My, my, my, but it’s been a busy couple of months. (Come to think of it, we don’t really seem to have any other kind…I think that I’m ready to settle into a more boring, steady, adult routine). Without further ado, here are the “news” from the Thomases in Tandem:

New Baby: As you may or may not remember, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newest member of the Thomas clan, Elisabeth Grace Thomas (or “Elsie” for short). If you are wondering exactly when she’s coming, you are in good company, since her due date was Monday. We’ve tried nearly every home remedy that the internet, in all its wisdom, has suggested. (Walking, bouncing on an exercise ball, eating spicy food, taking evening primrose oil suppositories, and watching romantic movies are among the G-rated options we’ve tried). However, so far, baby Elsie is proving herself a true Sult-Thomas by regarding a due date as more of a loose suggestion than hard deadline. Although we are eagerly awaiting her debut, it has been a good reminder to both of us that this wonderful process is one of which we are completely out of control. My parents have repeatedly said that one of the best things about parenting is that it reminds you of just how powerless you really are, and consequently, drives you back to your knees time and again. This is doubtless the first of many, many such occasions to come.

New Careers: This past May, Jenn officially completed her OT coursework and graduated. (You may now refer to her as “Master Jenn,” if you like). The graduation ceremony was somewhat hollow, because she is still not licensed to practice until she completes two unpaid “fieldwork” rotations (three months each) and then passes her board examinations. Realistically, that puts the date that she can officially start her new career at somewhere around August 2018. Still, after twenty-five years of nearly constant school, she has quite possibly completed her last officially classwork…ever, unless she chooses otherwise. (There has got to be a more efficient way to prepare for a career, but the inefficiency of our educational system is another rant for another day). In spite of a final semester that was much more difficult than she had anticipated (and in spite of the physical difficulty of having to lug her small library of textbooks around all day on her back in addition to the growing burden of her burgeoning belly), Jenn finished strong. I am so proud of her. And, of course, I’m excited that someone in our family will have some earning potential. (#sugarmama?)

New City:  Originally, the plan had been to complete one of Jenn’s fieldwork assignments up in Tacoma between September and December, then move down to Vancouver to be closer to family and complete the second fieldwork between January and March. However, once summer arrived and we had time to think about something besides coursework (for her) and juggling subbing in two school districts, tutoring, and watching baby nephew (for me), we realized that it made more sense to move over the summer, while we were comparatively free and Elsie was comparatively easy to transport, rather than trying to hunt for housing and round up moving help in the rainy weeks before Christmas. In addition, Jenn had understandable reservations about leaving her newborn (who, given her present timetable, would have been a very newborn) in order to work full-time after only a few weeks. So, in late June, we decided to delay her first fieldwork placement and move to Vancouver ahead of schedule. We found an apartment that is less than two miles away from Jenn’s fieldwork placements. In late July, thanks to an amazing show of support by friends and family, we managed to get all of our stuff out of our Tacoma apartment and down to Vancouver. Since we are already set up here with a doula, midwife, and everything else we need to see Elsie safely introduced to the world, we are staying in Tacoma with some friends from church (Don and Sara) until she comes, but once she does, all that’s left of our moving is loading our duffle bags and the bassinet into our Honda and heading south. Granted, our Vancouver apartment is right now a labyrinth of boxes and disassembled furniture, but Jenn is looking forward to finally being able to put her frustrated nesting instincts to good use and turn this mess into a home.

New Job: All this means that I am, once again, on the market for a job. I’ve been applying at all the Vancouver-area school districts as well as private and charter schools for any position I might conceivably be qualified for, and have had a few interviews, but so far, no offers. At this point, if I had any advice to give to my high-school self, it would be to do some sort of trade apprenticeship before (or even instead of) a bachelor program. It is maddening to feel that I spent twenty years of my life preparing to do…not much of anything. Anything obvious, at least. My plan is to go back to school and get my full teaching credential (yay! More schooling!), but until Jenn is able to start working, I need to continue to be the primary breadwinner, which means I need to find some way to get paid to do work (instead of paying to work).

New Chapter: In my thinking and dreaming about the future, I certainly never imagined that, at age 31, I would be between homes, between jobs, between cities, living in someone else’s house while waiting for my first child. Jenn and I have joked that we feel a bit like Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. (In response, Don and Sara said that we could use the guest room instead of the shed…at least, assuming that she comes within the next week or two.) This is not the story I would have imagined for myself. And yet, I can see how this might be a story that I asked for almost exactly ten years ago—a story bigger than I could write. Being in a position of need has opened us up to the incredible grace of those around us.

The process of moving reminded us in the most tangible way possible that we were loved and supported as friends and family from every stage of our lives rallied around us. On the Tacoma side, my SPU friends Jon (and his wife Tally) and Stephen (who left his own two-month-old baby to come help us), along with my dad and our church friends Becky and pastor Matt got the truck loaded with incredible efficiency and record time. Then, since we belatedly discovered that all of our stuff no longer fits in a 16-foot U-Haul, Stephen, Becky, and Dad went above and beyond the call of duty, driving all the way down to Vancouver with us and offering their vehicles as supplementary moving vans. In Vancouver, we were met by Jenn’s mom, sister, and brother-in-law, as well as my high school friend Jordan, his wife Carolyn, and their six-month-old Charlie. At the end of the day, we felt overwhelmed in the best way possible.

The same has been true of the past two weeks, during which we have been living with Don and Sara. My Uncle Buddy (with the pithy wisdom typical of the Thomas clan) once remarked that “House guests are like fish. After two days, they start to stink.” Particularly when one of the fish is pregnant, I can only imagine the kind of grace that it takes to willingly open one’s home and heart and let one’s regular routine be so thoroughly disrupted. Yet, this is precisely what has happened, showing us a whole new depth of the meaning of Christian community.

In conclusion, this past Sunday, the sermon was on the parable of the mustard seed. I have heard this expounded a number of times before, but this Sunday, the emphasis was on the fact that a mustard plant was considered a weed, which would take over the entire field if not stopped by careful and meticulous gardening. It has often been those “weeds”—those small, annoying circumstances that I would rather do without—that have opened me up to see the kingdom come in some small way in my own life. In moments of discouragement, I have at times over the past few years felt like George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life—a “warped, frustrated young man,” failing to realize the ambitions set before him. Yet, precisely because of these circumstances, I have had many opportunities to learn the same lesson that George learned at the end of the film: “No man is poor so long as he has friends.”