Preface:\u00a0 I realize this post is way too long for anyone to actually read it, and that\u2019s fine.\u00a0 My audience for this post is really myself and anyone who seriously loves us and wants to know how I think and why we did such a crazy thing like move to LA.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t bother me if no-one ever reads this post, because I know that someday I will need it to remind myself of the promises of God.<\/p>\n
Whew, it\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve blogged and a lot has happened already in 2014.<\/p>\n
Also note that each CA line was at a different location.\u00a0 For a while it was becoming difficult to remember where I was when I would wake up in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n
Since starting at SpaceX, life has returned to a normal rhythm, unfortunately the rhythm has a really fast beat.\u00a0 SpaceX has had many successful launches since then, and I\u2019m deeply entrenched in my first big project.<\/p>\n
Before I get too far removed from the decisions that led us here, I need to document why we made this decision and what kind of confirmations we\u2019ve received that this was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n
Ready for Something New<\/p>\n
When LDCM launched in 2\/2013, I started to question whether I wanted to repeat another satellite lifecycle at Orbital.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that I didn\u2019t enjoy my job or that I didn\u2019t like Orbital.\u00a0 On the contrary, I enjoyed my job most of the time and think Orbital is fine family company to work for.\u00a0 But the lifecycle of a satellite is so long compared to most fields of engineering.\u00a0 In my 9 years at General Dynamics\/Orbital, I had only worked on 3 programs to that point: C\/NOFS, GeoEye-1, and LDCM.\u00a0 And the type of work from one program to the next was all very similar: database management and tool development, scripting, minor AstroRT feature and performance enhancements.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t feel like we had many any major advancements any one of those areas, and the idea of doing that same work again wasn\u2019t super appealing.\u00a0 My manager did her best to address this by putting me on different kinds of projects after LDCM.\u00a0 For OCO-2 I learned about MAESTRO, solaris, and linux.\u00a0 For Iridium NEXT I got to develop RF automation tests.\u00a0 These were both learning opportunities and a departure I from the work I had done for the previous 8 years, and I appreciate that.\u00a0 However, I was slated to move back onto ICESat-2 as my work for Iriduim NEXT came to a conclusion, and I still had the same feeling I had following LDCM launch\u2026am I going to do this again?\u00a0 I would have been happy doing it again, it just seemed if I were going to make a change, this was an opportune time to do it.<\/p>\n
CLA Summit, LabVIEW Champion<\/p>\n
Also converging on March 2014 was the completion of my stint as CLA Summit cochair, which started in March 2012, and culminated in a successful technical conference of ~120 of the best LabVIEW programmers and ~30 technical presentations in the country.\u00a0 For volunteering to head up this conference I was named a LabVIEW Champion, which is an honor given to people \u201cwho have made significant contributions to the LabVIEW Community\u201d.\u00a0 There are currently ~65 LabVIEW Champions in the world.\u00a0 Because I was regularly communicating with some of the leading figures in the LabVIEW community, I started to feel that perhaps I was not taking advantage of an excellent opportunity to spring-board to a new job.\u00a0 Indeed, if I had been looking for a job at the time of the CLA Summit, I probably could have taken a good job just about anywhere in the country.\u00a0 But I was still mostly happy with my current job, and cannot say enough how satisfied we were with our home, neighborhood, town, and church.\u00a0 That\u2019s a hard combination to beat.<\/p>\n
Prophetic Words<\/p>\n
I had also received several prophetic words, some from complete strangers, that they felt that I would soon be promoted to positions of great influence, both technical and spiritual.\u00a0 The most significant of these prophetic words came in April and Dec 2012.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see how these prophetic words would come to pass in a significant way in my current job.<\/p>\n
Appeal of Manned Missions<\/p>\n
