An update and the future

I think I'm going to let this blog go dormant for a while. Before I do, though, there are a few things I need to talk about.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for the good advice I've gotten on here. I started this blog to discuss issues I was having regarding religion and the church and where I need to go from here. Part of me worried that nobody would ever read it and I'd get no responses while another part of me feared what those responses would actually be like. I shouldn't have worried about either scenario. There have actually been people interested and I've been overwhelmingly pleased by the feedback I've received. I very much appreciate all the comments, advice, and most of all the prayers. (If anyone has happened onto this blog by accident and doesn't know what the heck I'm talking about, see the posts on the right side of the blog under the heading "My Religion Story.") Things on the church front are kind of at a standstill right now, but I have hopes that changes might start happening this fall. If they do, I'll be sure to start posting again.

Secondly, I posted a request for prayers in regards to a job opening a few months ago. Thanks so much for everyone who prayed for me. I got the job. I'd appreciate prayers that I do it well. It's a big job and a great opportunity, but very challenging.

I've been deliberately vague about my real name, but the more I think about that, it just seems I'm being silly. Anyone who knows me who happened across this blog really wouldn't have had a hard time figuring out who I was. My name is Mike and if you care to reach me on facebook you can go here. If you send me a friend request, though, just let me know you came from my blog in case I don't recognize the name. I'm also on twitter if you wish to follow me there.

Anyway, once again, thank you so much.

Prayer Request

Well, I haven't posted to this blog in a long time. There are a couple of reasons for this. First of all, I started the blog to talk about my religion issues and I think I did that. I didn't reach any conclusions, but I got lots of good advice. My situation is kind of at a standstill now, but I'll resume posting when things change. Secondly, I've had a lot going on in my life. Nothing terrible, but the usual types of problems everybody has. Financial issues chief among them. I know that nobody in the world wants to hear a lawyer complain about being broke, but I'm a government lawyer working for a poor county beset by budget problems. Considering how many really suffering people there are in this economy, I know I should just count my blessings and shut up, but it does stink always being out of money two days after payday. And if you can't vent semi-anonymously on a blog to strangers, where can you vent?

I do have a request. A favor really. On February 13th, less than two weeks from now, I have an interview scheduled for a new job. It is one that I believe I am very qualified for (more qualified in my opinion than the other candidates) and it would be a significant increase in pay. If anyone reading this could keep me in your prayers until then, I would really appreciate it. I feel selfish seeking prayers that I get a new job while I've already got one and so many others are unemployed, but I've always heard we should pray to God about all our needs, so I'm going to pray a lot about it and I'd like all the help I could get.

Thank you so much, and if there are ever any prayer requests you have for me, just let me know. Thanks!

Good News

Arrest made in the two arsons that burned the courthouse and office where I worked. It took a while, but hard work and persistence on the investigation paid off. Excellent work by law enforcement. Good cooperation between a lot of different agencies in the investigation.

The defendant is only 17 years old. In addition to the two fires that affected me, he has been charged in a string of armed robberies as well. Very sad to see a young person ruin their life like this. Some early news article are here, here, and here.

My New Office

Well, it's not quite this bad, but it does kind of stink. We're in cubicles in the basement of the county office building across the street from the burned out remains of my former office. )For anyone interested, you can read my post on arson 1 and arson 2.) At least I have a place to sit now. For a week or so, we were all basically operating out of our cars.

No arrests yet, but keep your fingers crossed.

Don't Ever Say It Can't Get Worse

Just when you think the worst is over.

As I mentioned in the last post, my office was destroyed by arson Monday. In addition to me, we had offices for two other lawyers and a paralegal in there. But the one sliver of good news was that we had one lawyer and a paralegal in another building across the street.

Well, not anymore. The portion of our office that was not destroyed in the courthouse fire Monday was burned in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday morning. On the bright side, nobody was hurt. Law enforcement is working very hard to find the person or persons responsible. Some news articles are here, here, and here.

This is shaping up to be the worst week at work ever.

My Office

The courthouse where I work was struck by arson very early Monday morning. For anyone interested, some articles are found here, here, and here. Very sad. The courthouse was built in 1828 and even survived Sherman during the Civil War. And of course, the damage to records, files, etc. was extensive. My office was not burned, but part of the ceiling collapsed and I had very extensive water damage. Considering how many people we've prosecuted over the years and how many people had pending charges, the list of suspects is pretty long.

Something like this really makes you feel for people who suffer a house fire. Here I am complaining about the loss of my diplomas and other things in my office, and some people have fires at their homes and lose everything.

Anyway, it has been a very painful week at work