I cannot believe it has already been ONE FULL YEAR!!!
No... I am not talking about my wedding anniversary. Rather, today marks the one-year anniversary of when I received the phone call from Cheryl at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Boerne, Texas to ask me if I would be willing to pray about applying for the Youth Pastor position that they had available. I was not even looking for a job at the time, and had not expected anything like this. I also never imagined that I would move from Southern California, where I had been in my job for 9 years as a Jr. High Youth Pastor.
But God had something else in mind for me. My Journey to Texas was a very WILD ride!!! And the truth is it has continued to be quite a wild ride.
I have not blogged hardly at all about my time here in Texas and a lot of that has been due to being crazy busy and getting my feet wet here. I hope to find some time to share some things about my first year here, though. I began this new job on Feb. 1, 2008 - and it has been a tough transition - and continues to be challenging. It is amazing at times to me that I have been in youth ministry for 17 years total, and every change feels like I'm going back to my first two years in youth ministry ever. That is why I have found Doug Fields' book "Your First Two Years In Youth Ministry" to be a valuable resource whether you are a new youth pastor or a veteran. There are a lot of common elements when you begin a new job to the first couple years. A lot of common challenges, a lot of common blessings, a lot of common struggles, etc.
So, I am here in Texas now.... one year after the first phone call to bring me here. I'm still wrapping my mind around all of this. It is crazy, and wonderful, and good, and hard, and confusing, and so much more.
If you want to hear a miraculous story, make sure you go back and read about my journey to get here. Now I hope to find more time in the next year to blog and journal more - which I really do love to do.
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