Working on manned missions has always been a desire of mine, but one that I never pursued because I thought the opportunity was too small.\u00a0 This especially proved to be true around 2010 when NASA announced the Shuttles would be retired in 2011.\u00a0 When I learned about Orbital\u2019s ISS resupply contract (Orbital won the contract in 2008, but I did not get acquired by Orbital until mid 2010), I actually told my boss I would be willing to relocate to Virginia and give up working with LabVIEW if it meant having an opportunity to work on manned missions.\u00a0 I was disappointed to learn that Orbital\u2019s resupply vehicle Cygnus would never carry astronauts, and Orbital apparently has no interest in getting involved in transporting people.\u00a0 So when SpaceX called and asked if I was interested in helping put people on Mars, you can imagine how much it piqued my interest.\u00a0 Personally, I\u2019m not sure that Mars in and of itself makes that much sense.\u00a0 It would be unpleasant to live there to say the least, and as of yet there\u2019s no evidence that it has any natural resources that would be economical for us to harvest.\u00a0 But I do believe that space travel is a worthy goal, setting goals that stretch the human race is a worthy goal.\u00a0 And for those reasons, I think Mars is an excellent objective as the next step in our technological evolution.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s Vision for Graphical Programming<\/p>\n
I have said much in the past about what I believe is God\u2019s vision for graphical programming.\u00a0 I think God will use it to do miraculous things in our world.\u00a0 I think graphical programming will become of the wave of the future that allows software to continue to facilitate change and improve our world.\u00a0 In order for that to happen, graphical programming needs to overcome prejudice in the Software Engineering industry.\u00a0 Most computer scientists and software engineers see graphical programming as something meant for toys, or perhaps used in labs to do simple test and measurement tasks, that it can never provide the performance and flexibility needed to be a general purpose programming language.\u00a0 I believe God has called me to help overcome that prejudice, and that is why I am now a LabVIEW Champion.\u00a0 It\u2019s not LabVIEW specifically that I\u2019m promoting, though LabVIEW is the only graphical programming language that I am familiar with.\u00a0 In reality I think LabVIEW needs more competition to drive improvements.\u00a0 LabVIEW and graphical programming needs good publicity, it needs case studies, it needs case studies to show the software industry that graphical programming can be used as a general purpose language.\u00a0 I believed that my job at Orbital was fulfilling this mission.\u00a0 I maintained a large application written in LabVIEW and Orbital had many successful missions using it.\u00a0 However, General Dynamics and Orbital were not good at self-promoting its software capabilities.\u00a0 As a result, few people, even within National Instruments, realized that Orbital maintains a large LabVIEW application.\u00a0 If nobody knows about it, its impact on the software industry is extremely small.<\/p>\n
Now contrast that with SpaceX.\u00a0 NI loves to showcase what SpaceX is doing with LabVIEW, and NI bends over backwards to support SpaceX.\u00a0 The LabVIEW community is rooting for SpaceX, everybody wants to see SpaceX be successful.\u00a0 And SpaceX is not afraid to put more development dollars into its Ground Software to make a vibrant product.\u00a0 With Orbital it\u2019s always just enough to get the job done, which is not a good place to be for long term product maintenance.\u00a0 Clearly, my objective of bringing good exposure to graphical programming is better served at SpaceX.\u00a0 If I\u2019m going to proclaim that this is one of my life\u2019s purposes, then to be a man of good integrity I must take advantage of opportunities that help achieve that purpose.<\/p>\n
Personal Ministry<\/p>\n
I was also strongly attracted to the fact that the SpaceX work force is very young and secular.\u00a0 I hope that over time, through building relationships and positive modeling, I can help shape the SpaceX culture and environment to be more family and God-friendly.\u00a0 I hope that directly or indirectly I can be a mentor the people on my team.<\/p>\n
GO<\/p>\n
When it comes down to it, the decision was easy because every time I asked God whether this was something I should do, I got a very clear response: \u201cGO\u201d, every time.\u00a0 Although I wasn\u2019t interested in relocating, especially to CA, I feel like God was speaking clearly to me, and all of the pieces seemed to fall into place from there.<\/p>\n
