Wednesday July 28, 2010 - Camarillo/Santa Barbara, California

Today is our five-month anniversary of nomadic life. On February 28, after leading worship at my parish for the last time, Gena and I jumped in the van, grabbed a bagel & lox, and headed off across the desert towards the rest of the world. It was such a mixture of feelings - relief, pain, disappointment, uncertainty, hope, joy, peace. We didn't know where the following days and weeks would lead us, we just trusted - as we continue to trust - that we are led.

Five months and roughly 16,000 miles and 30 states later, we're still being led. It's a great comfort and peace in the midst of uncertainty, anticipation, anxiousness, hope, joy, and a myriad of other emotions. We know a few more details about what the near future is likely to bring, and what the indefinite future may look like. But those details are pretty minor. A geographic area. A parish. Familiar faces not too far away. The continuing of work and mission and education in a new setting, with new people. We don't know the big things. What will happen. How we'll feel when it's time to leave or retire or move-on. What the next stage of the journey might look like. These are the blanks that only really get filled in day by day, hour by hour, regardless of how nice our five or ten-year plans might sound or look on paper.

I try to remember that at the end of a long day looking at rental properties over a 30-mile distance. At the end of the day, there are two strong contenders - a property about 13 miles south of Santa Barbara in the small community of Carpinteria. It's a beautiful house and yard, meticulously kept up. The kitchen is a bit small and awkward though, and we're not a big fan of carpeting throughout. But these are small issues.

The other contender is in Santa Barbara proper, probably about a mile from the church as the crow flies. It's an older property, well maintained, with lots of yard space. But it hasn't been updated and maintained quite as well as the Carpinteria property. In particular, there's some ancient linoleum in the kitchen area that looks atrocious, and the countertops in the kitchen and bathroom are old tile. Beyond the color of the tile (black/white and peach/light green, respectively), the tile is old, broken and chipped in many places, and makes the place look considerably less nice and clean than it actually is.

Decisions decisions. Location or condition?