As of November 3, Rhianwen and I have been in Los Angeles for exactly six months. That means we have spent approximately 1/50th of our lives here in California, because like most people we measure and judge our lives in fractions of 50.So how has this past fiftieth of our lives held up compared to the other 49? Not bad. We've had plenty of blessings. Rhianwen and I live with our best friends in the world (each other, duh) in a terrific home in a beautiful place. Rhianwen has a job that she enjoys, and maybe more importantly she is building good relationships with her co-workers. We have found an amazing church that we seem to appreciate more and more each week. We have an ever-growing group of friends that bless us despite the fact that we sometimes don't have the means to bless them. We're geographically closer to Sarah and Steve, which is a dream Rhianwen has had ever since Sarah left Philadelphia for Berkeley more than ten years ago.
Of course, there are hardships too. I've been unemployed for going on ten months now. We never thought finding a job would be this hard (and believe me, I have applied to a lot of jobs in just about every field that doesn't require an M. or J.D.) and it is putting a particularly tough strain on our finances currently. Of course there is the occasional bout of homesickness. Rhianwen has been hit hard with it since the moment we drove away from Phil and Rachel's back in April. I mean, let's face it, when we found out Rachel is pregnant, our joy was quickly followed by a longing to be in the company of our dear friends. And then there's the Phillies World Series victory; I wait 25 long years for the thing to happen, and they wait until I skip town to do something about it. I am still sifting through my friends' Facebook photos of the days-long celebration, suppressing tears as I go.
But hey, the hardships are blessings too, because that's part of God's wacky design, right? I've been extremely close to landing a job on several occasions, only to have the door closed on me for unknown reasons. Could it be that those unknown reasons are God's ways of saying, "I don't want you spending two and a half hours a day on the 405"? And being apart from our friends and family might be tough, but our desire for community has only helped us forge tighter friendships here in LA. Sure, it will suck to be 3,000 miles away from home for Thanksgiving and Christmas but... well, actually there's no upside to that. Buy us tickets, please?
Most of all--and I think Rhianwen will agree with me here, maybe we can get a Rhi's Remark about it later--I think our marriage has been strengthened. Even though we are shakier than we have ever been financially and materially, I am more confident than ever that our relationship can survive anything.
Rhi's Rhimark: I'll just say that I am tremendously proud of Benner and the diligence and faith he has displayed these past few months. He is an amazing husband and I love him dearly. As far as these past 6 months have gone: God has never given us more than we can bear and He has used our circumstances to make us more available to Him. Through that dependence He has been drawing us closer and working in our hearts and that gives us more satisfaction that anything else. We are grateful for these past 6 months, for all of your encouragement and support, and look forward to what lies ahead.
