Could it finally be happening?

Over the past 2 weeks I have been interviewing at a Church in Colonial Height, VA (It just south of Richmond). Today I got this e-mail from the Search Committee head.

"Just wanted to update you on the position. The Staff Parish Relations Committee voted on Wednesday night to recommend that the church offer you the position of Director of Youth Ministry. On Sunday night the committees of Finance and the Administrative Council will meet to vote on our recommendation. If those votes go as we expect them to you should receive a job offer in the form of a Terms and Conditions of Employment and an accompanying job description in the mail sometime around the middle of next week."

Right now I am in shock and am somewhat shaking. Please pray for us and the Finance and Administrative Council. I am pretty sure we will take it no matter what they offer us.

I am at the library, but I want to scream and shout!

GOD IS GREAT!!!

So where to now?

The past weekend we made a trip out to San Antonio, Texas for a face to face interview. We really believed that this is where God could be leading it because the circumstances leading up to the interview were all God's doing. (see my previous post for more details)

Today we received an e-mail from the Pastor of this church telling us that I did not get the position.

Here is the reasoning given to us,

"The reasons I have reached this decision have nothing to do with your giftedness as a youth minister because I believe you will have great success in youth ministry. But we at Christ Church are at a place where we need to have a youth minister veteran who has had lots of years of experience in leading big, diverse groups, hiring and supervising interns and managing a big budget."

Here was my response:

"I disagree with your interpretation of me, as I know I could handle the responsibilities of leading your church's youth department. I have a very diverse amount of leadership experience and am easily capable of managing staff and a budget. I know I would face challenges and make mistakes, and that is true of any new hire. You said I am a gifted youth minister that will be very successful. I agree, and I feel that I could have helped develop a very successful youth ministry program at Christ Church. I do hope that if there are other reasons you chose not to pursue me you would share them with me, so I can grow in those areas. My struggle with your reasoning is that the reasons you have listed are not things I can change until a church your size decides to give me a chance."

So we are at a loss as to what God is doing. On the upside, this week I went on a 3 job interviews and next week I have two more.

Here are the positions I have interviewed for:

Car Salesman - which I will not take because it is 100% commission based, and I don't think I would be that great at it.
Advertising Operations Coordinator - Helping place those exciting banner ads on websites.
Life Skills Coach - working at a boys home helping troubled youth develop skills to succeed.

Here are my next two interviews:

Group Worker - At a boys home in Goochland. Very similar to the "Life Skills Coach" above.
After School Program Coordinator - I don't know much about this, but I have been interested in After School programs for quite some time.

It is quite odd. I do not know what God has for us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers because it is quite confusing.

All I needed was a miracle...

God works in mysterious ways. He shakes us, rattles us, and reminds us that no matter what we are thinking, He's in control.

A few days ago, we were soaking in our world of doubt and self pity. The Kansas job had fallen through and we had no idea what God was doing. I even went to Kroger (one of the local grocery chains) for an interview to work in their deli. Then Thursday night came...

Dawn's college friend called her from Jordan (the country in the Middle East, where he is a missionary) and told her that his home church in San Antonio was looking for a youth pastor. So I e-mailed the pastor my resume. He called me on Friday afternoon, and we talked for almost an hour. Then he called Saturday morning and asked us to come out for a face to face interview on January 6th (one week later!).

Not to toot my own horn, but here is a quote from the pastor on an e-mail to me and some people on the church staff arraigning our visit, "I've spent a good bit of time with Dave on the phone and I like him a lot and appreciated his answers to some difficult questions. He also asked me the right questions about Christ Church and our youth."

So this weekend we are heading out to San Antonio. We are excited. Praying hard. Trying not to get our hope up to high. But we are amazed at how God has renewed our spirits.

Check out this church's website.

Thank you all for your prayers, your encouragement and sympathy as well. We have wondered why God had taken away the Kansas Job, but now are excited to see what miracles he will do now.

We are praying for a San Antonio Miracle (SAM). And if it works out, and we are having a boy, maybe we'll name him that. Oh, just in case you did not know, Dawn is pregnant.

What a life!