1st Church Visit

Cyndi and I have started the process of finding a church home since we moved to Richmond. Today, we visited Staples Mill Road Baptist Church. We visited there once before when we were house hunting. They are a member of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. They currently have an interm pastor and are looking for a new full-time pastor. The church seems active in missions, evangelism, etc…. There are also several other people at the church who work at the IMB.

Comcast Speed

When we moved to Richmond, we got Comcast broadband. Here is how its speed looks:

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Move Pics Posted

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To see pictures of our move (packing, loading, unloading, etc…), go to the flickr set. Enjoy!

[Update 2012-12-26 06:08:24] The link was bad.  Updated to point to the flickr set.  Also added picture.

Sunday School Shindig

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Before we left Columbus, we had a Sunday School shindig. Part Amazing Race part going away party. We took some pictures. To see them, go to http://techs4jesus.dynup.net/webpics/20050514_SSFellowship/ the flickr set of the pictures. Enjoy!

[Update 22 Dec 2012 07:22] Updated link to flickr set AND added the picture

They are willing, are we?

According to this Baptist Press article, people are willing to become missionaries, but the funding isn't there. Christians, wake up! God has blessed America! We have tremendous wealth. It is high time we stop trying to "keep up with the Joneses" and start focusing on what is important. Do we really need new cars every three years?

They are willing, are we?

New IMB Missionaries

The IMB recently commissioned the second largest group of missionaries ever. According to this Baptist Press article,

The second-largest group of new missionaries in the history of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board featured plenty of variety. But all 116 of them share one thing in common: a clear call from God to go to the nations with the Gospel.

 

Move

Well, we are really in Richmond now. Cyndi left Columbus on May 19th and arrived in Richmond on the 20th. I left work at NiSource early Friday afternoon and arrived in Richmond late that night. We took pictures of the move, and I will get those posted once I get a chance to play with the computer at home.

We rented our house with the knowledge that it was dirty–very dirty. However, we knew that a tennant had just moved out, and the landlord sounded like he would get everything cleaned up. Well, what he said and what happened were two different things. Cyndi and my mom arrived the afternoon of the 20th to find the house was in a mess! They haggled with the landlord and were able to get some money to clean the place up. However, the work still had to be done. They spent all afternoon on the 20th cleaning. When my dad and I arrived at midnight, they were still cleaning! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the City of Richmond–they provide gas and water–showed up but couldn't hook the stuff up because we weren't there! So, Cyndi and my mom had to buy water at Wal-Mart simply to clean the place!!

Once my dad and I arrived, we had to unpack the fish, get the fish tank set up, etc… Well, once that was all done, it was 2am. Cyndi had gotten us a room at the AmeriSuites–remember, no water–so once the fish were up, I was beat. Cyndi and my mom were tired because they had been cleaning all day. We went back to the hotel, took showers, and crashed.

We woke up the next morning at 7am–the alarm didn't go off–and had to rush to get ready because the driver had told Cyndi he would be there at 8am. We show up at our place at 7:40 am, and the driver is already there! We were hoping to have a little time to clean some more before he showed up, but we were able to deal with it.

So, the movers got the truck unloaded, the house was mostly clean, and we simply had to unpack. That afternoon–this is Saturday–we went out and bought window AC units. My dad helped me put those in (THANKS Dad!). Saturday was my dad's birthday, so we had him a Baskin Robbin's Ice Cream Cake. We were planning on watching Revenge of the Sith Satuday, but that didn't work out.

So, to sum everything up, the house was a mess when we moved in. Cyndi, my mom, and my Dad all worked very hard to get everything in shape. Cyndi is working at home unpacking stuff while I am working at the IMB. We still have some things to do; however, everything is coming together nicely.

Revenge of the Sith

Cyndi and I went to see Revenge of the Sith on Sunday afternoon after we took my parents to the airport. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but it is good. There were some things I wish they had done differently; however, overall, it is a good movie. You find out who the good guys are, how who you thought were good guys turn into bad guys, you find out why Luke still sees good in Darth Vader, you find out how all the Jedi die, you find out why Dart Vader has a mask, etc…. The list goes on.

Oh, BTW, after seeing all these movies, I agree with Lucas. If he could only ever make three of them, the middle three are the best to make. I'm glad he had a chance to make Episodes 1-3; however, I'm glad he didn't start out with them. The story would have been incomplete.

Bye Email

I sent this e-mail out to my coworkers today at NiSource:

Well, with so many people to say bye to, I know I'll miss someone…feel free to pass this along to anyone you wish.

I have only been here for 5 years, but in those five years I have interacted with many people and learned many different things. Thank you to everyone who put up with my learning curve and the barrage of questions. I will treasure the experiences and friendships I have had at Columbia/NiSource and would like to keep up with everyone.

My personal e-mail address will always be mjncj@maxsons.org. My current address and phone number can always be found at http://www.techs4jesus.com/contact.htm. I have started a blog and will do my best to keep it up to date. If you want to read it, the URL is http://www.techs4jesus.com/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi. Yes, it has an RSS feed: http://www.techs4jesus.com/cgi-bin/blosxom.cgi?/index.rss. I would like to keep up with everyone. Part of how I do that is through Christmas cards. If you want to be included on my list, send me an e-mail with your address (don't reply back to this e-mail…I won't get it).

By the way, if you have problems with AssetCenter or Remedy, please follow established procedures and call the Technology HelpDesk.

Buy vs Rent

Everyone is asking why Cyndi and I decided to rent in Richmond. We are planning to stay long-term and we could afford to buy. So, why "throw money down the toilet" of rent?

In the first place, I don't think rent is throwing money away. We are paying for a place to live. So? Yes, we don't own the house, but we don't have to deal with the hassles either. If the hot water tank goes kaput, we call the landlord. If the roof gets damaged in a storm, we call the landlord. There are advantages to renting.

We don't want to live in the city forever. Eventually, we want to save up money and purchase a house and acerage in the country. If we rent, we can save more money per month than we could if we purchased a house. When we buy, we will buy someplace we want to live and stay at for quite some time (15-20 years).

Additionally, I think the housing market is way inflated. It cannot keep going forever. Here are some links to some interesting articles in Money magazine:

Should I buy a house?
Risky real estate moves
Are you living in a bubble?
Will housing prices pop?
Why the housing bubble hasn't burst
Rent or buy? The answer may surprise

Additionally, I think the economy is going to turn south sometime in the next 2-10 years. When that happens, it will be way way worse than the great depression. Cyndi and I can have enough money to pay off our lease and get out of Dodge; however, we couldn't be able to get out of a house payment as easily.