100 Reasons to Stay

All through the holiday we sat wondering what our family's future would hold as a Search Committee in Chicago sought God's will.  We, and many other dear friends, prayed fiercely that God's will would be clearly revealed. This week, we're happy to report that we have unmistakeably heard Him speak!

It was on Wednesday, a day that I went to school to pick up Ella.  We were headed to our friend Becky's after school for some $10 haircuts.  As we waited for Ella, I pushed Delia on the swings in the January sunshine, neither of us sporting a coat.  A few favorite teachers came to ask how we were doing and told us they selfishly wanted us to stick around.  When Ella emerged from her classroom, she hugged about 10 of her friends goodbye.  On the drive home from Becky's we marveled, once again, over the sight of black mountains silhouetted against a sky turning pink and orange.

The Search Committee was very torn between Dave and another equally-strong candidate.  Because he is more different than their current pastor and more ready to leave his current church, they offered the call to this other pastor.  So, we get to stay in the home we love!

While the girls met this news with huge smiles and relief and our initial reaction was one of peace and celebration, the more we continue to process, the more we feel a twinge of disappointment.  We started to give a piece of our hearts to this pretty amazing other church and we started to imagine what life could be like back in the Midwest.  We'll continue to search for lessons in all this and trust that somewhere, even if it's years down the road, God will reveal why He wanted us to go through this process.

When we moved across the country out to California to begin a ministry at this church, Dave was fresh out of seminary and we had no idea what to expect.  As we questioned if we could leave it all this year, we acknowledged that in living and serving here God has exceeded our expectations in every way.  This state astonishes us every weekend as we try our best to get out and explore it.  Our church is healthy, strong and growing.  And the people!  The people that have come into our lives are not just good folks we like serving with.  We truly love them, some like family, and our list of life-long friends has grown tenfold.

Thank you, Lord, for having a plan for our lives, a plan to bless and grow us into the people you want us to be!  As we seek to do your will, may we glorify you in all we do!