Scout Finch

Still praying for Frank and family. May they be surrounded by people who can support and comfort them.

I called baby sister and talked to her for quite awhile this weekend. I think an improvement in our relationship is underway no matter where her next job takes her. Thanks for your prayers and encouragement.

Thanks to !s and everyone else for your kind words and advice and for your prayers. The interview today seemed to go well. It is a place I would like to work. I hope it works out and thank you for your continued prayers.

Rascal,

How are you doing? Just remember that a lot of people here think you are wonderful and somewhere out there are your future coworkers who will see you for the gem that you are. You have been and will continue to be in my prayers.

So sorry for your loss.

I hope you have many things to remind you of her and many good stories to tell your younger relatives. It is so important to pass the history to the next generations.

Peace and Hope to you.

Ex,

Praying for you and your son.

I think I know what you mean about being a good human rather than trying to be a good daughter. I think your situation may be similar to what I have with my crazy mother. Praying for your heart to be protected and that your dad's wife gets home ASAP to resume his care.

Your son is lucky to have such a caring mother. The fact that he knows you care so much and love him will make his injury less scary for him.

Thanks Steve and Outandabout.

No risks no rewards is a good way to look at it. I can see Lefty and I together as a happy old couple. The thought of not having him around is very sad to me. I guess that says a lot.

Right now I am just taking it one day at a time with him and with the job situation. I have an interview tomorrow, so that's a positive development. Lefty emailed me from work this morning and that made me smile. I am thinking of leaving him a note and his favorite candy at his place for when he gets home from class tonight (he goes to night school on Mondays to get another masters degree. He's also very smart). That's the plan just for today that I can handle.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for the advice. I will do the counseling thing. Lefty is a very stable hardworking guy. I guess there is a reason I was avoiding a relationship with him for a long time, but the guys I was attracted to before Lefty were reckless, heavy drinker/smoker multiple divorced womanizer types. On some weird level I probably expected those other guys not to stick around. Then there would have been no surprises. I know Lefty would stick around because he always has. Weird how we frail humans sometimes work double time to sabotage ourselves.

Thanks for your prayers and caring.

Thanks, folks.

I did take PFAL in the last century, though not as many times as most from the sounds of Mr. Hammer's thread. I do get the red drapes analogy. You are right. I should put more effort into restoring the relationship even if Baby doesn't end up in that job.

I don't mean to be a prayer hog, but this has been so liberating to put requests here. I usually don't ask people for help and spend way too much time worrying, but posting things here helps me to get things off of my worry list.

Here's the prayer request:

My youngest sister now lives half way across the country from me. It is almost a two day drive. I don't see her very often. We used to be very close, but my crazy mother seems to have been involved in causing a strain between myself and "Baby" (she's the youngest...even though she's in her early thirties, she is still the baby).

I want to mend the relationship with Baby and not miss any more years of how close we used to be. She has a chance at getting a job in a town about an hour from me. She applied for the job, but thinks her chances of getting it are pretty slim.

Please pray that she gets this job. It is a job she really wants, and I would love to have her close by so I can work on mending our relationship and keeping it strong before crazy mom strikes again.

Oen,

I read the book when I was probably 11 or 12 and re-read it until it was worn out. I still watch the movie every time I get a chance. I loved Scout because she looked and dressed like me when I was her age. I was also very close to my brother like she was and didn't have much of a mother figure. My mother was alive and present in the house, but not at all emotionally available to us kids or my dad.

I agree with your assessment of Gregory Peck in that movie. No matter what movie I saw him in after that, he was always Attacus Finch to me.

An interesting side effect of my unemployment has been the beginning of a relationship that has me happy on one hand, but scared on another.

I have been good friends with a very wonderful man for 7 or 8 years. After my divorce 6 years ago, we did try dating for a while, but it didn't work out. My head was still spinning from the end of my marriage and subsequent divorce. I couldn't commit to the relationship my friend was ready for. We remained good friends and in constant contact over that time. I would have to say he has probably been my best friend.

Neither of us have dated during that time. I did become interested in a couple of men in the last couple of years, but they were not interested in me so nothing developed. My friend, "Lefty", didn't meet anyone else he was interested in. Lefty and I spent time together as friends would because we have many common interests and we make each other laugh.

This period of unemployment is the first time since my divorce that I have really needed someone to lean on. I was feeling worthless and depressed. Lefty called me every day, gave me pep talks. He realized that I wasn't eating because I was just too down to eat. He started inviting me over for his cute bachelor prepared meals or takeout to be sure I was eating at least one meal a day. When we would go out and do things together, he wouldn't let me pay for my ticket or restaurant meal.

Well, one night at supper when we were laughing and I realized that eating supper with him had become the high point of my day. To get back to a routine, he let me use his place during the day for on line job hunting. I have my own computer and internet access at home, but going to his place for a certain period of time everyday seemed like going to a job and left me to focus solely on that. I found I liked being at his place, seeing his things that reminded me of him and his hobbies and interests.

A few nights ago after supper, I did blurt out that I cared for him very much and that I wanted to be in a romantic and committed relationship with him. I was the one who had ended our earlier relationship, so I thought it was my duty to be the one to bring it up. He said he wanted the same and hadn't gone anywhere for the last few years because he enjoyed my company so much even if we were "just friends".

We have had a couple of very wonderful days being "in love" again. I care very much for this man, he is a very good and caring person. I have no reason to think he would leave me, but I am still very afraid of making a committment. I know he is a completely different person than my ex-husband, but I am terrified of putting my whole heart into something and then being left for something or someone shinier, newer, more interesting, less quirky, easier to live with, etc, etc.

