As many of you know I have recently resigned from my position as the Youth Director at Eastridge. This was easily one of the most difficult decisions that my family and myself have had to make to date. Working with the church in the youth position is easily the most rewarding job that I have had to date. Having such a young family often made the commitments to my job very difficult for us as a family. When we sat down and wrote out all the pros and cons of me staying at Eastridge or leaving they came out dead even every time (well almost every time J) and trust me we made that list several times. Finally a decision had to be made and I truly felt that God was calling me to step out of the way for someone else to step in. I continue to have high hopes for the program at Eastridge and feel that the leadership in place can move mountains if needed.
That being said, I am now officially unemployed. Unemployed…. One word that when you hear it on the news or read it in the paper you typically skim over it and move on. Then I realize that I have willingly quit my job and am now unemployed… My initial “plan” when I resigned from Eastridge was to go back to teaching and once things settled down for our family possibly head back to school. Once again, things change, four months after applying with our local school district I had nothing…. No calls no interviews and no prospects. So I interviewed to mow lawns, I applied at target, I applied for jobs at various agencies in town and still nothing. Unemployed this is now a word that I am all too familiar with.
On my last official day as the youth director at Eastridge I was given an opportunity that I had been wanting for two years. I was getting the pulpit, not just a moment for mission or a quick sermonette about our summer but a full Sunday, 20 minuets (or 30 J) to take a message to the congregation. Ever since my last post about Peter that whole concept of riding the waves and the storms of life has been weighing on me heavily. I felt that this was the same message that God wanted me to pass onto the congregation. My whole sermon boiled down to the fact that we need to focus more on what’s happening in the storm and less on the frantic fight to get out of it.
I am happy, I am happier, more relaxed and feeling really good about things for the fist time in several years. I have reached the point where I am growing and learning while I go through this storm rather than trying to fight the waves and get out fast. In doing this I have realized that I have an opportunity to chase a dream right now, In just under two months I will be trying out for the police academy again, this time as a very different person then I was two years ago when I tried last. I have realized that until I get in to the academy, I plan on subbing in the schools. All of these things have added up to me seeing the beauty of this storm, our family is enjoying meals together again, better yet we have the opportunity to worship together again, my relationship with my wife is growing stronger and stronger everyday. I am back on a healthy diet and exercising again. My entire lifestyle overall is just in a better place and I thank God for it. All of it, the good the bad and the ugly!
Overall I think that the most rewarding part of this entire storm has been the fact that God gave me a message to preach on that I was living, a topic that I could be open and honest about and a message that was relevant in my life. So overall I am enjoying the ups and downs of this storm, knowing that I have turned it over to God and I am excited to see where we come ashore, but for now its fun to look back and connect the dots to see what God has already brought us through.
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