Back in the City

For the past almost 4 years, we have lived in a rural community. Actually, we live in a rural "suburb" (I think that's an oxymoron) of a small town. We live in an area known as "Cheraw." But we don't actually live in Cheraw--which is about 1/2 mile square--We live about a mile and a half from the center of Cheraw. I understand that at one time Cheraw had a store, a bank, a gas station, a golf course, etc. Now it just has a cafe and post office and school. So if you stop to think about we live outside, in a rural area, of a rural "suburb" of a small town. The small town of La Junta, which is about 3 miles square, is about 10 miles south of us. And we have gotten accustomed to our 4.5 acres of open space.
But we also miss the advantages of living in the city. Our small town of La Junta has some features of city life--a chain grocery store, several chain "fast-food" restaurants, a Wal-Mart, a hospital, a community college, etc. But it doesn't have a mall with major dept. stores, a major big-box hardware store (like Home Depot), nice big name restaurants, etc. The closest city with some of those features is over an hour away.
So when we come to So Cal it is like "Candyland" to us. All the major stores and restaurants within a 5 minute drive of us! So much to choose from and so little time! But with the convenience also comes the crowdedness of the city. We want to have all the stuff and still enjoy our space. I guess you can't have it both ways.
We are wondering where God will move us next? Will it be to a rural area of a small town? a small city? the middle of the real suburbs? Wherever it is, we know that God will give us the grace to handle wherever He puts us. We are still waiting 'patiently.' (Okay, sometimes not so patiently.) And we look forward to what God has in store for us in 2008!

Hangin' Out in California

We are enjoying our time with family in California. We spent several days with Josh in Yuma, AZ, including Christmas day. And then we talked him into driving to CA with us. We are staying with my sister and her husband, Jean and John, and spending time with my folks too.
We were looking forward to warmer weather here. It has been warmer than Colorado, that's for sure! But not as warm as I thought it might be--60's in day and 40's at night. My dad says it will warm up to 70 next Monday :) We are having over 20 people here for New Year's Eve. It will be great to be together with the extended family.

Family time is very important. No one ever says on their death bed, "Oh, I wish I would have spent more time at the office" or "I wish I would have worked longer hours." But many have said, "I wish I would have spent more time with the family!"
Enjoy your family while you can. What fun things did you do with your family at Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

We are in Yuma, AZ, visiting Josh. This morning we helped him cook breakfast for his staff--pancakes, eggs, ham, cinnamon rolls, and more! Everyone gave him a hard time about making his parents work on their vacation (actually we volunteered to help!).

An interesting turn of events before we left CO--I had talked to the charter school in CA where I thought I might be able to work and the HR manager told me that there were other applicants who were in the area to interview and I was not--so basically I don't think they will do a phone interview like I thought they would. It doesn't look like I will be going to CA--good news for Karen.
And then on Friday morning I called the high school in Lamar (about 50 miles east) that I sent an app to. The principal wanted to meet with me so I drove out and had an interview. It turns out that he had offered the job to someone from Nebraska the day before, but he received a call from that guy on Friday morning declining the job--So God had me call at just the right time. The principal asked if I would be interested in doing a long-term sub, and I said yes. (That would be better pay than regular subbing, plus not a contact so I could leave if I needed.) I don't know if I will be hired but I have a good chance at it.

And then we came to Yuma and went to a church on Sunday that Josh had told me was without a pastor. What an insight into established churches in small towns--there are small older churches that are progressive! (Powerpoint, updated sound system, etc.) And we learned that their search committee is just getting organized. (I had sent them my resume a couple of weeks ago.) Josh talked to someone at work today who knows a head leader at the church and said he would put in a good word for me. Maybe God is working things here for us?? Anyway, we are praying that we could be near family. Thanks for your prayers for us.
Have a Merry Christmas!

No News

They say 'no news is good news.' Someone in fact said this to us the other day when we said that we hadn't gotten any news about any jobs or ministry opportunities. But at times like this, hearing anything would be welcome. (At least that is what we think right now, but of course we have not had to receive any bad news to think about.) Anyway, it is hard to continue to wait--Karen has been praying that we would have someplace to go by December 20--so we need to pray hard the next few days.

Forgive me for being so negligent at my blog, but like I said, I've had no news to share.

