I’ve spent most of this week trying to buy a house. I’m disappointed because at the same time that I put in my offer on the house, there were two other people who put in an offer as well. This is bizarre because the home has sat on the market for six months, and then on the day I decide to go for it, I end up in a bidding war in a buyer’s market. What’s going on?

I just received a counter-offer about an hour ago, and I don’ t know if I’m going to go for it. I mean, I just don’t know if it is worth it. I know at this price it is still a deal, but not nearly the deal I was expecting. This changes all of the financial math that made the other risks worth taking. It’s nuts.

:::

Tonight at St. Tim’s we had Veneration of the Cross. I only live a five blocks from the church, but I drove because I was late. I ended up driving five blocks there, found no parking space, and then drove three blocks back before I found a place to park. There were at least 2000 people at church. It was crazy.

Tonight’s service was too long, too melodramatic. I had already spent most of the day in prayer, so sitting through another two hours was tedious. But that’s okay. I know that for many people at the church, it was soul-stirring experience.

I learned a long time ago that I can’t expect God to work through my emotions. Emotions come and go. I’m at a point now where I don’t judge the worth of a spiritual exercise based on “what I get out of of it.”; I mean really, what is that? Is that the temporary satisfaction I get from an experience? There are church-things that I’ve experienced that I wasn’t satisfied with at the time. But I appreciate them in hindsight.

Candyce’s family invited me to their Seder Supper on Holy Thursday. I never would of expected from something that sloppy would have such a lasting impact on me. I mean, we used plastic cups and plates. We sat at a rickety patio table outside next to a roaring air conditioning unit. The little kids bumped the table at least six times, spilling everyone’s grape juice on the white paper tablecloth. It was a mess!

All I wanted to do was to dive back into the house and watch the Suns game. But here I am three days later, and I can’t shake from my mind the reality of the pain and slavery of the Jewish people. There was one line that explained that we kept one chair at the table open for our brother who was still in slavery.

So all day today, I’ve been thinking about that brother in slavery.