Well, the Lord has done it! He's opened a door, and we are stepping through. Randy has been hired as an associate pastor overseeing college and youth at Grace Chapel in Minerva Ohio. What brought us here you ask? Randy's parents have been attending the growing church for the past 4 years, and we have always enjoyed attending it when we were down for a visit.
Because the church is growing, they've gone "mobile",meaning, they are currently meeting in a local school while they raise money for a building. The youth has been booming and until recently, the senior pastor has been doing double duty for the adults and youth... very tough. The board decided to begin searching for an associate pastor... right about the time we were searching for a church... :) You see where this is leading, right?:)
We haven't been sharing much in way of specific interviews, openings, etc. with many people as we didn't want to do the whole, "we're moving... mmmm... no we're not" thing... been there, done that- never again.
Anyway, this past month has been a complete whirlwind beginning with school getting out, our trip to San Diego, and Randy getting hired at Grace. We've had to make some big decisions pretty quickly here, but God has been providing open doors and encouraging people every step of the way.
We went down to Ohio last week to begin house hunting (HOUSE hunting-- oh to have a house again:) and laying on the guest bed was a small book entitled, "If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat" by John Ortberg. Hmmm... hint hint from Mom and Dad Ross. They know that as exciting as this has all been, this is my first big move of my lifetime, and stepping out in faith isnt as easy as it sounds.
The biggest challenge for me these days isn't the fear of the unknown-- I'm actually really excited about being a part of this community with Randy and Wyn... but it's the thought of leaving my family here in MI- my foundation, and my oh-so-muppet-like music job which I have loved so much. I have been enduring mood swings and emotional break-downs and giddyness every other day or so. I feel like I've hit early menopause or something!:) Plans are coming together for our transition though, and it's hard to deny God's provision though it all.
We set up 3 solid days of house hunting with a local realtor in Ohio last week. Randy's parents had passed an adorable "For Sale By Owner" that they thought we should call on. We did, and got a tour by the house's owners-Eileen and Bob. Newlyweds (at 75!), they've decided to sell both of their houses and purchase a condo. Believe it or not, it was the best location, cutest house with the most updates and... the lowest price!! Amazing!
We ended up going through the house several more times (one with Randy's parents), and we begin to get to know Bob and Eileen. She got divorced in the 1970's, and eventually moved into the house with her widowed father in 1981. She was a single lady who tried to fix and maintain the house the best she could-- and she did a great job. New roof, new furnace, central air, all new windows in the entire house, updated plumbing and electrical.. this lady knew what she was doing.
Then, she met Bob... a veteran who worked at the electric company with her. They started dating and the rest is history! They are adorable. They told us that we were the first couple that they really WANTED to buy the house. That meant a lot. I love buying houses with history... I swear that "house kharma" exists:)It means a lot to me that we are buying the house from Christian people as well.
We are now in process of buying the house, and are just waiting for a closing date. Here are some pics of our cute new digs.
Here is a pic of Bob and Eileen. So cute...
House stats: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath (soon to be 1 1/2 after some renovations we are planning). It is the smallest of all of the houses we have owned, but so cute, so affordable, and so accessible to the church and church people. I feel very random and "bunnytrailey" right now... which is much the way I've been these last few weeks! More job, house and move details to come! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!
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