From the last entry, we were about to start apartment and job hunting. A lot has happened in those three months.
Apartment Hunting
I did lots of searching online, and we drove around several areas in Orange County that we thought might work out. Yubo really wanted to start off at the Mike Diamond shop he had started in, so it really limited where we would live.
Also, Yubo had committed to being on a friend's basketball team that plays every Sunday, so that made it feel like we had to stay south also. Oh, the arguments that decision caused (perhaps in another "Struggles..." entry).
When we realized that all the apartments in our price range placed us in fairly scary neighborhoods, Yubo finally let me drag him to some places outside of OC. Long story short, we ended up in La Verne in a newly remodeled apartment at a great price that accepted cats, in a clean neighborhood across the street from City Hall, and most importantly, across the street from an In-n-Out.
Really, we were pretty amazed at how great the area was. Several things within walking distance (movie theater, market, food). I don't really like that it's also across the street from a high school, but thankfully we don't really get caught up in that traffic.
The apartment is roughly 30-40 minutes from either set of parents, so the option to visit is made easier. I'm personally still not quite there yet, but it helps to not be able to make distance an excuse.
Job Hunting
Yubo really didn't need to hunt, but to be honest, it would have been much better if he didn't put off getting a job. But after some phone calls, he got an interview and was hired at the Pomona shop, just 20ish minutes away from the apartment.
Job hunting was obviously worse for me, and for some reason, Yubo didn't realize how long it would take me to get a job, thinking I'd quickly be the steady income we'd need.
But thankfully, the Lord once again provided. I got hired as a front desk person at a vocal coaching studio, and I've been really excited about it. As of this post, I just had my first day of work yesterday, and the grand opening of the studio is this weekend, after which I start an actual schedule. It's only part time, but the pay is fairly good, and since it's a new studio, there's loads of room for growth. My boss even said that everyone she hired, she considered everyone's potential to do something more.
The financial struggles have been a bit staggering. We've received so much help from both sets of parents that I actually resorted to asking friends, which, of course, really worried them. Yubo ended up asking his parents again, and I let my friends know that what we needed more was prayers (which I'm sure we got an outpouring of, and it totally helped).
We're (very) slowly but surely getting on our feet. Just hoping we can get to a point where we're saving again, and then hopefully we can repay our parents even a little bit of what they've given us during this time. We just feel like, being able to pay them back something will be the marker that shows we're ok now.
Church
Mostly because of Yubo's basketball thing, we've settled on staying at his old home church. I'm still a bit reserved about it because everyone's known Yubo since he was born. The church seems smaller than Lighthouse, and so it seems everyone knows everyone. If you're new, you stick out like a sore thumb, and it's a bit overwhelming for someone as shy as I am...... especially when Yubo leaves me alone to socialize with his old friends.
Before we moved, I was telling Yubo how I thought it'd be good for us to just be regular congregation members for a while. With how involved I was at Lighthouse, I had realized it had become a bit difficult for me to stop working at church, and simply worship when I wasn't assigned to do anything. So I thought the break would allow us to regain that aspect of a Sunday morning.
When that first Sunday came, I already missed Lighthouse, and I missed serving. I was scared that I couldn't just plug in to Anaheim because of how close their congregation is, and they don't know me. I think my laments finally got to Yubo, because he set us up to talk with the head and associate pastors.
We had those "meetings" just recently. Dinner with P.Shin last week was fun. It was a really good "getting to know you" conversation, and helped me feel more at ease with the thought of being at Anaheim. Learned fun little tidbits too, like how P.Shin was roommates with P.Wayne at one point.
Lunch with P.Nancy before then was very fulfilling. We talked with her about what we did at Lighthouse, and she was very keen to see how we could be used at Anaheim. She was so excited, in fact, that Yubo and I were a bit scared (aside from our own excitement) at how quickly and to what degrees we might be able to serve.
Yubo actually hasn't determined how committed he would be. With work and basketball already, he thinks he'd probably stick to the occasional special request, like this morning's story reading.
I, on the other hand, feel the need to be about as involved as I was with Lighthouse. I gained so much from P.Keith and his teachings and training, and I still really want to be a worship director. Well, at Anaheim, that might happen much sooner than I thought. The current worship directors are planning to be missionaries in Japan within the next few years. My mind is pretty blown at how beautifully God set this all up.
Anyway, I feel like I can't say much yet since nothing's really set. But I'm excited to see where this all goes. I want to put to use all these things God has given me and taught me.
Family
Just a quick blurb about this. I certainly don't see an immediate resolution to this, but as God strengthens my heart, it seems He's been softening my dad's. I feels it's been more stressful than necessary, as my sister and my mom push me to reconcile, and I keep having to tell them that this is a process I have to go through. No, it's not as bad as what happened between him and my sister, but that doesn't mean it's automatically easier.
I feel like what they want to happen with me regarding my dad is what I feel my dad expects every time he asks about my weight. I'm sorry I haven't lost 60 lbs since the last time we talked last month. I'm sorry I'm not automatically skinny again as soon as you ask the question.
Obviously, I know that's not what he really expects, but that's how it feels. And actually, I'm not sure I can say that's not what my sister and mom expect. But anyhow, I know God's working on that too. And I also have the support from Yubo and his parents.
I think that's about where we're at. Whoever still reads this, thanks for wanting to keep up. And of course, please keep those prayers coming.
Life....
11 years ago
