This isn’t just a photoblog, I promise! Not that you all mind pictures of my beautiful wife too much, I think (nor will you mind pictures of our beautiful daughter, methinks), but life updates are always in good order as well. And there is plenty to say.

For starters, Jaimie was in a car accident almost a month ago. (Many of you already know this, thanks to the incredibly rapid speed at which information travels in our Facebook-connected age.) She was at what she thought was a three-way stop, but which is in fact only a two-way stop, and her car was hit from the side. Just like that, we were out a car and on our way to the hospital to make sure everything was okay with our baby girl.

And yes, it was definitely totaled. It’s funny: you wouldn’t necessarily assume that, looking at the damage on the outside, but the impact damaged the underlying frame, not just the door. On a unibody frame like that on the Hyundai Elantra, that’s a pretty good bet that you’re headed toward a total loss. Goodbye, La Bamba. (Jaimie named her car…)

As it turns out, the accident has proven a clear example of God’s providence in multiple ways. First, we went to the hospital to make sure everything was okay with the baby. It was… but Jaimie was having contractions, and they were regular, and they were getting stronger. Jaimie had let herself get dehydrated, and one of the ways a pregnant woman’s body protects both itself and the baby is by going into labor early if dehydrated. In other words: it’s a good thing Jaimie had to go to the hospital that day, because there’s a good chance we’d have ended up there anyway, but hours later and with a much higher chance of having actual preterm labor. Praise God that Jaimie was in a car accident!

As I have mentioned to a number of people since then: I pray for Jaimie and our baby’s health and safety every morning as I drive to work. I do not normally expect God to answer that sort of prayer with a car accident – but he did, and the glory of His goodness was on full display as he protected both of them through the accident.

We have a new car, now – bought in full, not a penny of debt on it. The combination of insurance money and the blessing of considerable savings meant it wasn’t a major hit on us, but wow: what a great car! Jaimie now has a good mom-vehicle, a 2002 Lexus RX300. It will, in fact, be a much better momcar (and yes, that is a word now) than her old sedan would have been.

This, too, is a picture of God’s providence: not only in the car itself, but in the timing of my other wonderful piece of news: that I have a new job I will be starting this coming Friday (as a software developer for Quest Consultants). I was in contact with my new employers before the car accident happened, and at the time didn’t appear to be quite the right fit for them. They got back in touch with me the first week in May and offered me a job last Friday. In the meantime, Jaimie had the car accident – and we got the ball rolling on this new vehicle with one of my current coworkers. Had my new employers been able to hire me when we first talked, I would not have been in a position to buy this wonderful new vehicle.

As I have often reminded our community group this year: God is sovereignly orchestrating all things for our good and his glory. Knowing that our good and his glory are perfectly united is an enormous comfort – were they competing ends, we would be in a sore spot indeed. Instead, we can be perfectly confident that in all things, God will get glory and we will get good, because they are one and the same. So we can glory in God’s glory, and rest in his providence, because he is orchestrating car accidents and the occasion of new employment and the timing of every detail perfectly. These moments when it is clear are rocks and anchors in the times when it is less apparent.

The weeks ahead will be busy and full of transition and probably al ittle crazy. Our baby will arrive, I will change jobs (to one with a 5-minute commute instead of a 30-minute commute), and the rest of life doesn’t stop for either. It’s always an adventure.