Our Journey - Part 2

Stephen talked to me about leaving our church back in February. Some of you may remember the post I did on surrender. When Stephen approached me about leaving, I said "no" and when I wrote that post, I was finally learning to let go. But you will laugh at what I said. I told Stephen "OK, go ahead and resign, but with the economy like it is, I really want to stay within 30 miles so that I can keep my job." I know, I really learned my lesson about surrender, right ;)

Well, it was about the middle of April or so, and I realized that I needed to let go completely...I couldn't keep putting everything else in my life before my family. It is not just about me. We were late in the resigning process, nothing was open in Indiana North, so there was little hope that we would find another church. Stephen and I had talked about moving back to Michigan some day, so we talked with West Michigan and North Michigan, and even got a call from a church in North Michigan, but it just didn't feel right. So we decided that we would stay, invest and pour ourselves out for another year, and try again next year. Then, in May, we got a call from another church in North Michigan. The first two descriptions of the church out of the lady's mouth were "it's rural and the unemployment rate is close to 17%. Are you still interested?"

God really put a lot of things together for us, and a lot of things fell into place. The church moved pretty fast, and we met with the search committee - in person instead of on the phone - because we were already in the area (when we went camping over Memorial Weekend). Stephen and I had always said that if we got to Michigan some day, the ideal would be about halfway between both our families (Allendale & Evart), and this church is almost exactly that. I still didn't want to leave - and so asked God to really show me red flags if this was not the church for us - but I walked away excited and encouraged. When I still pleaded with God about leaving, because I was content and could have stayed at MSW for my whole life, He reassured me by reminding me that we are still young, the kids are young, so why not now??

After meeting with the search committee, Stephen knew that no matter what happened he had to resign...even if it meant staying in the area and working 3rd shift housekeeping again. We were literally talking to each other and saying how it felt a little like Abraham and being willing to sacrifice Isaac, when the phone rang. The Vice Chair of the church (Crystal Lake Community) called and asked if we would come in for two days of interviews and preaching. The Sunday they wanted Stephen to preach was our VBS combined church service with Westview and our Wesleyan Women Missions service that night...so we didn't need to find anyone to cover for us while we were gone.

His candidating weekend was this past weekend, and it was amazing. I now have such a peace and an excitement about going to Crystal. But it is still bittersweet, because we will miss a lot of people here in Indiana. It is hard feeling both emotions at the same time.

We don't actually find out the offical vote for two weeks, because it is their pastor's last Sunday this week, but I really am at peace about the whole thing. It is definitely going to be a challenging church, but we are encouraged...because I think it will stretch us, and we are hoping to be able to stretch them as well.

Another real answer to prayer is that my boss at IWU sounded very supportive - in fact, she was the one to bring it up - of me working from home and commuting some so that I can keep my job. After being at CLCC this past weekend, I know that this will be temporary (I just want to BE there if I am going to LIVE there). But, it will be WONDERFUL to have the stability of a job until I can find something else and train my replacement...and some of the people in the church already said that they might be able to help me out!

Living in anticipation for the next chapter in our lives...