The End of the Adventure & The Start of Another

You know I can be verbose. If all you want to know is what I’m going to do with my life now, scroll down to the three paragraphs under “THE PART YOU’RE WAITING FOR” in all caps . . .

On September 29, I got blindsided at Taylor University (sounds like an episode of Survivor . . . I was voted off the island, though I don’t think the whole tribe had spoken) and found myself in the land of the jobless [http://palmersworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/whole-lotta-catchin-up-to-do.html]. In retrospect, it seems providential, in that just two weeks later the board at Taylor decided to close our entire campus at the end of this school year [http://palmersworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/twilight-zone-ii.html].

If you know me, it won’t surprise you to know that I jumped into the job search pretty aggressively right away. For a little while, it appeared that my search would be over quickly: Within a couple of weeks I had had a number of phone interviews and two invitations to interview on campus. Using 20-20 hindsight now, I may even have been too proactive as it turned out that I didn’t interview particularly well coming off the shock of suddenly being “retired.” In all, I applied for jobs at thirty different places—colleges, high schools, and companies that work with these schools. I ended up doing phone interviews with 17 of them, was invited to eight or nine campuses and did face-to-face interviews with six.

Just before Christmas, I sent an e-mail and resume to Lincoln Christian College and Seminary in central Illinois. I had heard of Lincoln when we lived in Kentucky because our pastor, Mike Breaux, is an alumnus, but didn’t really know anything about it. My attitude, however, was that I should knock on any door that seemed to have a chance of being a decent fit for us and so, given my background in Christian higher education, it made sense to check out Lincoln Christian. Shortly after Christmas, while I drove through Wisconsin and he drove to Texas, I had a long phone conversation with Brian Mills, the guy in charge of Lincoln’s search. It seemed like a long shot that we would be able to make it a win-win situation but we had a good talk and decided to keep the discussion going.

As soon as 2009 started, I went on a whirlwind of interviews from Georgia to Washington to Minnesota, followed by a trip to metropolitan Lincoln. To make a long story short, we just kept the door open at Lincoln. They saw how I might help them keep moving forward at a time that’s pretty exciting in their history and tried to figure out how they might be able to accommodate our family’s needs. One of our highest priorities in looking for a job was, if possible, to find an opportunity that would allow Phillip to stay at Blackhawk Christian School for his senior year next year. Lincoln’s president was very sensitive to this concern, which I appreciated. A couple of weeks ago, I took Jeannette back to Lincoln so that she could see the campus and community and meet some of the folks there.

THE PART YOU’RE WAITING FOR

On Wednesday at 8:51 PM, I sent Brian Mills a text message: “I’m yours.” Hmmm, that sounds creepier now than it did when I typed it into my phone. Oh well. The plan is that Jeannette and I will go to Lincoln soon and I’ll move into an apartment on campus, then Jeannette will return to Fort Wayne. I’ll serve Lincoln Christian College and Seminary as their director of admissions with the additional designation of “enrollment management consultant.”

Founded in 1944, Lincoln Christian has a little less than 1100 students, with roughly two-thirds being undergraduates. It’s located in a small city about a half hour southwest of Bloomington and northwest of Springfield. Lincoln is 300 miles or so from Fort Wayne, depending on which route you follow. The school is affiliated with independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, a non-denominational fellowship with six thousand congregations in the United States, while students come from more than thirty different denominations.

The first priority for me is to invigorate and refine their undergraduate admission efforts. Later, as the school rebrands itself as Lincoln Christian University next year, they hope I can investigate ways for the institution’s three admissions operations—undergrad, seminary and, for lack of a better term at this moment, adult ed—to work together more cohesively and effectively. In my head, I’ve already been working at Lincoln for a few weeks and I think it will be a lot of fun there.

BACK TO TEDIOUS SELF-REFLECTION

Undoubtedly, there will be modifications along the way, but the plan is that I’ll be on campus four days a week and then return to Fort Wayne to be with the family. This won’t be easy for anyone, but we can definitely see this as God’s provision for this season in our lives. We don’t know if this will turn into a long term or permanent relationship but both Lincoln and we are taking it one day at a time and are excited to see what develops.

This has been an interesting process. People have expressed admiration for how we’ve handled the disruption in our lives but, really, it hasn’t been all that terrible a trial. God has met our needs. Jeannette and the kids have been great about not panicking or putting extra pressure on me. And whenever things seemed about to become discouraging, there were expressions of support and encouragement from unexpected corners . . . a phone call out of the blue from a colleague in Oregon wanting to know how we’re doing . . . a Facebook post from a former student employee saying that she had thought of me at 2:30 in the morning and prayed for us . . . the friend of a friend letting me know about a job possibility . . . a helpful book in the mail . . . and on and on.

