update[z]

I took an online typing test.

I scored 530 CPM and 105 WPM.

That puts me in the top .3 percentile.

(And that’s only using three fingers!)

Now THAT is a marketable skill. At least I have one!

Okay, here are some updates (with a Z):

Ashley. Things with Ashley have been going well. It’s a good sign when you spend so much time with someone without getting sick of them. Don’t get me wrong: I do need my alone time to rejuvenate. My quiet evenings in the Hobbit Hole give me a certain strength only introverts can understand. Ashley is middle-of-the-road when it comes to her personality, half introvert and half extrovert. It makes a good balance: two extroverts in a relationship tend to turn the relationship into a competition, and Ashley and I make a pretty good team of supporting and encouraging one another while respecting our differences. Yes, I’m still dealing with the fall-out in the wake of the Wisconsinite, and there are times late at night when I’m immersed in passionate, gut-wrenching prayers for emotional healing. Healing isn’t coming quickly, but it’s coming nonetheless. Redemption takes time, and it’s often mind-numbingly difficult. My hope and prayer is that I will come to love Ashley the way I loved Mandy. I’ve never known a hotter and more fierce love. Ashley is so damned deserving of that sort of love, and I know I’m damned lucky to have her. She has all the qualities of an Excellent Woman. She’s patient, compassionate, supportive, and understanding. She doesn’t buck against my leadership but embraces it. She’s passionate about God and living a life that honors Him. And she is beautiful. She is, in essence, the sum of all my prayers. My hope is that she is God’s answer to my prayer, and I believe that if that’s the case, I will, in time, come to love her the way I loved Mandy. I’m trying not to be overwhelmed by my issues, taking everything in stride and living day-by-day. We’ve been together about six months; the love I had for Mandy was cultivated over a five-year period. It’s ridiculous for me to expect to love Ashley in six months the way I loved Mandy after five years. 

Walk of Joy. I have yet to secure a ministry job, despite countless applications and phone interviews. I’ve received more rejections than an aspiring novelist. I’m trying not to let it get me down: if vocational ministry is what God desires of me, He’ll bring me to that place in His time. I just have to trust Him, and I have to believe that if vocational ministry isn’t what He has for me, it doesn’t reflect poorly on me. In the meantime I’m still trucking along at Walk of Joy, and thankful for the job, not only because I have a source of income, not only because I am a positive influence on these guys’ lives, but also because it gives me lots of free time on-shift to write. Lately I’ve felt that I’ve been wasting my life, but there have been encouraging notes to dispel such feelings: both Ben and Jason’s parents have expressed their undying gratitude for the influence I’ve had on their sons, and my boss has seen fit to reward me with extra opportunities. This summer I’ll be involved in the Special Olympics, and this autumn I’ll be a point man for Cup of Joy, a nonprofit coffee shop staffed by individuals with Developmental Disabilities. My experience in the coffee shop world will come in handy, and I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be interesting to see if my skills at pouring hearts, rosettas, and tulips have survived their eight-month hiatus since Tazza Mia closed their doors. 

School. I’ve been getting back into the swing of preparing for my Master’s. Because of my impoverished status, most of it will be paid for by the government, which is optimal. All I’m waiting on at this point is my alma mater to send my transcripts. They screwed it up last time (they cashed the $25 check for same-day delivery but never sent the actual transcripts) and received an ear-full from me. Hopefully this time they won’t make the same mistake. My aim is to become a Social Studies teacher for Eighth Grade students, teaching everything from Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World to the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. It should only take me about a year and a half to finish the program and begin teaching.