And the Day Ends with a SCORE!

Today at about 8:00 a.m., Pat called and asked if I would like to go out to a rig. I said yes, I would like to, and we headed out on those bits of Federal Property called roads that make their way through Indian land (incidentally, I saw some houses that didn't look sanitary to live in. That's a nice way to put it). I got to see exactly how these two to three million dollar a week operations run, and meet the guy running this particular rig. Pat also made a lot of phone calls for me to companies to see if they are hiring. When I got back into town, I went around driving to drop off applications at a long list of companies Pat gave me. I didn't find most of them, as I dont' know the area very well. Pat had, by the way, already found me a job that paid like $16.00 an hour, but he said to hold off till next week on that job. After checking into my new hotel, I went out to supper with the pastor of the church I'm going to attend here, and while we were eating, he made a phone call to a Christian (this is Utah, normal people here are Mormon[70%] or heathen [25%]. The rest are Indian or Christian) guy named Fernando who owns a rig. Well, Fernando has two crews. One of his foremen is also a Christian.

To cut to the chase, I meet Fernando at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, and I'm supposed to show up ready to work. Fernando starts paying people $24 an hour. This is a HUGE answer to prayer. I don't have this job yet, technically, but I am praying that it works out. I have faith that it will work out.

And looking into the future, I see out of this oil job I'm believing to get in the morning a church plant in Boston, MA. I'm encouraged. I'm leaning on God, trusting in him, knowing that yes, now sucks but that he has a plan for me out of this. Thank you, Jesus.

If you're praying for me, pray that:

1. I "get" things out on the rig. One thing I have learned is that this is a whole new language and a whole new way of looking at things.
2. Pray that I stay safe. This is potentially dangerous work.
3. Pray that I find a permanent place... soon.
4. Pray that I can pick up extra work. If I can pick up say, 2-3 extra shifts on my weeks off, that is 1000 bucks I can throw at my debt a month (conservatively).

Thank you for all the people that have been praying for me: Mom, Dad, lil sister Rachel, Nancy, Shawn, Kristin, P. Alan, P. Troy, and anyone else I've forgotten.

Job Hunt Update

So, I'm reviewing my notes on the job hunt, hotel, and housing situation. My thoughts are:

1. The hotels are making a killing. A lot of them are high at 79.99 a night, but get this - that's 79.99 a PERSON! They don't even want to let you diffuse costs!
2. Job services was not really that helpful. Nothing against them. They had me make a resume, and then they gave me the name of four companies. My contact Pat had more names off the top of his head.
3. It's going to suck here if the boom ever ends. Sounds like they are building a ton of housing, which they need due to the lack of availability... but that lack comes from people like me.

I'm going into Patterson in an hour. I want to work for them. Pray that I can work for them.

I'm scared. There, I said it. I'm alone, and I'm in Utah. Last night I was scared because I couldn't find a hotel within an hour of where I need to be. Today I'm scared because I'm having thoughts of "This isn't the right place for me" enter my mind after a conversation I had with a guy at the hotel while I checked in. He told me that I was pretty much guaranteed to lose a finger, that I am gonna be workin my hind end off, and that I'm NOT going to be able to find housing. Well, sir, thanks for the advice. It really helped a lot. I woke up dealing with thoughts of going to Dickinson, ND so I could have some family nearby. But as I prayed, it hit me that I know that God has this place in mind for me (Roosevelt). I know that it's HIS plan that I be here, that I work here, that I live here, that I base out of here.

I talked to Pat (the guy I'm getting my info and advice from) this morning and that was good. It calmed me down a lot. He told me that people don't lose fingers today - that's 30 years ago. He said that OSHA is all over all the companies here, that orientation is specifically designed to make you aware of dangerous things, and that yes, while the work is intense, it's not 12 hours of killing yourself. It's doable by the average person.