I still think that there is a possibility of me going to California next month--but I haven't had the phone interview that they said they might be able to set up. I will contact them again this week to see if it is still a possibility.
Meanwhile, I have been keeping pretty busy subbing--all this week I will be at Karen's school. Tomorrow (Monday) I am taking Karen's class for her as she has been sick all weekend. Then the other days for 2 other teachers at her school.
On Saturday we head for Yuma, AZ, to spend Christmas with Josh--and then on to Hemet, CA, to stay with Jean (my sister) and John and Mom and Dad. It will be good to get out of this cold weather for a while! We have snow on the ground now and more snow expected next weekend.

Have a great week!

#1

I was just reminded by something that I read--it is something that I have heard and said for many years but it is good to be reminded of it:

The number one thing in life is to keep the number one thing, number one!

Of course, the number one thing in life is Jesus Christ. Our whole life's purpose is to keep Him first in our life. There are so many other things that can get our focus off of Him--jobs, schooling, illness, everyday stress, relationships, good things, bad things, etc.

As I am putting my focus on Christ, I am also trying to wait patiently for His Will. No news yet regarding any ministry or teaching job. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Being Missional

I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I would want a church to be like lately, especially since I am sometimes asked to fill out questionaires about my philosophy of ministry. A term that I have come to use as part of my ministry philosophy is "missional." I have read several articles this year on that subject as well as part of a book called "Shaped by God's Heart--the Passion and Practices of Missional churches." So I would want my next church to have the vision of being missional.
What does that mean?
Here is a little excert from an article that summaries the philosophy:
Missional churches understand that things no longer work as they once did. Indeed, what worked even as recently as last Sunday may not work this Sunday. Through the process of "branding" , we discover that what the church thinks it is doing does not necessarily reflect what is actually happening.
Missional churches need to be transformational. This begins with God and you. If your life is not being transformed by the power of God, missional is just a word - nothing more. Now, more than ever before, it is imperative to take a creative, relevant approach in preaching the whole gospel. In other words, sin, repentance, faith, confession and living a life of holiness is crucial for today. The content of the gospel does not change, but the packaging changes continually. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. (Rom. 1:16)
Read the rest of the article at http://exp.etelos.com/sys/nl/ai.esp?cid=a1e28c563f453874aabd1b3f37a712fe&iid=4144&taf=0&show=13046

On another note, the Lord closed the door on a church that I was in contact with this week. We are still praying that God would lead us to a church where I can work with them to become the type of church mentioned above. Meanwhile Karen has enjoyed me being at her school again today.

Holiday Spending

I have read a couple of times lately that retailers say spending is down this year compared to previous years. Or I should say that the increase in spending this year is less of an increase than in previous years. Each year, Americans spend more than the year before, but this year the percentage of increase declined. I don't remember the exact percentages, but I do remember that the average American consumer will spend about $816.00 on holiday shopping this year. Well, to balance out that average from what we are planning to spend, some of you will be doing a LOT of shopping!!

How about you--are you above or below that average?

Of course, I like what one little child said at this time of year, "If it's Jesus' birthday, why do we get all the presents?"

Let's remember to keep the focus on CHRIST at Christmas!

Feeling Better

The last two days I have worked subbing even though I was feeling pretty "rough" yesterday. Sometimes when I sub, the plans are pretty basic--give worksheet and have students work quietly. However, yesterday when I decided to go ahead and work, I didn't realize how difficult a time I was going to have talking that day. And wouldn't you know it, the plans had me do a chapter review for the first and third periods--I had to talk all hour--barely! But I survived. Today, I was at Karen's district in the high school which is almost connected to her elementary wing. Just a little reading out loud for one period, but my voice is 100% better today.

I still haven't gotten an interview call for the teaching position in CA, but I did find that there is an open teaching position in Lamar about an hour from here. That would be so much better to be able to stay here with Karen! I will check it out tomorrow if I don't get called to sub.

On the couch

I have not been feeling well today with a bad cold and sore throat. I haven't even felt like searching for church jobs on the computer. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.
I do have another questionaire to fill out for a church that responded back--this one up by Denver. So now that I have been contacted back by a church, I am wondering about do I keep pursueing a church position and stay here, or do I go to California and teach? But, of course, I don't have to make any decisions yet because no jobs have been offered. Still, I wonder what will be the best plans to be making. Please pray about this particular church possibility and that the Lord will give me wisdom as I respond and as I make plans for next month.