Confession #1: Usually when I embark on a new phase of life, I tend to start a new journal. I keep up with it for a few days...maybe weeks if I'm diligent, but rarely for longer than that. A lot of the details get lost, and eventually, so does the journal, until I find it, years later, cleaning a closet, and I write myself a little update about how much my life has changed since the last entry.
Confession #2: I am a control freak. I like everything just so, well documented, organized and exactly to my liking. This usually works out pretty well if I'm taking on a new project or completing a task with a fairly identifiable outcome.
Confession #3: God tends to turn my life upside down every few years, and as per Confession #2, this freaks me out. But inevitably, things turn out far more amazingly than I'd ever imagined. Thus is the reason for this blog.
Here's a quick recap of 2004 to the present day. We got married, after a 5 year friendship that turned into romance, and I moved from Maryland to be with him in Dallas. Justin was working as a DCE (youth pastor) at the local Lutheran LCMS church, and I worked at Starbucks. The congregation was mostly older folks, until an onslaught of families came in, and the older ones were not terribly receptive to the youth program, so ultimately, they weren't fond of him and the kick-butt job he did. Or me and my 22-year-old East Coast, Catholic, slightly offbeat and determined-to-be-myself leanings. Things quickly deteriorated, and we moved back East. After we struggled through a 19 month stint in my parents' basement and months of Justin being unemployed, he accepted a less-than-normal gov't contractor job which lacked job growth, but hey, it paid the bills. I, too, worked for a government contractor. Life was peachy for almost 2 years. We had a plan to buy the home we were renting, and, yay, I got pregnant with our first kid! Halfway through my pregnancy, my employer, ahem, relieved me of my duties. We panicked, but of course, God came through and blessed us abundantly, and, as always, in a way we hadn't even imagined. Our beautiful Nora was born in 2009. Meanwhile, Justin took up his cross, bearing horrible overnight and early morning shifts at work, all the while looking for better employment. He interviewed for job after job. Then, last summer, we learned that his job would cease to exist after November 2010, as all the work was moving elsewhere. Relocating for that job was out of the question...why follow a job that's going nowhere? Job after job, disappointment after disappointment.
Lately, though, God has been sending him little hints that just maybe, he was looking in the wrong place. First, he took a second job tutoring a middle school boy. His parents liked that Justin had a background in Christian education. Next, Justin was accepted into a program, teaching parental enrichment classes through a local nonprofit. Then God really opened his heart to working directly with kids for full time work, and he interviewed for a college coach job at a local high school. By now, his heart was all warm and fuzzy for kids, and, the DAY AFTER THE INTERVIEW (which didn't go so well, btw) we received a text about a part-time youth minister job at an LCMS church in the northern part of the county. Whoa. Was God playing "Warmer/Colder" with us all along or what??? We talked about it, and after some initial talk with the pastor, Justin decided to pursue church work, once again, full time.
That brings us to today, and the creation of this blog. That text was one week ago. In a week, I've had to adjust to the idea of "being" Lutheran again (I'm Italian, so being Catholic comes with the package), and, more importantly, being a youth pastor's wife again. Pastor Paul said we should get on the call list for the South East district, which is MD, VA, NC and SC, which was more terrifying to me than the previous two moderately scary thoughts.
Then, I realized that I was worrying too much. I saw a little plate at the store that said, "Worry ends where faith begins." I told God that I was going to stop being a control freak, and just let him lead us. After doing a little bit (ok, a LOT) of research, we found a potentially great church/town NOT around here. We won't limit the Almighty, since His master plan is far greater, but we have something to set our sights on. It feels good. It doesn't feel crazy and out of control like I thought, and surprisingly, we have a lot of peace.
It's crazy how we've gotten little affirmations that this is what we're supposed to be doing. I'll post things as they happen, and update the situation. He goes on the call list Monday, hopefully, and a call could happen pretty quickly, since churches in the North East are "desperate for DCEs" as Pastor Paul said. Now, I'm not going to lie...the possibility of moving to another state in the next month or two is still pretty terrifying, but mainly because I have to pack up my whole house! Good thing I'm a control freak. :)
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