We’re very excited to close the chapter on unemployment and anxious (a purposefully chosen word) to move into the next chapter in our lives. We still need your backing and encouragement but want all those who read this to know how much we have appreciated your help and expressions of support over the last five months. Thank you!

Things Above

I wonder how my life would be different if I thought about heaven as much as I think about Disney World.

My Walk Through the Rules

Last week, I put up the main points from the book The Red Sea Rules. At a time when so many people are losing their jobs or struggling in others ways, I've found this book to be a good source of encouragement and I've given away four or five copies so far. It's not expensive at all if you want to go buy one (the full retail price is $10) and, depending on how you decide to approach the book, you can read it through in a day or two.

I didn't read The Red Sea Rules as soon as it was given to me last October so we were well into our Red Sea experience when I finally opened it up. Nonetheless, as I read it, I tried to see how the pieces of our story might fit. Here are some reflections now as we think we're nearing the end of the job search journey . . .

1. Realize that God means for you to be where you are. - This has been a most puzzling thing to me. Why did God allow us to move 2000 miles away from family and friends, the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the security of a job working for a public university and then spring a trap door, as Steve Farrar would put it, under us? I still don't know, though we have loved our time in Fort Wayne, there have been great friendships formed here, the boys have benefited from their new school and I gained new experiences at Taylor. Still, we are very committed to the concept that God is in charge and that He brought us here for a reason and is now pushing us into yet another adventure for a reason.

2. Be more concerned for God’s glory than for your relief. - This hasn't been a huge challenge for us because (so far at least!) God has met our needs financially. And since I actually enjoy the process of hunting, applying and interviewing for jobs, it hasn't felt like a great burden. But I think I'm ready for some "relief" now and to get back to work! In any case, we do want to see God glorified through this chain of events.

3. Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord. - I'm not sure we feel like we have an enemy, unless it might potentially be discouragement. Just before things came to an end for me at Taylor, though, I definitely felt like I was confronting an enemy of sorts--a relatively new experience for me--and in some ways I think I could have benefited from this book even more when I was going through that experience.

4. Pray! - Yes, I've prayed, but certainly not as faithfully or fervently as I should have.

5. Stay calm and confident, and give God time to work. - I think we've done a great job on this point. From the very beginning, it's been our desire to be patient and discerning, not simply grabbing the first opportunity that came along. Part of the problem, though, is that you never know what "give God time to work" means on the calendar. How much time does He need?! We've prayed for the opportunity to stay here in Fort Wayne and none have presented themselves. So if we take a job in Illinois or California or Albania this week, would He have opened a door here in Allen County next week?

6. When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith. - This rule kind of kills me . . . Was it really the next logical step for the Israelites to step into the bed of the Red Sea with walls of water piled up alongside them? It may have been the next faithful step or the next obedient step or even the next desperate step, but was it a logical one? I think I have tried to balance faith and logic, moving forward pretty continuously with whatever actions I could take, with only a couple of exceptions.

7. Envision God’s enveloping presence. - I've been able to do this at times, more as a result of reflecting on some parts of the book TrueFaced. It's been encouraging to picture Jesus standing by my side, looking with me at the challenges we face and caring about these challenges just as much as I do.

8. Trust God to deliver in His own unique way. - Still waiting but at this moment it appears that our decision is boiling down to two different possibilities. The one, which seems more likely, is a unique opportunity to build a program while keeping the family in Fort Wayne for a time. The other may be a "God thing," as Mike Breaux used to say, based on the strange way that He got me into the university's applicant pool. Stay tuned to see what happens!

9. View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future. - I think that's how this will play out. It's been surprising how many of our friends have come alongside us to say that they've been through similar times of unemployment and uncertainty. Because God has met our needs so far, it's easy to say that this serves as a faith builder.

10. Don’t forget to praise Him. - I have really tried to acknowledge Him throughout this experience, especially the way He has provided encouragement through others. For instance, one of my fears early on was that, frankly, people would forget me. Out of sight, out of mind, and my ability to contribute to their lives--especially professionally--has been compromised. Nevertheless, periodically I've gotten e-mails or phone calls or Facebook messages out of the blue, sometimes even from friends of friends or from people I haven't had contact with for many months. God has been good to us and I really do give him the praise.

The Red Sea Rules

A friend from Winona Lake, Ken Moyer, sent me the book The Red Sea Rules shortly after I lost my job last fall. He said it had been a real encouragement to him after he went through something very similar a year earlier. I read it and have bought three copies to give to friends in the last few weeks myself.

