As many of you know I unfortunately lost my job just about a month after marriage. I was approved for unemployment benefits...but I battled back and forth with my past employer. I would love to tell you the whole story here but I will spare you the details. Let's just say I won after many lies from the other party. Thankful that truth always reveals itself. Anyway...when I lost my job this forced me to start sending out resumes ANYWHERE. I sent my resume to places that I didn't even really want to work but the $194 in unemployment wasn't doing it for us. Don't get me wrong we were so blessed with any amount of money but it was extremely difficult to get by. Rice, beans, ramen and chicken have been staple items for us as of late...and yet the Lord continued to provide. My unemployment was coming to an end in April and around that same time a friend of ours offered me a job as an as needed Pharmacy Tech. This job couldn't have come at a better time.
In May as I was pushing pills onto the machine to be packaged I started praying, evaluating our life together and thinking about the future. Nick and I know that full time ministry together is where we will eventually end up. We know the leading and the peace that comes with this. I asked myself what we were doing to pursue this further. Sure I was the volunteer Children's Pastor at our local church and Nick is involved in media at the church and other odd and end things. Now don't get me wrong we have been so blessed at Obetz Church. Our Pastor is a man of God, the people are amazing, I have a phenomenal group of leaders in the kids department and wonderful kids to minister too. Obetz is blessed greatly and the truth of the matter...we are called to full time ministry. I have been working bi-vocationally and it has been trying...exhausting at times but this is where God has us even if it has been for a season. I came home that day at talked with Nick about what I was feeling and together we started praying and we both agreed that I would look for a full time ministry position. I spoke with some Pastor's to see if they had heard of any job openings and sent some resumes to District Offices of the Nazarene church. I also went to the Nazarene Job Board and posted my resume. I sent my resume to pretty much all the churches that had posted for a full time children's pastor and the only place that I didn't send one were the listings in California. Even though Nick encouraged me for two weeks to do so, it was too far. So far away from family and friends. I am sure Nick was thinking what would it hurt.. Well I decided to send the resume but when I sent it I never ever thought that the pastor would get in contact with me..because why would a church all the way out there want someone from the Mid-West? Well here is where the adventure really starts...
Before I continue with California...I need to tell you that Nick and I had previously been interviewing with another church and he and I both just couldn't get the peace that we needed to move on with the process...we were pretty deep into the process with this other church and I had to call the pastor and let him know that we couldn't continue further with them. This was such a hard call to make because this church was amazing...it just wasn't for us. Once we turned this down the Lord opened us up to California...
In June the pastor in California called...I was shocked...I didn't expect it at all! Well he and I had an amazing conversation...A peace fell upon me...I can't explain it and even if I try I wouldn't do it justice. In this conversation the pastor asked if we would be open to flying out for an interview...of course I thought what could it hurt. Well...the waiting game began. Two weeks later we heard from the pastor. The board had approved us to fly out for an interview...and the waiting game continued. We finally found a weekend that would work best for all of us... the weekend of July 16th is when we would make our trip out there. I must say that this time of waiting to fly out was strenuous on the both of us. At times we would allow our human thinking to get the best of us.
I do have to say that I am extremely blessed to be married to a man of God and a man who listens to the leading of the Lord. We decided that we would pray and fast during this time. We had three weeks from the time that we got the call to go out there until we made the actual trip. The first week of our fast we gave up dinner, the second week we did a Daniel fast...and quickly realized how much we love meat and the last week we didn't eat at all. God stretched us so much and at the same time Satan fought us...there were so many questions, what ifs and at times worry would start to set in. At this same time peace would remain. The night before our flight Nick had to work and I couldn't sleep...I was too excited, nervous and anxious. On July 16th we headed out for California and one thing I learned is that Nick is TERRIFIED of flying which I on the other hand, love it!
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| On the airplane BEFORE the terror set in! |
Now on to our weekend:
Thursday: We arrived in San Diego and was warmly greeted by Pastor Bill. He was so welcoming, friendly and felt so great to finally meet him. From there he took us out for BBQ at Famous Daves. We were amazed at how beautiful the city was when we flew over it.
