brooklynites

it's been three weeks now that we've lived in our new home and we could not be more happy to finally be brooklynites! we're so close to a subway stop, we have a great street & neighborhood, and God has given us an apartment even a step up from our greenville apartment - we're so thankful! i continue to enjoy my job at polytechnic institute of nyu as the admissions office receptionist. though my job is entry level, the interaction with incoming students is something i enjoy very much! we've seen God's provision in a big and direct way through this job with the benefits, hours, and pay - God is good! it took two weeks of trying to get our home put together until we felt like our lives wouldn't always consist of unpacking. new york apartments are an adventure in and of themselves, with the uneven floors, aging buildings, and unprofessional contract work. i thought jed was going to have an aneurysm trying to get our bed level; but alas, after more than 10 cardboard squares and much measuring, we now have a level bed. no more high blood pressure because our feet are higher than our heads. we are storing all of our broken down boxes for jed's parents to use, so other than cramming them here and there, the apartment is 98% guest ready.

on so many levels we see God working and doing things so differently than what we would've originally thought. we were hoping jed would get a job first and then i would fill in with a part-time job, but now we see that it's actually been somewhat of a blessing that jed is still unemployed. he has established a new network of doctors here in new york, and because of poly's insanely good insurance benefits, he has been able to tap into an extremely skilled and prestigious network of doctors. after getting under the care of a chiropractor and also fulfilling the prescribed physical therapy rehab from his surgery back in january (better late than never!), he is seeing much more consistency with his back. one area where he has had significant pain for several months has been with his knee. back in august 2008, he had acl reconstruction and meniscus repair work done, but the pain on the site of the meniscus tear has continued to give him trouble, even worse after surgery than before. after meeting with an orthopedic surgeon (the chief orthopedic surgeon at Tisch Hospital - NYU Medical Center) and getting a fresh mri done, we found out that he has a radial tear in his meniscus. unfortunately this type of meniscus tear does not do well without arthroscopic surgery, so jed is scheduled to go in on june 30th. the great thing in all of this is that this surgery is MUCH less invasive (walk with a cane for the first 24-48 hours as needed and then at least 6 weeks of physical therapy) and free! our insurance is completely covering every penny of this surgery!

we've wondered many times why God would allow jed to go through many phases of interviews and remain the runner-up in several different opportunities that he would've been perfect for, but now we're seeing more and more that it's actually convenient that jed doesn't have a job right now. he is still fervently looking in between doctor's appointments, but the opportunities are still less than what we would've expected. somehow, we just have to say okay and wait to see what happens in God's plan. though our situation right now is so backwards and upside down from what our little plan had laid out for us, we find so much peace and comfort knowing that we can trust a God who is planning this perfectly. we want to continue taking it one day at a time and learn to enjoy this phase in our lives. we love being in brooklyn! though we're "in transition" still and enjoying every adventure the city offers, God continues to burden our hearts even more for the people here in new york. we just want to be a part of building his kingdom here.

as several people have requested, here are some pictures of our home. please disregard the aforementioned piles of empty boxes and corners full of junk that will not be sticking around. the invitation remains open for anyone to come visit!

office

bedroom

living room

kitchen

moving day!