Last man standing?

There has been lots going on here, but I’m not sure how much I can say. It’s funny how even though Josh is in a new job in the civilian world there are still restrictions on what I can say — maybe not legally, but definitely from a “let’s be wise” standpoint. I actually don’t think I’ve ever put his company name on my blog, so yay for habits of discretion developed over the past 20 years.

Anyway, Josh’s job has been good for him personally, but things have been in flux ever since he joined 3 months ago. There have been 2 mergers, both at the division level and the company level, and we joke that he’s on his 3rd set of business cards in as many months. The mergers mean that everyone else is jockeying for position within the company so as to not be “made redundant” (a Britishism that sounds so much nicer than being “laid off”). We think Josh is in an OK spot because he’s the only one from his division that’s in country — everyone else works back in the US.

But beyond that, the shake-up within the company affects the people he works for and with and that creates quite a bit of stress and uncertainty. Our newest drama of the week (seriously, there really is a new issue each week — our life is like an after school special) relates to the two people who are Josh’s closest connections to the company. So, who knows what is in store for us in the future?

Thankfully, we have peace. It’s a bit humorous when we list out all of the crazy that has crossed our path since starting this civilian job thing. Starting with Toby and all of his “we don’t do that” nonsense back in June to today, seeing people dropping like flies and wondering what could possibly happen next. I think that’s as close as I can get to the line without being asked to go back and redact things. We are certain that God intended for us to be here — with so many people locally losing jobs and heading home it is a miracle that Josh got a job this year and is actually working here, but we don’t know how long he intends for us to stay. I don’t think we’re going anywhere soon, but we are willing to go anywhere and there’s a peace that comes with knowing that I can be content anywhere on the planet (as long as I can still get my Zoloft prescription).

For now, we’re putting down roots, the way we always do. Both literally and spiritually. I love my (small) garden. I take all the vegetable waste from the kitchen and pit compost it around the plants. In the heat it breaks down overnight and I love that I’m turning this sandy plot into great dirt.

One of my volunteer squash seeds is taking over the yard like Jack’s beanstalk. About 20 baby plants popped up after I composted squash remains and I thinned them to the strongest 3. I have no idea what kind of squash we’ll get, but that’s part of the adventure.  Grapevines! They were struggling in the heat after being transplanted, but have finally started bouncing back. The goal is for them to grow up and into the fence to act as screen from the street (like the yellow flowers in the below photo).  Baby eggplants! They are so beautiful. Like little purple jewels. It also helps that I love eggplant (aka Aubergine here).

We’ll keep growing and settling as we seek to discover our purpose here, but if you want to come visit, it might be wise to plan something sooner, rather than later. Who knows what next week will bring? Inshallah, inshallah.