Once we were done eating Pastor Bill took us to where we would be staying. WOW! We were amazed at the generosity of a couple at the church who allowed us to stay in an apartment that they built above their detached garage. The couple uses this home for reasons like ours and mainly for missionaries who come into town and need a place to stay. Here is what it looks like.
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| The view from the apartment |
Friday: Pastor Bill came and got us in the morning and we went to breakfast at a diner. Once we were done eating he took us to to the church and gave us a tour. The church sits on top of a hill and is surrounded by mountains.
That night Pastor invited us to a Lake Elsinore Storm (farm team for the Padres) Baseball game. Of course Nick made t-shirts! Everyone was shocked that we had t-shirts and it was funny to watch the faces of people when we told them that we owned a t-shirt company. We see many orders in the near future. We met so many people from the church this night as there were over 150 in attendance from the church. It was truly an amazing time of fellowship and Nick and I already felt accepted and loved.
Saturday: This was a BIG day for Nick and me as we would interview with the church board that morning. We were prepared with our list of questions and at the same time so anxious. Nick and I felt that we had a lot to share with them about our life before we were married, our life after we were married and about our call into ministry. The board had over 22 questions and the interview lasted a little over 2 1/2 hours. We walked away with a peace and were so thankful for the opportunity for us to share our hearts. After the interview we HAD to get IN-N-OUT with the Youth Pastor (Wally) and his wife (Susan). We loved them and you would have thought that we were long lost best friends by the end of the meal.
That night we were invited to an Introduction Reception for the church congregation to come out, meet us and ask questions. During this time we had people ask Nick and me questions about ministry, life and anything else that they wanted to know. By the end of the day...I didn't want to answer questions or have another question asked of me! LOL After the reception we went to dinner with the Youth Pastor, his family and another couple from the church. It was a fun night full of laughter.
Sunday: We went to church and Pastor Bill introduced us to the church and asked us MORE questions =) Nick and I were able to stay for the first service but had to leave during the second service to catch our plane.
Vacation Bible School was about to start that week so the platform was decorated for it. The church is revamping things and this is a temporary platform until the new one is built. The lady (Sarah) playing the piano and the man singing (Rick) are the Worship Pastors at the church.
We got home pretty late Sunday night/Monday morning. And once again...we waited as we knew that they Pastor would be calling us that Saturday. This week we were full of nerves. We knew the peace that we had received ever since the very first conversation with Pastor Bill up until that point. With many decisions in life there is another party involved. Did they like us, why would they want someone from the midwest, what if they don't want us? All of these question flooded our mind. Not to mention this week that we were waiting to hear from the Pastor I was offered a full time position at a company here in Columbus. I had to turn this job down...which was scary because we didn't have a for sure answer from California. The only thing we had was a peace and how we felt.
On Saturday Pastor Bill called us and offered us the position! We were so excited! There are SO many things confirming this move to California:
-The obvious peace that we BOTH felt since the very first phone conversation.
-I had been looking for a job in Columbus 7 months and couldn't find one. I start looking for a ministry job at the end of May and had MANY phone interviews and great possibilities to find a ministry position that we both had so much peace about 2 months later.
-I prayed so hard that Nick would really connect with some amazing men out there and did he ever!
-The church honors their Pastor's and provides for them (which we prayed for during this process)
-Our vision lines up with the Pastor and Youth Pastor (as I will be working with him a ton)
-This church provides so much for our future as Nick will be able to continue to pursue ordination within the church.
-Oh and I almost forgot our lease is up at the end of August... talk about perfect timing on that one!
Ministry positions are hard to find as you MUST be like minded and sometimes the process can take forever! My first ministry position I ever had it took me a year to feel at peace with one after seven interviews and many ending in the church offering me a position.
These are just some confirming points as the Lord continues to direct us! We ask that you please pray for us...here are some ways to do so.
-that all things fall into place as far as the move goes.
-for safety as Nick and I will be driving cross country.
-I will be flying out August 18th to look for houses, please pray she finds one for us to live in.
-for us and our family as this is a big move...they/we will be missed so much! We are thankful that it is a flight away and we have FaceTime!
-for the children's ministry at our new church.
-for Nick as he continues to pursue ordination and that he can get plugged into ministries at the church.
I know its a bunch but we are so grateful for all of you! If you have made it this far into reading this blog...you are awesome and deserve a cookie!
