Feb. 24th-Homeless in Houston-The Final Days

Well, last night the end of any hope with Marathon was dashed. Jim got a call from the HR in Findlay, Ohio. They decided to "restructure" the job and gave it to the other candidate. I can make no sense out of this entire situation. Jim is more qualified in his little finger than most other candidates seeking a job in the security sector. Marathon pursued Jim to get him into their company, and now, even though they have given us a fairly decent severance package, I still feel abandoned.



Jim, on the other hand, seems to have a much stronger faith than I do at the moment. He's up early, slept well, worked out and trusting in God. He even told me that he and the Good Lord "had a good talk this morning," and Jim is positive that things will work out.



There is one job tentatively out on the table, but it isn't what either of us are excited about, nor is it in a place either one of us wants to go. I won't go into detail yet, in case I jinx the offer, but suffice to say, the story of Joseph will become too true if this is Jim's only opportunity. I'm talking about the part in Joseph's story where he was put into prison, rose to the top, was released, then falsly accused and thrown back into prison. If this opportunity avails itself, we will be returning to our own "prison."



I called my "bestest" friend, Pat, this morning, just to get her wisdom. She has been through so much in her own life and is one strong pillar to lean on. Her words were wise pearls: God will get us through this; it won't be fun going through, but we will be able to look back after this is over and see the end of this and the reason for it. Pat believes that God is moving, and somewhere deep down in my soul where things make sense, I believe that, too. However, on the surface, nothing that has happened makes sense. I mean, two months ago, December 24th, we were having Christmas Eve dinner for the MPRI guys on the compound in Malabo; our biggest stress was where we were going for our first vacation off the island, and now two months later, we are in a hotel with our bags and each other.



And that is the bottom line, we do have each other to lean on throughout this challenging time. I don't know what I would do without Jim, his strength, his belief in God, and his love for me (especially when I doubt).



So, now we are working on Plan C. Some of the things we are having to think about:



1. Where do we go from here? We are thinking of Jim's brother's in Dallas on Saturday night.

2. Do we hold our excess bags there, or do we ship them on to Florida and Jim's mom's house?

3. When does Jim fly for the job interview? Will I go with him? It's looking like next Tuesday or Wed.

4. How do we get to CA to pick up our one and only car at Travis AFB?

5. When do we get Marathon to ship our stored furniture, and where? (They will hold it for 90 days, then it's our expense). Since our retirement home is WA, we would like to get our stuff back in that area.

6. What's our drop dead deadline for Marathon to get our stuff out of the Guinean custody and back to us in the US?

7. If they don't get our stuff back, do we file a claim (according to our hiring package, they owe us that).



All the details are very stressful to me. We will be meeting one more time with Marathon's HR on Thursday to hopefully iron out the details.

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Jim's interview in Pasadena will be next Mon/Tues/Wed. If he decides to sign then it's back to Africa again. UGH!!!! But, if that is truly what God wants, then I need to be ok with it, and pray for his wisdom.

We had a really fun night tonight and got our minds way off this drama. Saw the Pink Panther 2. Although it wasn't as funny as Pink Panther 1, there were some funny moments, and it did the magic of taking our minds off our troubles. We laughed a lot, especially the part about Mr. Pope and his stealing the Pope's signature ring. Now that was funny! Then we went to Market Square in The Woodlands and had a wonderful dinner (again on AMPCO's dime)-they have treated us very well in all of this. Walked around the town-it's one of those little planned towns with music piped in on the streets and upscale shops, back to the Hilton Refugee Camp for cookies (they have homemade cookies every night for the refugees), and now in our "home." I'll miss it, but it's time to move on. Looks like we'll be driving to John & Angel's in Dallas on Saturday, then fly to Pasadena on Sunday or Monday, then Sacramento on Thursday, get the Honda fixed, then drive up to WA state to get our stuff put in storage that still remains in San Jose. We don't think we will ever see our other things that are being held by Guinean customs and criminals. So, I guess we either file a claim or take this to court. UGH!!!!

Friday, Feb. 6th-Homeless in Houston-God's Balance

Well, let's see where do I start today---I need to back track about God's balance in this unfolding drama. I think in a previous blog I referred to Janet Hall, the lady I met on the plane coming from Atlanta to Houston. She had been in Malaga, nearly missed her flight in Paris, and ended up as a seat mate next to me from Atlanta to Houston. Normally, I prefer not to yak on the plane, but I overheard her conversation about being in Malaga, Spain, and I had to ask her, since I had lived in southern Spain for two years, and Jim and I had married in Gibraltar. She and I talked non-stop for the entire trip. She told me her story-living overseas in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and her husband's working for Maersk Shipping Lines. Jim had provided security for Maersk in Conakry, Guinea, and also understood shipping container challenges when he was security director for the Port of Tacoma. I shared my sad saga.

She left me her number, told me about her blog, and given me her e-mail should I need her. So, I took her up on it. She is also a Christian and told me about her church, the Fellowship of the Woodlands, near where we would be staying. Jim and I took both her and her husband, Charles, out to dinner on Friday night, and it was like we had known them forever. We joined them for church on Sunday, then she invited me to a Bible Study on Wed. am. The study was similar to one I had attended many years ago when I was a stay at home mom. This was a wonderful study, and Janet shared our refugee experiences with some of the ladies, who volunteered to pray. I am convinced their prayers brought about the answer we received on Thursday, since they were all praying on Wed at 200 pm when Jim was at Marathon discussing trying to return to EQ Guinea.

Then, Janet invited us to dinner on Thursday night. Little did we know that we would be in mourning over losing the job-since the dictator (President Obiang) decided that Jim was "persona non grata." We decided to go to Janet's and Charles' rather than sit around and feel sorry for ourselves crying in our beer. It was the best thing we could have done. They have a beautiful home, are gracious hosts, and we keep discovering ways we are all four similar-this has to be a God thing as being with them has been so easy, no pressure! Jim and I were really relaxed, the dinner was fabulous, their home is fabulous, and we felt very comforted and cared for by strangers.

Lessons I am learning are that:

1. God does NOT make mistakes.
2. When He takes something out of your life, he balances it with something in your life-ergo-lost the job, but gained some neat friends. We also are thanking God for the blessings of family and friend who really care.
3. Tonight, we are having dinner with Jim's old boss from Shell. Jim will meet with Marathon Global Security to decide what his future with Marathon holds.

Either I am totally nuts, in shock, or at peace that all that has transpired is God's moving in our lives. Now, He has not answered the prayers like I wanted them, but my experience tells me that when He says "no" he has another plan.

There are so many details that I cannot comprehend:

1. Our car (one and only is in California)-some of our stuff is in San Jose,CA, the rest is in Malabo in our home and at the Port being held by the EQ Gov't.
2. We have a home at the Hilton Refugee Camp until Feb. 28th, then God is already out there.
3. Marathon wants to retain Jim and have told him about an offer in Findley, Ohio. Where on God's green earth is that? The irony is that Jim did apply with Marathon several years ago for a position with Marathon in-you guessed it-Findley, Ohio; he was turned down. Isn't that a hoot!

So, stay tuned for the drama of "Homeless in Houston" to unfold...