advantageous it is to have week days off instead of weekends.) Also if you are newly wed and can make it only working 4 days a week I highly recomend it. While we didn't become independently wealthy. They paid us enough to live and, while it isn't very useful just now, taught me a valuable skill. Then when God wanted us to start having kids, this company paid us $4,000 to move closer to our family and then gave me the $12,500 bonus. Really all in all I have nothing to complain about.

So that night I went home to Lindsay and we decided that we had no reason to stay in Chattanooga, really in the summer it is the hottest place I have ever lived. So we thought for a while and narrowed it to Asheville and Franklin. We thought we should decide in a biblical manner so we got a quarter prayed over it and "cast lots." It was heads so we started immediately making plans to move to Franklin. (When I told this story to Justin he was surprised that heads = Franklin. If any of you had the same feeling of surprise please post a comment, for some reason I find that thought terribly interesting.) We got on the computer and found out that a software company in Franklin that I used to work for was hiring all we had to fret over was having two house payments. A few quick phone calls uncovered Gods plan for that. He had given Lindsay's Grandparents an extra house and saw too it that no one else was living there at that time.

As I told Stuart this story I was able to say that it was the best situation you could possibly be in that resulted in being unemployed and living with your in-laws. Since then I have become employed, and we have moved into this little house that Lindsay has converted into a wonderful home. Some people look down on the term "Homemaker" and while I wouldn't say it was her occupation it is none the less a very accurate description.

I apologize for the length of this post I know you don't come here to read essay's but instead to get quick updates and pictures of Henry. But some of you were asking and this in a round about way does effect Henry. From his point of view the horribly long drive he had to make to see his grandparents is now three minutes and he gets to do it a lot more often.