The Next Chapter...

Hello Blogosphere,

It's been a while, because I haven't really had much to tell you.

So when Em and I were over in Cambodia earlier this year we decided to be open to whatever it was God wanted us to do... I had been studying Theology for 12 months and really wanted to get a job in a church, plus I thought that was where God was leading me towards. Last year I kind of waited for the opportunities to come up, but none really did. So I thought this year I was going to be a bit more intentional and see what happens.

Opportunities in Ballarat were particularly limited so late last year I started checking out Church of Christ jobs in New South Wales and other states. I saw a job advertised in Newcastle and thought, 'That would be cool' but then it was late in the year and I didn't get my butt into gear and apply or anything. Upon returning to Australia following our trip I looked for the ad again but it was gone... Assuming it had been filled I thought I'd still send an email to the pastor and find out what the go was. To my surprise it hadn't been filled, they'd just taken it down because it was over the Christmas period and staff were on leave.

I sent my resume off and waited to hear back. In the midst of all this we'd been contacted by another church who did not have a minister and they were keen to start the conversation about me pastoring there. The two jobs were totally different. One, a straight-up youth pastor job and the other, pastoring a church with no other ministry staff and trying to regenerate it by bringing in young families, youth and young adults so it could avoid extinction. Wow.

To cut a long story short. I ended up getting offered both jobs. While it's not all about me, it was nice to be wanted and appreciated for what I can offer.

We had a decision to make.

I have been incredibly blessed in my life. This was the third time I'd been offered two jobs at the same time! In the past I've just chosen the job that I've wanted to do more, but this time around I wanted to make sure it was what God wanted me to do. Em and I prayed heaps. It was hard to separate how we felt about the respective jobs, what we thought God wanted, what we thought each other wanted, what would be best for us and what would be best for the respective communities we may be ministering to.

In the end the decision became clear and we felt/feel much peace about it. We're off to Newcastle where I will be the youth pastor at Mayfield Church of Christ!

Oscar & Em

We're excited and a little daunted by the prospect of our BIG move. I don't think it's sunk in yet that we'll be leaving both lots of parents, siblings, our nephew Oscar (who is the cutest) and our friends. We just have to trust God that he'll look after the people we leave behind. It's been good to be able to test our faith and trust God with where we're going and all that we're leaving behind. It reminds me a bit of skydiving. We're stepping out of the plane trusting the equipment, trusting that the parachute is going to open. But we're not alone because God's got our back (even more than the guy who was attached to my back during my tandem jump).

Em is not sure what she'll do when we get up there so we're just going to play it by ear. She can always do relief teaching but I think she wants to utilise her Masters in International and Community Development - so we'll see what happens. She is awesome and very employable so I don't think she'll have any dramas finding work.

I'll be starting my new job around the 16th of July and I'd say we'd be moving in the 2 weeks before that. We'll be having a farewell thingy at some stage so will keep you posted.

Thanks for sharing the journey with us and please keep praying for us.