A Decision Is Made

With my wife doing such a wonderful blog, I haven't been keeping up on mine as much as I might have otherwise. Also, I simply didn't want to tell people our decision making process. I truly was endeavoring not to make a decision until all the cards were on the table. This meant that, though we truly enjoyed Lolo (see Shari's entry here), we were just as excited about discovering Moorhead, MN, and I didn't want people in Moorhead to think that we had already made the decision.

Well, now we've been to both, and, to tell the truth, it was not an easy decision. Again, Shari puts it better than I could in her blog, so I won't reiterate all that. We endeavored to look at both opportunities from as many angles as possible. We didn't want to miss God, or make a choice based on our wisdom, only to discover God wanted us elsewhere. I don't know how many times I weighed all the issues in my head. I talked to our pastor. I asked a ton of questions. I enjoyed spending time with both pastors and their leadership teams, for totally different reasons. So, while we were there, God spoke to me about making the decision. He had already given us freedom to choose between the two, letting us know He would bless either choice. This time, He spoke clearly about the "negatives." He let me know that, while both had very good points, whichever I chose would lead to spiritual battles, and those battles would come from both within and outside of the church. It was just a matter of there being different battles at each church. He even gave me a clue what some of the battles would be at each church. What was I willing to sacrifice over, and what issues are Shari and I not wanting to have to battle about. Even knowing that didn't make the decision much easier, but eventually we went with our hearts. That meant we had to say no to Moorhead, and that wasn't easy to do. Pastor Joe promised much that I've been looking for, and they already had a ministry with students similar in culture to the students we had been working with in Moses Lake. Not only that, but his mom was a wonderful woman of God that Shari and I loved staying with. How does one explain and intangible like this, when there's no logical or emotional reason to not choose Moorhead. I'm not sure, so I guess I'll stop trying. We loved our time in Moorhead, MN, and are thankful for all they did to help us discover where God is calling us.

So, that door's closed. We are now off to Lolo, MT to minister to the teens there. We are truly looking forward to this opportunity. What's it going to look like to jump into a ministry that's been lead by the same person for the past 18 years? What's it going to look like to work in a church setting? What in the world is it going to look like to work in Montana instead of Washington? That's going to be the wierdest thing for this Washington born and raised man. I am so looking forward to working with Don and Jeff, especially learning from Don, a man who's been in ministry for much longer than I.

Then there are the more practical issues. Yes, while ministry isn't about the money, I do need to pay the bills and put a roof over our heads. So, we've been house hunting. So far, we're looking at anything beween $175K to $200K, and those prices are pretty slim pickin's - but there are some out there. Even with those prices, though, our payments will be pretty high - almost $1000/mo. We'll have to trust God to provide in other areas is the only thing I can figure. I will keep you posted... or Shari will :).

Thank you to those who have patiently waited for my next post. I apologize for taking so long. I'll try and post again soon. I've been reading some interesting blogs, mag. articles, and a fairly deep book by G.K. Chesterton. I can only read a few pages before I have to put it down and digest it for a while... or I simply put it down because I don't get it. It's like wading through molasses, but it's worth it.