The following summary of Robert Morgan’s Red Sea Rules is from Shirley McDonald at NinetyAndNine.com. I’ll plan to put up a post about the job search soon but thought this might be good to put on the blog first.

1. Realize that God means for you to be where you are.
God, in Exodus 14:1-2, gives Moses specific instructions of where they are to camp: “Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon.” When you are in a difficult situation, remember that the Lord placed or allowed you to be there.

2. Be more concerned for God’s glory than for your relief.
God told Moses “…Then I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 14:3-4). God can take an impossible situation and gain honor for Himself in the midst of our adverse situations – if we let Him.

3. Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord.
It would have done no good for the Israelites to ignore the fact that the Egyptians were pursuing them. Yet God made a way of deliverance. Satan can do us no lasting harm when we are enclosed by the grace of Christ.

4. Pray!
“When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord” (Exodus 14:10). When you face impossible odds, our prayer-answering God will impart the grace needed.

5. Stay calm and confident, and give God time to work.
Moses told the Israelites to fear not, but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. How many times are we faced with situations where we cannot solve the problem or heal the hurt? Yet, we must leave room and give God time to work.

6. When unsure, just take the next logical step by faith.
”The Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward” (Exodus 14:15). Trust God for guidance in small steps.

7. Envision God’s enveloping presence.
God will let us feel his comforting presence, just as He let the Israelites know of His care and presence through the angel of God and the pillar of cloud (Exodus 14:19-20).

8. Trust God to deliver in His own unique way.
Who would ever have thought God would have used an old man’s raising his rod over the obstructing sea to part the waters so that the Red Sea became a gateway to the Israelites and a graveyard for the Egyptians? God does not always view things as we do, and His methods of deliverance are often mysterious to us.

9. View your current crisis as a faith builder for the future.
“The Lord saved Israel that day…so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses” (Exodus 14:30-31). Trials and troubles are the “treadmills” for the soul, developing strength and stamina.

10. Don’t forget to praise Him.
Moses and the Israelites sang a song of triumph to the Lord after their deliverance, exalting Him. We must not forget to be grateful for God’s deliverances because He truly is our strength and our song, and He has become our salvation (Exodus 15:1-2).

My Valentines

Asian Idol

25 Random Things

It seems like the whole world is on Facebook now but I know there are a few stragglers and so this post is for the three people worldwide who aren't already my "friends" on Facebook. The latest fad on Facebook is for people to write a note for their profile listing 25 random facts about themselves. Because 25 is actually quite a lot, the lists can be pretty interesting, getting past the mundane. I think the fad is fading now. Evidence of this is that I've jumped on board and written my own list. Here it is . . .

1. I can’t dance or sing and I’m rhythmically dysfunctional. I really wish I could sing.

2. I used to be very competitive and emotional about sports until about halfway through college, when I realized that it just made me look stupid. Since then, sometimes when I’d played a game and I was ahead, I would semi-subconsciously let the other side catch up to make it more interesting. This did not make me popular with my teammates, but I think they chalked it up to incompetence.

3. I love watching small college basketball, especially teams where I know some of the players and in a gym filled with rabid fans.

4. I refused to watch Survivor when it was introduced on TV and said it was trash programming. A sign of the coming apocalypse. I’ve watched every season since then. I’m also a faithful Amazing Race viewer.

5. I love Disney World. My favorite vacations have been to Disney World and Disneyland, especially in 2002 when our family met Jeff and Karen Parish and their family down in Florida for a week. A few weeks ago, I won a trip for four to Disney World for later this year.

6. I never have kept track but I’ve spent time on at least 70 college campuses and have held jobs at five.

7. I am lousy at video games and just don’t get the point.

8. I don’t like dogs. Or cats. Or really any animals within five feet of me, as a general rule.

9. The two most memorable trips of my life probably were the three weeks I spent in Asia unsuccessfully trying to recruit students and our two weeks in China when we adopted our daughter, MelodyJoy.

10. I once broke up with a girl partly because she had thick ankles. I’m shallow, so sue me. My wife has great ankles.

11. I shave my head every other day and dye my beard at least once a week. However, since I’ve lost my job, these grooming habits have fallen by the wayside a bit. I started buzzing my hair short in 2000 because I never wanted to get close to comb over status and then started shaving my head in 2003 because even buzzing it was too much hassle for me.

12. I was a huge Oakland A’s fan in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Sadly, we moved away from the Bay Area just before the A’s went to three straight World Series. I also was a big Oakland Raiders fan but find them kind of embarrassing now.

