Our Next Steps

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Christie and I finally know what we are doing next.

We have been in limbo for some time, but now the near future is starting to come into focus a little bit.  I’ve had a number of people here in Oceanside ask what we are doing next, so I thought I would write a brief post on here so that anyone who is curious can know what we’ll be up to for the next year or two.

As of now, we have moved out of our apartment, and next week we will be moving into an apartment in Pasadena.  For now Christie is spending a week at home with her family, and I am staying in Oceanside with our good friends Don and Dawn Richie (and I’ll be here until the end of June).  Christie will be starting graduate school in Occupational Therapy at USC on June 15, and her program will run for the next two and a half years.  I am very excited for her, and I know this will be a great opportunity for her to receive training in a field that seems to really suit her gifts and passions.  As I mentioned, I will be staying in Oceanside until the end of June finishing up at New Song and trying to cherish the remaining time I have here.

For the summer, I will be going to school full-time as well once I join Christie in Pasadena.  I interviewed for two different pastoral jobs in the Los Angeles area, but unfortunately I didn’t get either of them.  The first one was a part time gig that I probably would not have accepted had it been offered to me. I made it to the final two, but they told me that they didn’t think I was the right fit for them.  They were good people and I’m sure its a cool church, but I agreed with them.  The second one was a full-time job that I really wanted, and though I made it to the final three (out of more than 100 applicants), I didn’t end up getting the job. Not getting that job was deeply disappointing to me personally and professionally, but after allowing myself a couple of hours to be sad, I’ve tried to let it go and focus on what we have before us. There is actually a third job that I have interviewed for as well, and I should be hearing back about that one fairly soon. Going to school full-time will allow me to finish my Master of Divinity degree by June 2010.

For the time being, we will probably be returning to Bel Air Presbyterian Church and getting involved in their young marrieds ministry, but we may try a few churches in Pasadena.  Of course I will continue looking for a job, and if we find one at a church that appears to be a good fit for us, we will settle in there.  While I am very disappointed that I won’t be in full-time ministry after the end of this month, I know that having a couple of months to slow down, reflect on my experience at Seven24, and be a lay member of a church community will be good for me.

So those are the basics of our plan for the next little while.  Having both of us in school full-time will certainly present its fair share of challenges, but I am confident that we will be able to meet them.  We are, of course, very sad to be leaving Oceanside, but we know that God is calling us forward, and we are excited to see where he leads.

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