July
Ya'll. I cannot make this stuff up. It was another NO. This season of life has been hilarious. We lost count of how many churches and ministries we sent Brent's resume too this past year. I'm sure we were close to 30 by the end of July. We did have two churches that actually followed up with us. One was in Hawaii! Not kidding. I totally sent Brent's resume to a church in Hawaii last fall. Island people need Jesus too! They sent questions back that Brent answered, but by the time they responded with wanting to Skype, Brent had done enough research on the cost of living to say that "we" decided not to pursue that church. "We". You know how it is in marriage, sometimes that "we" is a just "HE"! HA! I am all about some island time!
Sometime in July, a friend sent Brent's resume to a mutual friend who is a pastor in Mississippi. The job even came with a house! A legit 100-year-old house that was in the middle of a remodel. The house had not one, but TWO bay windows with large rooms, a butler's room, and the tallest, most glorious windows you've ever seen, well at least they would be glorious after they were replaced.
The kids had us moved in a week and half before we even went to visit. I tried to tell them that their daddy did not have the job yet, but in their minds, they had already chosen rooms and organized closets. We went for a little look-see on a Friday. We enjoyed the trip down there, everyone was in a good mood. We walked around the church, drove past the schools, took a few right turns and ate lunch at Big Daddy's Rock and Roll Cafe. It was so good. It was so hot, the air conditioner was not enough. I ordered 2 drinks, a coke and a water. After lunch, we took a few left turns and headed back to the 100-year old house for a tour. Remember the heat, the kids opened the fridge/freezer and tried to squeeze inside! As we stood on the front porch, wrapping our visit up, I knew by the look on Brent's face that we were not coming to this town. It was so weird. We wanted this to be right and wanted it to work, but the more we were there, the less excited Brent and I were about it. There is nothing wrong with the church, the pastor is one of Brent's friends, but for whatever reason, it was not the right place for us.
The ride home was not as fun. It actually turned into a rough weekend. Brent and I had talked about how much we thought we had grown spiritually this season and how restful it was, but after this day of a disappointing no (and the fact that the no came from us this time!) I felt like I was right back at the beginning, having to re-learn what I thought I had already wrestled through, struggled with, and fought for: my faith. my trust. my rest. my peace.
I finally told the kids we weren't going to the church, I figured they should know why I wasn't in the best of moods.
That same weekend, just fast forward to Sunday night, we held our small group was at our house. Side note: Oh. My. Gosh. We love this small group and I love having them at my house. After small group, Brent got an email from a youth guy at a local church. He asked Brent to submit his resume for the pastor position. We had previously been asked to submit a resume for this same church, only they told Brent to send the resume to the county association. This time the youth guy told him to send it right to the church. Whoa. A little excitement fluttered in our stomachs. He sent the resume. The next day we got an email back from the secretary saying that the deadline for resumes had been June 30 and they were not accepting anymore resumes. At this point, I just laughed. Of course. I was 100% sure that we could apply for ANY job on the planet and it would be a big, fat NO. Even the non-church jobs Brent applied for did not work out. What in the world? We just didn't understand. Maybe we were on the wrong path? Nope, we were doing everything we knew to do. We still weren't panicking. But maybe we should have Skyped with that church in Hawaii! Secretly, I was still hoping they would "randomly" call back! ;)
Life continued on, we survived the summer, and school started. When I started my new job, I backed off from taking photos, just doing some for friends and family who asked and of course, for Sav-A-Life. Nothing in our life had made much sense the past 7 months. Shouldn't we have been worried? No, we weren't. Doesn't that sound cliche? There was a lot of discussion between me and Lord. I'll have to tell you about it. But sometime in the middle of July, I thought "by August, everything will be different." And it was.
Sometime in July, a friend sent Brent's resume to a mutual friend who is a pastor in Mississippi. The job even came with a house! A legit 100-year-old house that was in the middle of a remodel. The house had not one, but TWO bay windows with large rooms, a butler's room, and the tallest, most glorious windows you've ever seen, well at least they would be glorious after they were replaced.
The kids had us moved in a week and half before we even went to visit. I tried to tell them that their daddy did not have the job yet, but in their minds, they had already chosen rooms and organized closets. We went for a little look-see on a Friday. We enjoyed the trip down there, everyone was in a good mood. We walked around the church, drove past the schools, took a few right turns and ate lunch at Big Daddy's Rock and Roll Cafe. It was so good. It was so hot, the air conditioner was not enough. I ordered 2 drinks, a coke and a water. After lunch, we took a few left turns and headed back to the 100-year old house for a tour. Remember the heat, the kids opened the fridge/freezer and tried to squeeze inside! As we stood on the front porch, wrapping our visit up, I knew by the look on Brent's face that we were not coming to this town. It was so weird. We wanted this to be right and wanted it to work, but the more we were there, the less excited Brent and I were about it. There is nothing wrong with the church, the pastor is one of Brent's friends, but for whatever reason, it was not the right place for us.
The ride home was not as fun. It actually turned into a rough weekend. Brent and I had talked about how much we thought we had grown spiritually this season and how restful it was, but after this day of a disappointing no (and the fact that the no came from us this time!) I felt like I was right back at the beginning, having to re-learn what I thought I had already wrestled through, struggled with, and fought for: my faith. my trust. my rest. my peace.
I finally told the kids we weren't going to the church, I figured they should know why I wasn't in the best of moods.
That same weekend, just fast forward to Sunday night, we held our small group was at our house. Side note: Oh. My. Gosh. We love this small group and I love having them at my house. After small group, Brent got an email from a youth guy at a local church. He asked Brent to submit his resume for the pastor position. We had previously been asked to submit a resume for this same church, only they told Brent to send the resume to the county association. This time the youth guy told him to send it right to the church. Whoa. A little excitement fluttered in our stomachs. He sent the resume. The next day we got an email back from the secretary saying that the deadline for resumes had been June 30 and they were not accepting anymore resumes. At this point, I just laughed. Of course. I was 100% sure that we could apply for ANY job on the planet and it would be a big, fat NO. Even the non-church jobs Brent applied for did not work out. What in the world? We just didn't understand. Maybe we were on the wrong path? Nope, we were doing everything we knew to do. We still weren't panicking. But maybe we should have Skyped with that church in Hawaii! Secretly, I was still hoping they would "randomly" call back! ;)
Life continued on, we survived the summer, and school started. When I started my new job, I backed off from taking photos, just doing some for friends and family who asked and of course, for Sav-A-Life. Nothing in our life had made much sense the past 7 months. Shouldn't we have been worried? No, we weren't. Doesn't that sound cliche? There was a lot of discussion between me and Lord. I'll have to tell you about it. But sometime in the middle of July, I thought "by August, everything will be different." And it was.
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