an open mind and a calm heart

i don't know why i titled this blog posting what i did because my mind has been purportedly closed and my heart has had its most riotous moments in the last six days. however, my true desire is to have an open mind to what God may have for us tomorrow, and calm heart that trusts him in whatever he is doing.



with our interviews last thursday, jed and i both entered the weekend with extreme hope and excitement that our transition time might soon be ending. i'm sure that it will end at some point in time; however, the last few days have not gone how we were expecting them to go. the waiting game is not for the faint of heart as i have mentioned before, and i felt more than anything my affinity for faintness this last week. as jed and i talk and pray through this, the silly solutions that my immaturity comes up with continues to amaze me. here is my list of what would solve my restlessness (excluding the obvious job and home thing):



- a pedicure
- shopping spree for our new apartment
- shopping spree for new wardrobe for new (impending) job
- a massage
- an interior decorating project
- endless pastries or cheesecake
- catered meals everyday
- a pug



and the list goes on. fortunately, my sane alter-ego kicks in way before i ever get close to any of these, and should she ever fail me the issue of not generating any income would for sure stand in the way of the ones that should cost any amount of money. i'm sure jed's list is way simpler than mine. i would guess it would look more like this: endless pastries, a job, and a new apartment in God's timing. he's focused like that. although, were it football season i would be inclined to add "a super bowl stint for the eagles," but that's another story...



i got a call back yesterday (thursday) to come back in for a second interview at polytechnic institute of nyu on tuesday of this week, and i am so thankful for continued movement with that possibility! jed has not received the offer that seemed all but promised to him at his last interview, but he did get an email from the hiring personnel that said they are still interviewing candidates and that they would get with him in due time. apparently none of these people realize that we're hangin' on a thread, hoping to get an apartment by april 1st! we had kinda set a deadline for ourselves that if jed didn't hear about an offer today, then it would more than likely be either the middle of the month or even may 1st before we could look again.



there are several questions in our minds right now with our current situation. we need wisdom and help from God in knowing what he would have us to do.



- should we store our belongings in sc or continue to pay monthly rent?
- when should we start looking for an apartment?
- how can we be the most useful as we continue to remain in transition?
- how can we glorify God the most?



we want to remain solid in our faith and confident in our God, so our most ardent prayer right now is to know God and love him and others while taking one day at a time. in the meantime, we still love the city and are thankful everyday for our friends and family who are putting up with us. God has given much richness in his word and through prayer, we just need moldable hearts to be open to that wealth.





above is a shot from jed's birthday last month. we ended up going into manhattan for an evening of shopping, turkish food (yum!!), cupcakes, and a slurpee. fun times in the city.

thanks everyone for your love and support with us while we're going through this adventure! it's a fun ride made even more exciting with each of your comments and prayers.

date night

after a few weeks of going through the job hunt, jed and i took time tonight to have a date night and explore a bit. we'd been in the neighborhood right above williamsburg a couple times before and had liked the predominately polish area, so we decided to visit tonight for some real polish food and culture. we were definitely not disappointed!

jed's heritage is a mixture of russian and polish decent, so we were both quite intrigued with the people and places lining the streets. the restaurant we'd been recommended to was called "polonia," which after eating there we decided means "little heaven" in polish. :)

we ordered from a lady that spoke polish to everyone else in the joint (except us) since most of her constituency was polish. she was really nice.

we ordered a stuffed chicken that she claimed was one of her top sellers and we soon found out why. it was covered in a thick sauce (not sure what i would compare the taste to) and stuffed with perfectly tender yet crisp mushrooms. the entree came with two sides so we chose the red cabbage salad and sauerkraut.



the red cabbage salad was unreal. wow.

one polish/russian dish that we have always loved is borscht. they didn't have the traditional red beet borscht tonight, but she did have a white ukranian borscht that we tried.

it was really tasty and had small pieces of kielbasa and some shredded veggies, as well as a somewhat surprising addition of half of a boiled egg!

the other traditional polish food that we love is pierogi, and we got a nice plate of meat pierogies, sauerkraut pierogies, and cheese and potatoes pierogies. ahhhh.... so good!

let me tell you, this was one happy guy.

hopefully, this enticing food blog will coax some of you to come see us once we get our apartment. maybe another time i'll blog about the pastry shop we visited afterwards. i just didn't want to overload your visual taste buds.

jed and i both had very good interviews this week that we are hoping will be eventual jobs for us. mine was with polytechnic institute of nyu and jed's was with berkeley college. we realize that it all continues to be in God's hands, but we are very hopeful to hear back from them early this week. thank you for continuing to pray!

no news is...no news

it's been awhile since i've updated on our brooklyn situation, so i think today is a good day for that. when i say our "brooklyn situation," i'm referring to the part of our lives where we're looking for jobs and eventually an apartment. jed and i both continue to have movement with our resumes as recruiters have been calling us and interviewing us, which is quite encouraging still. i had my first actual job interview on wednesday and i'm waiting to hear back from them on whether or not they will hire me. jed has a possible job opportunity from a connection with a friend here in new york, but it's still a newer opportunity that he hasn't had a chance to interview for yet. the opportunity that he had with sanford-brown institute (the one where he went through all four stages of the interview) is no longer a possibility. he was very close to being hired, and then they closed down the position he was interviewing for due to budget reasons, so we're believing that this is protection from God for something that may not have been best.

while both of these opportunities would be significant blessings to us immediately, we continually rest in our God who promises his best for his children right when the timing is best. we are still living with our friends, the craftons, which continues to be a huge means of grace to us. plus, we get the entertainment of a two-year-old at our fingertips! and let me tell you, the entertainment is nothing short of hilarious. another plus of being in the northeast is having two of jed's siblings nearby in eastern pennsylvania. we stayed with his sister for a little over a week before coming back to brooklyn last tuesday. we're very thankful to have such support from both friends and family!

we are so thankful to be in the city we love, and we continue to ask God for help and strength and wisdom for one day at a time. we'll try to get jobs as soon as possible so that we can then get an apartment so that then we can be set up for a continuous flow of guests. until then, thanks for praying.

greater things

our dear friend and fellow brooklyn addict, stephen o'bryan, has recently started a new blog to expose needs around the world, mention worthwhile information concerning current topics, and stir awareness about what God is so awesomely doing around the world through believers and unbelievers alike. check out his blog here and feel free to encourage him in this endeavor for Christ.

a lot of times we go through each day not really aware of what's around us, or worse yet taking for granted the common grace that we all receive through Christ, so we appreciate what stephen is doing and hopefully some of the zeal will rub off on us.