13. I’m kind of a germaphobe. It really grosses me out when people use the bathroom and don’t wash their hands afterwards.

14. I had a serious crush on Olivia Newton-John when I was in high school. There are some girls I asked out largely because they resembled her. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I’m shallow, so sue me. Olivia Newton-John does not have great ankles.

15. I’m named after my grandfathers, J. Palmer Muntz and William Hayden. I didn’t like being named Palmer when I was young because kids called me Palm Tree or Pomegranate. I didn’t know what a pomegranate was and thought it was a dirty word. I kind of like my name now and I do know what a pomegranate is.

16. My nickname in junior high was Spider.

17. Pet Peeve #1 – College graduates who say, “I’m an alumni of __________ College.” No, you’re not. You’re an alumnus or an alumna. If you don’t know what is correct, just say “I’m an alum” and you’ll be safe.

18. Pet Peeve #2 - Okay, guys, is it really that hard to put the seat up? And put it back down when you’re done? It’s just polite.

19. When I was a kid, my Grandpa Muntz sent us money every year so that our family could either go to the circus or the Ice Capades. Someday I’d like to do the same for my grandchildren.

20. I started collecting quotations of various types back in eighth grade and now have a Word document 125 pages long full of them.

21. When I visited Mexico City in 1983, I spoke broken English. I have no idea why.

22. I’ve never broken a bone. Unless you count the time I broke my sister’s finger.

23. I watch professional wrestling when no one’s looking. I’ve seen Andre the Giant, Jake the Snake and The Ultimate Warrior wrestle in person. In the Francis Asbury Wrestling Alliance, I was The Palminator.

24. I decided to write a personal mission statement last year: I am a Christ-follower who seeks to glorify God by caring for my family, by elevating Christian higher education, by serving others through connecting them to resources that help them achieve their goals, and by acting with compassion and integrity.

25. More than anything I’m grateful for God’s patience and grace. I don’t deserve either one.

Personality

Scenes from Gas Station Restrooms

On both of my trips to Lincoln, Illinois, I've stopped for gas at the Marathon station in Clinton, Illinois. I was bemused to see the following product available for sale inside the men's room, if only one had three quarters to insert . . .

We've got some serious marketing problems here. Horny Goat Weed?? I'm picturing a TV commercial with four guys singing an Elvis knock-off, "Viva Horny Goat Weed, Viva Horny Goat Weed."

The instructions at the bottom state, "Take 2 capsules 45 minutes prior to pleasurable activity." Hmmm. I'm glad to see that they're supplying genuine Horny Goat Weed, not some generic look-alike. I'm also glad to note that this is maximum strength Horny Goat Weed. You know you're getting only the very best in goat weed there.

Somehow, I think Horny Goat Weed can't be good for you, or anyone else for that matter. If you're buying your "health care" supplies in a men's room in rural Illinois, you've got problems far beyond trying to find "pleasurable activity."

Fairy GodDaughter

Riding the Roller Coaster

Life has seemed like a little bit of an emotional and financial roller coaster lately. Something good will happen, followed by something bad, repeat and rinse. It's been interesting, at least.

(An aside: When we say life is a roller coaster, do the big drops represent the bad things or are they the good things in life? And what are the loop-de-loops? I need a new metaphor. The only thing I'm certain of is that the end of the ride, when the train of cars pulls slowly into the station, is not the good part. Oh, and I don't like waiting in line for an hour to get on the roller coaster, either.)

Anyway, allow me to enumerate the last few days of our lives . . .
Friday: It was our 25th anniversary on February 4th and so we were looking for an opportunity to go out together to celebrate. In anticipation of various scheduling conflicts, we decided to go out on January 30. Better early than never. Despite mild concerns about finances in light of my "retirement," I wanted to go out for a nice dinner and so we went to Biaggi's and spent $52.30. We had a very nice time.

Friday Later: We came home to find a check for $50 had come in the mail. I shoulda shortchanged the waiter on the tip and then we coulda stayed within the fifty bucks. Yes, I'm kidding.

Saturday Morning: The mailman came to our door. He had an "Extremely Urgent" USPS Express Mail envelope with a "Noon Delivery" sticker on it that he wanted me to sign for. I was afraid it was a summons for some reason but it was from The Alamo Sweepstakes . . . which meant nothing to me. I opened it up to find that I had won a trip for four to Disneyworld! I have entered "trip to Disney" contests hundreds of times over the last ten years. I don't even remember this particular sweepstakes but I'm glad I entered it!

