Soon To Be Jobless...?

So yesterday Scott and I decided on an official end date for me at Adventure - August 3rd. My amazing friend Leisa who used to be on HR with Adventure advised me to make my end date at the beginning of August (instead of the end of July) so our benefits would last through the month. You never know if Jake and I were to get into an accident or something. That would SUCK!

I'll be telling the kids about my resignation next week at High School Camp. Please please pray that this goes well. I know they have been through alot of transitions with losing pastors lately. I'm hoping that this won't be as traumatic as ones in the past. Thomas' exit was more than traumatic and our kids are still recovering. I'm so disappointed in him.

About the job search...

1.) I heard back from AZ... but they're still not ready to show me the complete offer. I'm starting to get annoyed. They have a proposal made up, but it needs to be ok'd by the senior pastor who's on vacation. So there's a job offer. But... I don't know what the salary will be and I really need to see the job description. What I'm hearing from recent phone conversations is that the job I interviewed for is not what they're looking to hire me for now. Kind of a bummer. We'll see.

After all of this waiting (gosh, it's been since May!) I can't help but look into other opportunities. At the very least the interview process in AZ has helped me to see outside of Adventure and that it was best that I leave. It's been really cool and really fun to explore what I want for what's next, what would be the best fit for me. That's how it should be, right?

2.) Bayside (up here in Roseville) is going really well. I've actually got alot of positive feedback from them. Their biggest concern would be that I come from Adventure (I know this sounds dumb but it's kind of a rival church), and so that is something they're being cautious about. The senior pastor there would like to talk to my senior pastor (that doesn't know I'm resigning yet). I'm not worried about this because it won't be a bitter parting. Yesterday I had a second interview with an executive and at the end he said, "I don't know how this will all turn out, but I do have to say that we'd be honored to have someone like you on our staff." So encouraging! There will be some more meetings and interviews when I get back from camp.

3.) I've applied for an Associate Teaching Pastor position at Rock Harbor Church in Costa Mesa. I sent my resume and they immediately asked me to send a sample of some of my teaching. I sent a recording just a day ago so we'll see...

4.) I've also applied for an Associate Jr. High Minister position at Coast Hills Community Church in Aliso Viejo. They're looking specifically for a woman for this position. The very next day the Jr. High Pastor emailed me back even though he was on vacation and said he would love to talk with me. My only struggle with this position and the one at Bayside is that I'd be an Associate instead of "the" Youth Pastor. I have to really figure out how I feel about this and what I feel my gifts and passions are. It kinda shows that our generation right now is still not completely open for a woman in this role just yet. But I'm open to it because I know that it's awesome to have a woman and a man lead our youth - so many ways to reach and impact kids this way. We'll see... He's going to connect with me when I get back from camp next week.

So... a bunch of opportunities! It's really cool. Jake has been so encouraging this whole way through. And really kept me from all of my insane worry thoughts about our future. Honestly, it amazes me how God has opened so many doors. I really thought we'd be jobless and homeless, which we might be for a while until I decide what I want. Here's to the unknown. A verse that has really stuck with me lately is about Abraham and his journey...

Hebrews 11:8
"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."