Moving Forward

ps

I got the job today! I'm officially a youth pastor.

posted by Moving Forward @ 12:02 AM 0 Comments

warm weather, good friends!

warm weather, good friends!
Update: Alexandria Marie is doing really well. She's a month old already! She's gorgeous and a happy baby for the most part. She's going to be much darker then Kayla is... at least thats what I'm thinking. I've enjoyed being around her so much and the rest of my family for that matter. It's nice to reconnect. I'm not going to lie, it's also been a little bit rough and anyone I've talked to in the last month or so knows what I mean. I just need to keep praying and be more patient.
So, I had a third meeting with the UM church and they loved me. I should be hearing within a week if I'm officially hired as their new youth pastor. In the meeting they also asked me if I would be willing to be heavily involved in helping with worship and I told them that I would, of course. I'm so excited right now. So nervous too. But, this is what God has for me right now so how can I be anything, but excited? Also, they gave me a tour of the parsonage after church on Sunday and it's so much more than I would eve need at this point in my life. It's a cute house and you can definitely tell it was built in the 60's. I'm really excited about the fact that it has a fireplace, but the best part of the whole place... the basement! It's pretty big and I'm pretty sure that if I get the job I'm not going to put anything down there and turn it into a skating rink. There's plenty of room to rollerblade down there!
So what else have I been up to? Not this past weekend, but the one of the 19th I hung out at Trent's new place for the weekend. I got to go to Emily's bachelorette party and then see Trent's new church. It was a good weekend. A break from the whole lot of nothing I've been doing otherwise! I also got to hang with my bff which was awesome.
This past week (and a half) I've been hanging out and trying to seriously get a second job. I met with Carley, bff from 5th grade, and we had an awesome time just talking and catching up a bit. She's been super busy with work and wedding plans and as we all know my life has been a bit crazy for a while now, so it was nice to just hang. I think I'm going to the youth group that Carley helps lead tonight which is really exciting. I'm trying to take everything in and get an idea of how I want things to work for my kids.
I've also talked to my old youth pastor because the church called her for my references and we're going to be hanging out soon and meeting with my second mom, Eileen Dudich. I'm sure I've talked about these women before, but they are just fantastic! Strong women of the Lord, mentors, and friends. They are just great sources of encouragment and I love meeting with them to pray and uplift one another!
It's finally warm out and I think it's gonna stay this way now and I'm really excited. I took Kayla to the pool yesterday and we had a blast. There are some sand volleyball courts by the pool too, so I believe this weekend is going to be all volleyball, all the time! I'm definitely not the best player, but I have so much fun. In college we used to play pretty much every night and hours on end... it was so great! The warmth also means playing cornhole everynight, riding 4 wheelers, camping, and just relaxing with great friends.
Other then all of those things, nothing else is going on. I hope that you are all well. Blessings friends!

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray IN THE SPIRIT on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:10-18

posted by Moving Forward @ 12:30 PM 0 Comments

A new addition and decisions!

It's only been a couple of weeks, but a ton has happened! Where to begin?? Well the most exciting thing is that my sister had her baby this past Monday, April 30. Her name is Alexandria Marie and she is beautiful! She looks a lot like Terry and very much like Kayla did when she was born.



She was born at 12:49pm weighing 6lbs 13oz and she was 19in long. It's been fun already... Kayla (she's 2 1/2) gets to excited everytime Alex makes a sound. She says "that's my baby sister!" So cute.
My parents have been here for a week, so it's been pretty fun having the whole family around. My dad has to leave on tuesday to have surgery so that's kinda a bummer, but mom is staying through next week tuesday.
I'm still not really settled anywhere, but I will be soon. I'm still throwing around the idea of different jobs and such. Last time I wrote about the church that I had the initial interview with, well I got back in contact with the Pastor and we're meeting this tuesday to talk about the job a bit more, but she has already told me that she thinks I'm the one for the job and me getting back in contact was the Lord's confirmation for her. We'll see I suppose. I'm struggling because I had another job interview this past thursday and they offered me a job starting at about $38,000 a year, but the schedule is different from week to week, so the part time job at the church wouldn't really work out.
I'm struggling because everyone around me is telling me to take the retail job that pays well and has awesome benefits, but I know for sure that I'm called to ministry and until I can be quaranteed that I'll have Sundays off, I can't take another job. The church job is paying me by letting me live in the parsonage for free, so I'd have my own 3 bedroom, two bathroom, full kitchen, livingroom, two car garage house, but I still have other bills therefore I need another job. The Walgreens job is familiar and something I know that I could do and do well. I also think that Walgreens would be settling for me... I have a degree that cost a lot of money and technically I could work in the city at a big PR firm and make much more than walgreens will offer me, but that's not what I want.
I just have so many bills and loans and debts to pay off that the smart thing to do would be to take the walgreens job... smart to those people that don't understand what I want in life and what God wants from me... to those that don't understand that I don't need to make a ton of money to be happy. I will be provided for, that has been promised to me. I'm not worried about it, but I am also to be responsible, you know? Arg.
Well enough of that! No need to stress too much. Other than that I'm good. I'm missing some people a whole lot right now, but I'm trying not to be sad because it's an exciting time! God is doing some great things all around me. I am blessed by my friends near and far, so what's better than that? Prayers for my family are welcome... for souls. for the new baby as well!
Thanks friends!

“I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” Philippians 3:7-11

posted by Moving Forward @ 7:31 PM 0 Comments