When we moved to Indiana, I foolishly told the kids that we would try to take them to Disneyworld during Jordan's senior year--this year--to celebrate his graduation, knowing it might be our last family vacation together. While I continued to dream about doing this, the financial realities of our lives were clearly not going to allow such a trip. Now it looks like God has opened the door. Of course, we still have to figure out a lot of logistics--like how to turn a trip for four into a trip for six and pay for that extra expense--and we'll have to pay any taxes on the prize, but you gotta admit that this was a pretty great surprise. We even get four custom mouse ear hats. We're waiting now to hear from the travel agent about how to set things up.

Sunday: My severance from Taylor expired on Saturday, with the end of January. So did our paid health insurance. This left us with several options. [a] Go without insurance. [b] Pay to continue our Cobra coverage, to the tune of $1073 a month. [c] Enroll in a class at Taylor and then buy bare bones student health insurance. We decided we would take a risk, hoping my job search is soon to conclude, and try option "a."

Sunday Later: Jordan began having severe pains in his rib cage and even in his chest and arms. We considered taking him to the Urgent Care Clinic. Being the loving parents we are, we decided to see if he made it through the night before committing to paying for a doctor's visit out of our own pocket. He was so uncomfortable, he didn't even stay for the entire Super Bowl party.

Monday Morning and beyond: Well, Jordan kept getting worse and so we took him to our family doctor. Jeannette was very careful to tell the receptionist that we didn't want our insurance billed. Our doctor didn't know what to think, so he sent them to the hospital for some tests. Eight hours and at least $4000 worth of testing later, they still didn't know what was wrong with him. They gave Jordan some muscle relaxants and pain killers and offered to let him spend the night in the hospital. We decided he (and we) would probably rest better if he was at home, plus we weren't sure what the costs would be to stay overnight there.

Monday Afternoon: I hastily wrote a check for $1073 to Taylor and mailed it to make sure that our insurance coverage would indeed continue. It was painful but better than paying $5000 or more for the day's medical services and, thankfully, we had the money in the bank to back the check up.

Wednesday: The last of our various W-2 and bank statements came last week, so I hopped on TurboTax.com to work on our taxes. First of all, I have to say that I'm a big fan of TurboTax. I've used both it and TaxCut and TurboTax is my clear favorite. It was a lot easier to do our taxes this year than last--something about no moving expenses or living in multiple states helps. I think it took me as long to organize my paperwork from the past twelve months as it did to actually fill out the federal and state forms online. Well, the outcome was very good . . . a refund larger than any we've ever received--in part because we're still receiving some tax credits related to adopting MelodyJoy--and thanks to the miracle of electronic transactions, we might see the money flow into our checking account by the middle of this month. The refund will cover the health insurance premium and probably get us through another month if I continue to be unemployed.

Wednesday Later: Having finished our taxes, I could now work more easily on Jordan's financial aid for college so I got back onto www.fafsa.ed.gov to complete his Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The last couple of years, I had run our info through some estimators to get an idea of what kind of aid he might receive from the government, so I was hopeful as I plugged all of our info into the FAFSA. Again, thanks to the miracle of electronic data transfer, there's little need for deferring your gratification. You hit submit on the form and very quickly get a report back that gives you the results. Well, in my earlier simulations, I'd been kind of excited to see that Jordan would likely qualify for at least a small Federal Pell Grant. Getting a Pell Grant isn't life-n-death, but because it's the neediest students who qualify, usually it's a good sign of things to come when you are awarded Pell. Sadly--and surprisingly only because I'd gotten my hopes up--he did not qualify for the grant. He'll still qualify for aid at the various colleges he's considering, of course, but it felt like the roller coaster took another twist and turn.

Wednesday, Somewhere in the Middle: Wednesday was our anniversary. A card came with a gift inside that allowed us to go out for an early dinner (we thought it was a late lunch, but they were using the dinner menu by the time we got there). MelodyJoy joined us since the boys were still tied up with school activities. It was just kind of an added blessing that after having such a nice pre-anniversary evening out, we still got to go out on our anniversary.

We still don't know what caused Jordan's pain. He seems to be pretty much back to normal now. Jeannette was telling someone yesterday that the uncertainty we feel about his situation this week is almost a picture of what our lives as a whole are like right now. Jordan was in significant discomfort . . . we did everything we could . . . it was kind of costly . . . everything's fine for now . . . but we don't know the "why" of it all and don't know what might happen next. Having said that, I also believe the ebb and flow of our little financial tale is a picture of how God is meeting our needs, providing encouragement when we need it, and I trust He'll continue to do so in the days ahead.