The trick is to be obedient to that word.\u00a0 Not over analyze, second guess, or let your flesh get in the way.\u00a0 This can be a struggle, particularly when talking to many people who were negative to the relocation.\u00a0 The most common objections I heard against the relocation were about the destination, Los Angeles, and the fact that we\u2019ll likely see family less.\u00a0 Both of those are unfortunate realities, but comfort and happiness isn\u2019t God\u2019s objective, and it shouldn\u2019t be ours.\u00a0 Simply trust that he will protect and provide, and don\u2019t listen to the doubters.\u00a0 The best place you can be, where-ever that is, is where God wants you to be.\u00a0 (thanks Robert Keil)\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re trusting God will do the rest.<\/p>\n
The lives of Joshua and Daniel were also great inspirations to me during this time.\u00a0 Joshua had a hard job, he had to lead a fickle people to defeat giants in Canaan.\u00a0 But God promised to go before him.\u00a0 Josh 1:3: \u201cI will give you every place where you set your foot\u201d.\u00a0 Josh 1:9: \u201cDo not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.\u201d\u00a0 4 times in this capture God tells Joshua to be Strong and Courageous.\u00a0 I believe I am being asked to occupy CA in the same way.<\/p>\n
Daniel likely didn\u2019t want to be taken to Babylon, and likely didn\u2019t want to serve pagan Kings.\u00a0 But he did so to the best of his ability and through his faithfulness was able to bless both the Babylonians and the Israelites.\u00a0 I pray that I can have same trust in God and impact on the Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Logistics<\/p>\n
Several logistical matters fell into place nicely.\u00a0 We both rented out our house and found a new place to live essentially in 1 day each.\u00a0 We have great tenants in AZ, and we have a great Christian landlord here in CA.\u00a0 The place we were staying was outside of our search parameters.\u00a0 We were pretty certain we were only interested in a single family detached home.\u00a0 Our relator urged us to look at this townhouse based on its price, quality, size, and distance to work.\u00a0 She was right.\u00a0 We\u2019re renting a townhouse for $2100 a month for a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, gated community with a pool.\u00a0 That is a tremendous deal considering housing is about 2.5x more expensive here than it was in Gilbert, AZ.\u00a0 We\u2019re not crazy about the townhouse or the location.\u00a0 We miss living in a suburban neighborhood.\u00a0 But we are absolutely convinced that God has blessed us with this place and a great landlord for the time being, and we are thankful for it.<\/p>\n
It may also have been a blessing that our dog passed away late in 2013.\u00a0 Finding a place for a large dog definitely limits your options here.\u00a0 And we were fortunate to find a quick home for our bunny, as we no longer had a back yard to keep him in.<\/p>\n
And coincidentally, the vehicle registration on our van expired just after we moved, so we didn\u2019t need to renew it in AZ.\u00a0 J<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m sure there have been more confirmations and motivating reasons to make the move, I have already waited too long to capture these thoughts.\u00a0 But I think this is more than sufficient motivation and encouragement to stay the course until further notice.\u00a0 We are feeling very blessed here, and LA does have a variety of new things for us to experience.\u00a0 I expect through God\u2019s providence that I will be successful at work and at home, and we shall find our grove in ministry very soon.<\/p>\n Nate<\/p>\n 7\/27\/2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Preface:\u00a0 I realize this post is way too long for anyone to actually read it, and that\u2019s fine.\u00a0 My audience for this post is really myself and anyone who seriously loves us and wants to know how I think and why we did such a crazy thing like move to LA.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t bother me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,6,15,212],"tags":[563,951,520,4468,519],"class_list":["post-3702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-family","category-labview","category-nate-2","tag-california","tag-confirmation","tag-move","tag-promises","tag-spacex","wpcat-9-id","wpcat-6-id","wpcat-15-id","wpcat-212-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p504YJ-XI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3494,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2014\/02\/france-trip","url_meta":{"origin":3702,"position":0},"title":"France Trip","author":"Becca","date":"February 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In the midst of interviewing and negotiating with SpaceX, Nate had a work trip for Orbital that took him to France for 2 weeks. 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