A Week In...

I am now a week into my job here at Aviation Sales, Inc.  I have 17 hours of flight training given, and did some ground instruction too.  Things are so different here.  I'm used to an environment where everybody knows everybody, and the students are expected to come in on a consistent schedule, the same thing every week.  This school has a bunch of students who are older, or are working full-time, or have other things going on.  So scheduling is going to take a little bit more work to get everything worked out.  I'm thinking I'll still try to get students on a consistent schedule as much as I can, so I pray that that will work out.

Things are somewhat scary but also very exciting.  I've gone from student to instructor in almost no time flat, and so it's going to take some deliberate planning on my part to make sure I am giving these students of mine the most for their money.  But I also need to figure out what they need to know, how I can teach them, and make sure that it sticks.  That's what I'll be working on fine-tuning over the next several weeks.

I'm realizing just how much I need to be relying on God in this environment as well.  It's not necessarily a "rough" atmosphere, but it's quite unlike the Adventist culture that I've been so used to throughout my life.  I just have to pray that God will use me to be a positive, calming influence when things get crazy, and live my life in a way that will give Him glory.

I went out into the "wilderness" (a local park where I got away from people and sat in the forest on my own) on Sabbath to rest and recharge.  It's amazing how peaceful just sitting and thinking about next-to-nothing can be.  It really had been a daunting week (Thursday I worked non-stop from 9-9), and I needed that time to unwind.  It's also been close to a week since I saw Sarah, and that's been tough for me.  At least I have been too busy to think about it during the day, and I talk to her every evening, so I've been holding up.

Oh yeah, by the way, we're now officially 4 weeks away from our wedding!  I just can't wait to start living my new life with my soon-to-be bride!  Life has been changing a lot recently, but I'm looking forward to her moving in and we can get a little bit of a routine going.  She visited last weekend, and it was the best weekend so far this entire year.  She brought me some cooking supplies so I don't have to live off microwave food, she prettified the apartment so it feels more like home rather than a dorm room now, we went to a wedding in Michigan, and she left me a ton of food so I don't have to cook much while I'm working my busy schedule (I'm trying to get in as many hours as I can now so that I can afford to pay rent for July and August when I'm going to be missing out on the 2+ weeks of work time).

More than anything else, though, I'm really working on improving my relationship with God, and continually asking Him to be the foundation and cornerstone of our home.  I know through experience that everything is perfect when He is in control, and when I forget Him, things start to go downhill fast.  I get moody and irritable, and I really know that I'm here at ASI for more than just to make myself some money.  How can I effectively witness to others if I'm not in a good position emotionally myself?

Pray for me, that I have strength and continue in God's way.  And pray for Sarah.  We're in the final countdown of pre-wedding planning, and I just know Satan and his minions are going to start doing all they can to damage, batter, and bruise us.  For those of you coming to the wedding, I can't wait to see you there!  For those who can't make it, I wish you could, but I guess I'll see you again at some point.  If you really, really, REALLY want to, you can send us a gift.  :P

David and Sarah Macomber (it will be soon enough, just let me have it, okay!!)
6114 Fireside Dr. Unit D
Centerville, OH 45459

New Life

Today, I was hired as a flight instructor at Aviation Sales, Inc. in Centerville, Ohio.  It marks the final step in the determination process of what will be happening next year, and pending a drug test that I am sure to pass, I know the basic framework of how my life will look next year.

It's hard to believe that 12 days ago, I flew to Ohio, without any flight instructor certification, apartment, etc.  Now, four tests and two interviews later, I am certified to instruct both single and multi-engine airplanes, I have a job, I have moved in to an apartment in Centerville, Ohio, and am engaged to be married July 15 (just saying that hasn't changed).  I am truly and fully blessed.  There is no other explanation for it.  God has just been moving in mighty ways.  It is very clear to me that this is exactly where He wants me and Sarah next year, and that He will continue to provide for us.

God has truly and completely been blowing my mind recently, and I just want to share it!  He inspired my boss back in Berrien Springs to let me take time off from work so that I could focus on flying and getting my certification taken care of.  He gave me perfect weather for two checkrides, and a day of cloudiness for another, which helped me to be patient, and made my checkride be as smooth as possible once it got going.  He provided me a cheap place to stay while I was still in Michigan, and showed me a nice apartment with a central location between my and Sarah's work.

Things have just lined up perfectly.  My flight test with the FAA was set to be in the Cincinnati area, in the southern Dayton-area, actually.  Then I was going to have an interview with ASI that same day, after taking the short 2-minute flight between the two airports.  Then the first FAA examiner couldn't test me on the day we had set up, so he asked another one to do it, and the airport was changed to the same as my interview.  He was able to give me a good recommendation to the school immediately after the test was done. They interviewed me just to get to know me a little bit too. While I was in the area, I also went to visit the apartment, and reserved it before I flew back to Andrews that evening.  It was busy day.

After that, the apartment needed some info before I could move in, including an offer letter from my work, which I didn't have, because I was still, at the time, not certified to teach in the airplanes they wanted me to fly in.  So I had to wait.  Then, the day I got certified for work, the apartment called me and said they needed the information by Thursday so I could move in on time.  I prayed about it, then told them that I wouldn't have any word back from the school until I had a second interview with them, and that it was not lined up yet because of certification issues.  They said not to worry about it, and worked it out so I could move in anyways.

So I packed everything up and left.  I've been in Ohio for 3 nights now, sleeping on a stack of blankets and body pillows until I can get a bed.  I've been able to talk with Sarah a lot, and kept my mom from getting too bored while my dad and brother are out of town.  I went to church on Sabbath, and God put me in a situation to meet Arielle and Alissa McMurry (I think that's how it's spelled...), who invited me to their house for lunch.  It brightened my Sabbath immensely.

Finally, this morning I went flying with my now-boss Chris, and we had a good quick flight.  God had been urging me to stand up and be firm in my Sabbath convictions, and so I made sure that they understood I would never work on a Saturday.  He said that wouldn't be an issue.  I don't know why God's choosing to bless me so much, especially when there are so many people out there, but I just take hold of the promise He gives in Psalms 37, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires.  Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust Him, and He will help you." (v. 4, 5)  It is oh-so clear to me that this is true.  Everything that I am is truly His, because He has given it to me.