Well, here's another monkey wrench in our camp search:  not sure we belong at the NH camp after all!

So here's what's been going on...  We went up over the weekend for another get-away as a family.  Overall we had fun, but DH and I came home with this very vague can't-put-your-finger-on-it feeling that just "wasn't right."  As we began to discuss things, we realized that he has never actually been told exactly what his job will entail - we know its title but nothing more, and it's just a little weird supposedly waiting to start a new job that you really know nothing about!  Needless to say, he'll be instigating a phone call in the near future to see if that can't be cleared up.  The other thing that I think bothers us even more is the housing situation.  We are supposed to be getting this neat little house up there, but it's currently occupied by another family.  They have committed to stay on there through the summer (as they will be needed) but beyond that it seems like they don't know the next step yet, but it's like they are being pushed to make a decision and make one that will send them on their way (which would happen at some point anyway, just not neccessarily now!).  We just had this weird feeling all weekend like "oh, there's the new family that's kicking John and Mary and little baby Jane out of their house...".   NO one wants to feel that way!!  It's not of our doing but none the less, it's disconcerting.  There have been no real attempts to introduce us to the staff, or see how we fit in, and it's like we're just hanging on the outside of it all.  When we looked into going to camp for the very first time, almost 7 years ago, we interviewed with one particular place and it was SO much different in how it was handled.  They had us all come for a long weekend, not only just to meet my husband but to see how ALL of us would fit in there and would all the families involved get along and work well together?  That's really important in this type of job/ministry because you all live there and work there!  We just don't have this sense of belonging at the NH camp, and it goes far beyond just being the newcomers.  I also felt the whole weekend that I needed to keep my kids under wraps and quiet and out of the way.  Well, for goodness sakes I can't do that if we all live there!!  I mean, nobody said anything but it was just how things came across.  There are no other kids that live on-campus (just two babies, who obviously don't get out and about right now!).  How will mine fit in there?....will they fit in there?!

I think right now, as much as DH hates his current job, we are content to just stay put and actually enjoy all the finished work on our house!  We might just sit back for the rest of this year, renew our camp profile around the first of next year, and see what opens up next spring.  Maybe the housing market will be better then, too...who knows.  Our whole extended family is poised to make a move - could very well be out of New England.  We're all being taxed right out of our homes and eventually there is a number that you have to say, "I just can't afford this anymore."  Deep down I think we'd all like to be somewhere in the South, where winter is a little less severe!  Lots to consider and pray about here.  Really the bottom line is that we shouldn't be taking the job here just because DH wants out of his current job so badly, if we aren't going to be a good fit and they are not going to be a good fit for us.