Today was a big day

Today was a big day and I must congratulate my wonderful husband! Today is officially John Paul's first day on the job ministering to and leading singles as part of the young adult staff at Highland Park Presbyterian Church. This position is such a good match for the gifts that John Paul has been given and I am so excited that he is getting to enter back into ministry which is what he loves and is called to do. I'll attempt to catch you up :)

As most of you know John Paul took a much needed break from organized ministry this past year (although if you know John Paul, you know his whole life is about ministry) to focus on seminary full time. He may have taken a break from ministry but if you know what he's been up to this past year then you'd know he hardly rested. He has worked tirelessly at whatever job the Lord has provided in order to provide for me and Libby. And I've said it before and I'll say it again...he never complained. But he does fall asleep at 9:00pm, ha. 

This past spring, after almost a year off, John Paul was itching to get back into ministry but with another two semesters (fall & spring) of seminary to go he wasn't exactly pursuing jobs. He heard about a full time youth position at HPPC through the seminary back in April and submitted a resume to see where it lead. But after prayer and discussion we both knew that we had tried full time ministry and full time seminary once before and it was not a good combo. Plus we had a baby on the way...small detail :) We found out that they ended up hiring someone else and we were totally content with the fact that it wasn't the right job. John Paul's nannying job ended for the summer but he continued valeting at the airport. 

Fast forward to June. Libby is a few weeks old, John Paul has the summer off from school and is still doing valet. He then hears about another job opening at HPPC...this time it's a part time position focusing on singles on the young adult ministry staff. We read the job description together and were actually quite amazed because it seemed like such a good match for John Paul. We decided he would go ahead and submit his resume and see what happened. A few days later he was contacted by the director of young adults and they set up a lunch for us with he and his wife after church that coming Sunday. We met for lunch and had great conversation. We got to ask a lot of questions and get a feel for the church culture. Over the next four weeks John Paul met with several different pastors and staff members at HPPC and we prayed that God would lead us where He wanted us to be. We were trusting that the Lord would give us peace but at the same time it was getting very real...like oh wow, we're seriously considering this. As with any job in ministry, it's not just a decision that affects your career but it affects you on a personal level as well. We love our church. We love our community and the teaching that has helped us learn so much and grown our love for Jesus over the last 6 years. It was painful to think of leaving this church family. And honestly we had never seriously envisioned leaving The Village. I guess we just always thought that at some point God would open a door for John Paul to go on staff there. But there were several factors that were causing us to consider that the timing might be right for change...one being the fact that much of our closest community at The Village was actually moving out of Dallas. During those weeks of interviews, meetings, and prayer God began to release our grip on the plans we had made for ourselves and opened our hearts to the idea of leaving and the opportunity He had placed before us. He kindly reminded us that life is not about being comfortable or doing what is easiest but about trusting in His faithfulness and following Him. In fact, John Paul and I both agreed that the times in life when we have been most deeply satisfied and content have been times of change when we've been uncomfortable because it caused us to draw nearer to and depend on the Lord. And that's ultimately what we desire at the end of the day...more of Jesus. And He is the same no matter where we are. Ultimately, and honestly much to our surprise, we felt that the Lord was telling us to go...so we did. By the middle of July they offered John Paul the job and we accepted. 


We have received such a warm welcome at HPPC and are so excited to dive right in with our new church family. We've already made some wonderful new friends and look forward to building deep community once again. But at the same time we are so thankful to know that our home group from the Village will always be our family too. How cool to know that we are all a part of the body of Christ. John Paul is thrilled to start building relationships with singles at HPPC and walk with them through such an important time in their lives. My prayer is that the Lord will equip John Paul for this new position, use John Paul's gifts for His glory, and that singles at HPPC would more deeply know and understand the gospel of Jesus and His love for them.


Looking back I can see how the Lord was preparing us for this new journey over the past year. We've had more changes and uncertainty in the past year than any other time in our lives...jobs, finances, living situations, friends & family suffering, friends moving, our sweet baby girl, etc. I am not a big fan of change and uncertainty and I usually do not accept it right away with a smile on my face. But God has been more than faithful through everything. I feel like He used it all to grow our trust in Him so that we could look back on His faithfulness and in this moment trust Him once again with our future. 


So we move onto this new journey with confidence. Not confidence in this job. Not confidence in ourselves. But confidence in Him. That He will continue to carry us through whatever may come just as He always has. That He will continually remind us that He is in control and His plans are always better than the plans we make for ourselves.  That He uses all things for His glory and the joy of those who love Him. I know that it will be hard at times but I also know that there will be times of great joy...just as with anything else. God is so gracious to have already given us several sources of confirmation that this is exactly where He wants us to be and for that we are grateful.