Breathe

Welp, a decision has been made.  A job offer has been accepted.  I feel like I can finally breathe.  Glory to God.

I've been home from Uganda for 5 long months now.  I've been looking for a job since the beginning of January.  My resume was sent out all over the place.  I wrote and rewrote my philosophy of youth ministry.  I sat and waited.  I was rejected by numerous different places.  I sat nervously through interviews, sweating my way through some answers in front of committees of people.  It was difficult and very discouraging.  There wasn't much peace or comfort.  Until last week.

Prior to last week, I had a good job offer from a church in Arizona.  They flew me down and I spent 3 days straight interviewing with different people and hanging out with the youth kids.  I enjoyed my time with this congregation, for the most part.  However, I never felt comfortable.  My philosophy of ministry and my theology didn't align as well as I thought it should for a successful match.  By the end of my time there, they had offered me the job with some nice benefits and a pension.  Aside from those incentives, I would have been able to live at my parent's house in Peoria, AZ for next to nothing.  I would have made and saved a lot of money, lived in a sunny place again, and been close enough to California to enjoy lots of mini vacations, but none of of that mattered to me when it came to being obedient.  There was one particular area that I felt very strongly on and we just couldn't seem to make it work.  Too many red flags and no peace from the Lord meant that I just needed to wait and see what else came.  It was extremely difficult to just sit on that secured job offer and wait until I interviewed with two other places.  So the offer was essentially "on the table" as I took more time to pray and interview at these other places.

Two and a half weeks ago I got an email from a church in New Jersey that I had sent my resume to in March.  They wanted to interview me.  I quickly replied and asked if they were wanting a face to face interview or if we could do a phone interview.  They agreed to do a phone interview and scheduled it for this past week, Tuesday.  When I scheduled it, I hadn't even gone down to Arizona yet so it seemed so far away.  Anyways, Tuesday came, sans nerves and the interview only lasted about 20 minutes.  Even though I really felt like it went well and I felt a peace about it, I didn't think I'd hear back because of the short length.  It felt very right, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.  The next day I received a phone call from the head of the staff parish relations committee asking if I would do a skype interview the next day, Thursday.  Surprised, of course I said yes.  Thursday came with some technical difficulties as they were unable to get their computer's microphone to work.  So I was placed, facing the staff parish relations committee with my phone to my ear and one of their phones on speaker phone.  It worked fine and again it was only about a 20 minute call.  I hung up feeling very excited about this church and very much like I meshed well with them.  I was so relaxed and very much able to be myself.  I hadn't felt that way with any other church or interview.  About an hour and a half later my phone rang and I was offered the position.

After many sleepless nights and worrying about different jobs, this one came just when I was at the point of settling for something that wasn't right, just to have a job.  It came out of no where and was a rapid whirlwind of peace.  It doesn't seem to make a ton of sense when I just say it like that, but God made it very clear through a few different means that this is the church where I'm supposed to work.  Praise Jesus!

I'm officially leaving Chicagoland June 12th and relocating to New Jersey.  My official job title is youth pastor/assistant pastor.  This is a huge step for me and I feel like a new chapter, as they say.  I'm so excited about being a part of this church family, ministering to the youth (and the rest of the congregation), and growing in my walk.  What I'm most excited about though... is seeing the Kingdom furthered each day by completing the work I've been called to do for the glory of God.  What an honor to be called to this role!

I've got a lot to do in the next couple of weeks.  I have lots of people I want to see and spend time with, and I have plenty of boxes to pack.  I'm so happy because this doesn't feel like a time of mourning at all, but more like a time of peaceful anticipation and joy.  I'm so grateful.  Thank you all very much for you prayer and support during the past 5 months.  Also for your continued prayer and support as I start this new adventure, grow, and face unknowns.