Catching Up

I was a bit shocked when I logged on this morning to realize it has been several months since either Josh or I posted on our blog. Life has changed quite a bit for us. In February both Josh and I lost a grandparent. His grandpa, Elmore, passed away from ALS on February 16, and my grandma, Karla, passed away from cancer on February 23. The day of my grandma's funeral service, we were heart sick. We were praying about the losses of two beloved grandparents, asking God how we could move forward. Then the phone rang. A pastor in north central Kansas was curious if Josh might be interested in an assistant pastor position, primarily focused on leading youth. I jumped on the Kansas ed website, and behold, the same small town where the church was had an English opening. We began to pray. We asked God to not only open doors in Concordia if that was the place for us, but we also asked God to close doors in Kooskia so that we would know his ministry for us there was finished. God is good. We flew down in late March and fell in love with the church. Pastor David offered Josh the position on a Thursday morning, and four hours later, Concordia High School called to offer me a high school language arts position. We were both ecstatic to see God's hand moving in our lives. Getting home though, we realized how difficult it would be to tell our church people. Upon telling Eternal Hope Wesleyan Church of our plans, they decided it best to close the church and for the church body to join another local church. A definite door was closed. I was still struggling with leaving Clearwater Valley High School. I loved my job, coworkers, and students, and didn't particularly want to leave, but God closed that door as well. I won't get into the details, but Josh and I both feel God saved us from heartache that was coming. Idaho education is messy right now, and a few things happened at the tail end of school that would have made returning in the fall difficult. My students did ask that I speak at graduation, which was a huge honor and a wonderful way to say goodbye to CVHS. This class of seniors snuck into my heart. Graduation was June 8, and Josh and I pulled out of Kooskia, Idaho, in a U-Haul on June 17. What a whirlwind! My cousin Samantha flew up from Texas to help us get everything packed, then helped with the driving on the way to Kansas. It was so wonderful to have her! She'll be a senior in high school this fall, so I know opportunities like these must be cherished! I think we might still be in Idaho if Sam hadn't helped. We've already gotten to see a grandpa, a great grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, both sets of our parents, one of Josh's brothers, my brother, sister-in-law and nephews, and another of Josh's brothers and his girlfriend are coming up tonight for the 4th festivities. We are richly blessed by the closeness of family. Concordia Wesleyan Church has already been a huge blessing. We do miss the Idaho church body that we worshiped with, but we're finding that this Kansas church body is very lovable as well. Youth camp is just a week away, and we're so excited to see what God has in store. A whirlwind indeed! Much love to each of you. As God has been working in our lives, I'm excited to hear how he's been working in yours!