Well, I'm sitting here in our office at home surrounded by boxes on the floor half filled with books and office supplies, school records and other paperwork and trying to decide if they get shipped to Florida, sent to storage, or will come with us in the car. Tough decisions!
My classes ended well - even my Barth class! I had numerous papers and sermons to write, but God was gracious and gave me all that was needed to complete them and even get halfway decent grades on them! My back continues to pay a big price for all of this sitting and reading and writing...
I have sent my PIF (Presbyterian lingo for resume - Pastor Information Form) to numerous churches in Florida. God even moved me to send it to a new church development in CA (but thankfully they didn't want me, I think God just wanted to remind me that it's His plan, not mine that we're following)!
We've always kept it in the back of our minds that if I didn't have a call by graduation that we would just go and live with Lee and Bobby (and Charlie and Sarah and Rilo) in Florida. So as I've been getting one letter after another saying, "Sorry, we don't think you're the right fit for our church," we've been aiming towards Lee's house and looking for jobs in the Ft. Pierce area.
As we've thought and prayed more about it I thought, well, if I'm going to be working a regular job, then I may as well just start pursing new church development since that's where my heart is really at. It just so happens that the Presbytery where Lee lives has a really good NCD Commission with resources and goals and leaders who have actually planted churches! Earlier I talked with the chair of the commission and he told me that if we end up there, they will send Kim and I to be assessed and if it turns out that we're a good fit for church planting then they'll supply me with a coach and other resources. So I'm kind of excited about that!
The scary part is just the financial end of things. We're leaving seminary with a huge amount of debt, and so I don't have the luxury of just looking for work that would put me in a good situation to meet lots of people (which as a church planter is ideal), but I need to find something that is going to pay decent so we can keep up with things. We're probably going to need another car as well...the list could get really big, so I'm not going to even go down that road...too overwhelming at this point.
So what we do hold on to is the fact that God is SO much bigger than anything that we are facing! We hold on to the fact that it was God who led us and brought us to this place, and has faithfully provided for all of our needs and even some wants over the last three years, and He's not going to just drop the ball and tell us we're on our own now.
The big picture can be quite daunting and overwhelming when we spend too much time looking at it. That must be why Jesus tells us in Matthew 6,
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feed them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat? or 'What shall we drink? or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
So we're taking each day as it comes. Lee, Sammy and Charlie are driving up from Florida for graduation, and Karen and Dave Jensen are flying in from Grand Junction! We are WAY excited!
The service of Thanksgiving is Thursday evening - I'm singing a duet and leading a congregational song. Then there's an awards brunch on Friday and early dinner at the seminary, followed by graduation commencement at 7pm that evening at East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
http://www.cathedralofhope.org/about/church-history-architecture.html
It will be beautiful!!!
Saturday at noon we're having a BBQ with all sorts of friends stopping by to visit and get our last goodbyes in. Then Sunday we're picking up a truck and taking just about all of our earthly belongings to a storage facility where it will stay until I get hired by a church and they pay to have it moved, or by God's grace we get a chunk of money and we can have it moved down to FL. That part is kind of scary too... So I'm looking at things and packing them with an eye towards - "how would I feel if I never saw this again?" If I can't bear the thought, it gets mailed to FL (or goes in the very limited car space). Otherwise it gets packed in a box with a prayer that maybe someday I'll see it again.
God is BIG...and I trust that whatever happens will be for His glory and not mine...and I'm ok with that. And the best part is, I know that when everything's said and done with this part of the journey, we'll have another great story to tell of God's love and faithfulness and how He grew us even closer to Him.
So that's our story for now! Please pray for us in this time of discernment, transition, and hope. And speaking of hope... I'm going to be flown back to Pittsburgh July 1-2 to go to a meeting during the PC(USA)'s General Assembly to join a discussion about connecting "mission rich" congregations who would love to get "first call" pastors who seek to lead to new ministries, new church starts and/or the renewal and transformation of struggling congregations. I'm very hopeful.
With that I will go for now. We thank God and we thank you for the many prayers, emails, cards, FaceBook posts, and phone calls that have encouraged us, and supported us emotionally, spiritually, and financially. We simply could not have done this or survived this adventure without the body of Christ holding us up. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Blessings to you all...
~Sally & Kim