I guess what I need to ask for are prayers, suggestions, miracles to heal my heart, mind, emotions so I don't mess up something wonderful. Lefty waited once, I don't want to panic and screw this up because I wouldn't ask him to wait again. Neither of us have children and are in our late forties. He has never been married. He is the only person I can see myself growing old with.

Cindy!, if you are reading this, how did you get to be so head over heels with Steve! after a previous marriage that doesn't sound very nice? How did you get to trust Steve! and not have flashbacks of your marriage to your ex and become afraid that your marriage to Steve! would become the same thing?

Sorry for the ramble. Hope some of you can still read this.

I have an interview on Tuesday. Thanks for your prayers. Praying that it goes well and I'll be back to work soon.

I don't remember any priceless moments from when I was in the corps. I remember my corps training as a lot of fear of reproof, fear of doing the wrong thing, fear of not getting the tuition thing together, fear of the next impossible thing they were going to make us do. I managed to graduate and leave TWI not long after, but the main thing the corps did for me is prove once and for all that TWI was a group I should get far away from.

The character and personality of the corps seemed to have changed shortly after Martindale became the president of the ministry. The stories here sound like there were still some unique, fun loving joyful people in those pre Martindale pres. corps. The corps training I remember seemed to consist of a lot of people as afraid as I was and a lot of ruthlessly ambitious way tree climbers. The way tree climbers seemed like the soulless corporate climbing types I met in the working world after leaving TWI.

From the way many of you early ex corps (pre 12th or 13th, I think) talk back and forth here, there seems to be a genuine affection and recollection of fondness for the experience and one another. I don't have those feelings for anyone I can think of from my corps years. I guess that was a good thing because it got me to leave pretty quickly with almost no difficulty in making that decision. On the other hand, it makes those years seem even more wasted as compared to the times some of you spent.

I don't know...just thinking on "paper". I am glad that you guys were able to build some good memories and share them with the rest of us. I have to admit it was the early corps that I saw that made me consider going into the corps in the first place. If I had only seen the post Martindale presidency corps, I probably never would have gone.

I have been reading your story from the beginning. Thank you for telling it. I was never a dynamic "word mover" and can relate to how you felt.

I know you have other things to do, but please don't leave us in suspense too long about you and Buster...and the rest of your life.

Kit,

You make me cry. The beautiful things you say...Thank you with all of my heart for your words and prayers.

Ditto on what so many others have already said. You are a wonderful person as I have seen from your posts here.

From what you have posted, I don't think you are a "loser" or that you failed at that job. I think the place is poorly run and no reasonably good employee could perform the job with the disgraceful training and oversight they provided you.

As my best friend here in my town keeps telling me: "Forget about those axxholes and just keep moving ahead. You succeeded at many things in life before your time there, and you will succeed in many more things now that you are gone from that awful place".

Put one foot in front of the other, do the next thing that needs doing and let Jesus bear the burden for you.

Peace, beautiful sister.

Praying for your sister and her wonderful boys.

You're in my prayers, Oen.

I know these things are sometimes hard to deal with. After praying for awhile this morning about many situations, my own and others here, a very comforting thought came to me: "just put one foot in front of the other and Jesus will carry the burden". I have made that my slogan for the day and probably for the next several and offer it to you.

Make the calls, fill out the paperwork, search the ads and visit the dealers or repair shops, but let Jesus carry the burden of the stress so you can experience the joy that other parts of life have to offer you.

Praying that your jaw is fine, insurance gets the job done quickly and you get what you need.

Peace, Brother.

Rascal,

I have been praying for you ever since you posted about your situation on another thread. I went through a similar situation at my last job until I resigned because I just couldn't take it anymore and it was destroying me. You hit the nail on the head when you said how much it reminded you of TWI. My situation was causing the TWI nightmares that I thought I had left behind.

I am single and it is very scary being unemployed. I have some supportive friends here, but the prayers and encouragement I get from people here who don't even know me has been wonderful. I read the responses to the post I made about my job need everyday for encouragement and to remind me to have hope, pray and remember that I am still a worthwhile person.

From the posts of yours that I have read here, you are a wonderful, caring, determined, honest and responsible person. You show up for work everyday and put forth a great effort. That is so valuable in an employee. I hope and pray that you get a chance to speak with the boss directly. A good boss will look at the whole picture. High employee turnover is expensive. They went to the expense of hiring you and training you for 90 days. They have made an investment that they would be foolish to write off too quickly based on the effort you have made and the other good things about your performance.

You will continue to be in my prayers. Peace to you.

Praying that Sandy finds another job and for her health.

Your responses mean so much. I go back and read this thread everyday to remind me that there are good people in the world and to take comfort from your encouraging words. It also keeps me praying for the other needs here. Praying for others helps me in many ways, too.

Praying for her surgery and recovery.

Vickles,

If you have any doubts, you could set up a simple Excel spreadsheet and check up on them by calculating principal, interest payments and remaining balance. If you want help with this, PT me.

I do the same as ZShot said - check my account online. I do this every month by checking the principal owed, the escrow balance and payouts from escrow.

I also keep a spreadsheet of my own that calculates what my interest and principal are every month. I compare my numbers with what the statement from the mortgage company says. They have always matched within a penny. I track the escrow $ in and out on the same spreadsheet. I have never had a problem and know the mortgage company is on the up and up.