What? Could it be? An actual blog entry? That’s right. I’ve intentionally rearranged my work schedule for the sole purpose of posting an authentic blog entry with genuine “brewing thoughts” in hopes of sparking more frequent posts.

The honest truth is that things really have been insane in this little Plano apartment the past 6 months. I know everyone says your life is going to change when you have a baby, but there’s no way to prepare for what we’ve been through, so for those of you who are about to have a kid or are thinking about it, don’t fret about preparing or “bracing yourself” for change. It doesn’t matter.

So, what’s happened since Caelyn rocked our world? More than I care to discuss in detail. If I did that, not only would I have to launch a 20-post series, but it would way too dramatic and boring. The best thing to do here is to give you a run down of significant events that have occured in the past several months:

Late June

• Caelyn was born, sleepless nights commence

July-August

• Katy’s on maternity leave, so let’s just say money is tight.
• I start praying thinking about making some major changes with my business and possibly persuing other opportunities.

September

• We decide to leave our church for a whole list of reasons, but mainly so I can persue job opportunities in ministry.
• I also ramp up a relaunch of Pixelight in order to get more work.
• Katy get’s the feeling that her boss will not honor the “work at home” agreement we made plans for. Anxiety ensues.
• As soon as I relaunch Pixelight, work opportunities begin to filter in
• Katy confirms with her boss that working FT from home will not be an option. A flurry of phone calls and emails occur. Katy ends up writing her resignation, planning on submitting it the next day.
• Just in the nick of time, Katy’s boss agrees to a sending Katy work on a contract basis - about 10-15 hrs of work a week.
• Major financial anxiety - we’re not sure what the money situation is (e.g. “Can we even pay rent anymore?”).

October

• Katy begins her new work situation, which works out very well for her in terms of flexibility and her ability to take care of Caelyn.
• Pixelight begins picking up quite a bit of business including a few steady contracts with other design firms. I end up working 50-60 hrs a week just trying to keep up with my contracts.
• Thankfully, we’re able to pay the bills for the month and we start thinking, “Maybe we can do this”.
• We begin to regularly attend Irving Bible Church, which we both really enjoy. More posts to come about this.

November

• Work remains consistent. One of the design firms I have been doing work for offers me a full-time position on more than one occasion. I’m very tempted (steady salary, benefits, etc) but end up turning it down due to the commmute and my interest in seeing Pixelight flourish.
• Another company I’m involved with (Church Plant Media) offers me a part-time position and I accept due to the consistent income and ability to do the work at home and still be able to focus on Pixelight.

So, right now things are working out pretty well, all things considered. Work flow is still difficult to gauge and I’m never sure about whether or not I’m making enough money, but we’re living by faith and so far God has been faithful. I’ve even had to turn down projects these past few weeks.

Its easy to become a workaholic when you work for yourself and I’m still tempted by those 40hr-a-week jobs at those big firms, but then I get to thinking about how good I have it right now. Katy gets to stay home every day and play with Caelyn, take care of our little apartment, and cook meals again (something she’s missed being able to do). I get to work all day in my pajamas if I choose. I get to decide when I work and what I work on. I get to be with my family all day. Right now, we get to have our annual 24-a-thon and watch Jack Bauer save the world every day as I work. There are some other benefits to working for yourself, but I’ll save those topics for other posts.
These past 6 months have probably been the hardest in my life, but its been a good test of faith, patience, & strength. God has been very good to us and I’m very thankful for that. Anyways, I’ll try to carve out time for blogging more often, but right now I need to get some work done.