So I'm going to job services to find out what is available in the oil area, and then I'm calling Pat to go over the jobs with him. Then, I'm going to apply. Hopefully I'll be in orientation tomorrow. Hopefully I can find an apartment today.

Be Removed, Mountain

There’s something wild about mountains. As I write this, I’m sitting at the top of Pike’s Peak. At this height of 14,110 feet, very little vegetation can live. Coming off a warm summer, there is still ice and snow at the peak. The only thing here is thin air, rock, and dirt.What makes an ascent like this worth the effort? The view along the way is gorgeous, yes, but many folks find themselves dizzy at the top. Many find themselves almost going over the edge of the roads on the way up and down. Brakes fail with constant use, engines overheat due to pressure changes and the effect of that on radiators, and a lot of folks get to the top to realize that they’re flat out dizzy from the thin air and can’t handle it.

It’s the view that makes trips like this worth it. It’s the perspective. Pike himself said when he was at the base of this mountain in 1806 that it seemed no man could ascend this mountain. And yet the mountain has been conquered, and every year thousands of folks drive to the top of Pike’s Peak, making it the most visited mountain in the United States. Fill up with gas, pay your ten dollars, and you’ll make it up the mountain. This is an easy mountain to defeat thanks to road graders, gravel, and cars.

There are still mountains out there that man has to work to defeat. From McKinley to Everest to certain mountains in the Alps (I’m away from my reference materials as I write this on top of Pike’s Peak), there are mountains that we’ve not put the effort into building roads on. And that’s fine, keep the challenge there for the real mountaineers.

We have mountains in our lives, figuratively speaking. If you’re honest with yourselves, how many mountains have you defeated? You might have made it to the top of the mountain of eliminating debt, seeing your marriage restored when you thought it was beyond repair, getting a degree or some type licensing that was difficult. You might also have mountains that you’re at the base of right now. You echo Pike, and say “There is no way I can make it to the top. The mountain has conquered me!”

Jesus once told his disciples that if they spoke to a mountain, they could tell it to be into the sea, and that it would be removed from where it is. God is all about you defeating your mountains! The fact is, if you’re at the base of your mountain and you’re not doing anything about it, if you’re not asking for the gift of faith and the gift of ACTION to defeat your mountains, to cast them into the sea, you have a clear mandate from God to do so. And as you go up your mountain, you’re building a highway for others to follow you on. Your experiences are a God gift to be used in helping others.

So get going! Stop being a pussy and climb that mountain

Connecting with Cousins

One thing I'm doing right with this move is taking the travel light. I'm hoping that unlike other moves, I won't feel like I should take a nine year nap when I reach Roosevelt. In the spirit of that, I called my cousin and her husband (I guess some would just say "my cousins") to see if they wanted to have dinner. Not only did they end up not letting me buy (rascals), but they put me up in their very nice home as well! I'll have to remember to grab a picture of their house in the morning. They've got a nice place - when you drive on the main road by their house, there is a breathtaking view of the Rockies!

We ate at Thai Basil. It was a great meal. I had a beef dish which was cooked, in regards to hot spice level, exactly where I ordered it. This is really a rare treat. The muchrooms in the meal were a bit... spongey. I think I like that though, but I'm not sure.

The best part though, was getting to connect with my cousins. Amy was much older than I growing up, so I never really got to know her. And I really had only spoken for maybe five minutes with her husband since they got married last year... so it was a great time! I got to find out about their lives out here. The cool thing is that it sounds like they are looking to find a church similar to the one I come from back home. I really would love to see them get plugged in. They're such a nice couple, it would be great to have them in a place where they could go to the next level in their spiritual lives and then continue to grow more like Christ, whatever that looks like for them!

I even showed them some of the videos River Valley has done - they said that it looked like a church they could plug into to, which was cool. We talked till past 10:30. I'm looking to get a 6:00 a.m. start from Littleton so that I can grab some good light for pictures on Pikes Peak... so I had better get to bed.