Switching Gears

Jamie has been in vocational youth ministry for 11 years with 2 years of volunteering before that. It has been our 'life' for so long that it was always hard to imagine things in any other way. In our minds, I guess we always just figured that Jamie would always be "employed" by a church in some capacity.....forever.

The past few weeks have been very emotional. Things changed and happened too quickly for us to even process it all. I think we have felt every possible emotion. I have had several close friends/family tell me, "don't let this hinder your relationship with God." In all honesty, we have had to cling and depend on God so much during this valley that he seems closer than ever. What else do we have except God, each other, and those few people that truly care? If it weren't for God we wouldn't even be bothering to try right now. We have found great comfort to know that God is planning our steps ahead of us.

Jamie quit his job of 2 years without one on the horizon to go towards. All he knew was that God was leading him out of here. We didn't know what that meant and it has been very scary. Jamie is a Man of God and I had to stake much of my trust in Him to decide what is best for us with the Lord's leadership. I knew that he wouldn't do anything to hurt us. I'm sure that some people saw him as being irresponsible, but we saw it as a faith fall.

So, we've been in the process of seeking the Lord's desire in our life. Jamie said that he's had tunnel vision too long. We had to break out of our comfort zones and lay it all down and realize that God may have another mission in the future. The very night that Jamie put his 2 week notice in (last Wed.), he got a call when we got home about a job. Not just any job, but a job that we felt God was leading him towards. It was in the Christian University that Jamie graduated from 3 years ago: Mid-Continent University.

There were several emails ping-ponged back and forth and the interview was yesterday. The interview was long (3 hours), but he got the job offer within an hour of leaving the campus. He was thrilled. There are still several details for God to work out for us, but we trust him to do that. And, as an added job "perk" Jamie gets to go to graduate school for free. That saves us about $20,000 of debt! And, coincidentally (there are no coincidences with God though) he had applied for graduate school before ever hearing about this possibility. Amazing! It will be a really nice place to work and make a career, and he'll be able to teach in 2 years.

So, we are closing a chapter in our lives. Jamie finished up the week, then goes on a mission trip to AZ, then we head back to pack her up and move on out. This is also the girls' last week of public school. We are turning many corners, but God is providing all our needs.