October of 2022 we headed to Arizona! There were a few different reasons we chose to move to Arizona, with the foremost being that some of my siblings lived there. When we moved I didn't have a job lined up. I had had a few really good interviews before we moved where I got to the final interview which for both was just supposed to be a formality. One of them had transferred my application to another state on accident and the other wanted me to move to another location in the state, Both jobs would have been really good, with a lot of potential for promotions, but they just fell through from "random" things. I had another really good interview once we got to AZ, where at the end of the interview the fraise "when you get the job offer" was used by the manager... but then the corporate office decided not to hire me. All of these jobs would have left us very content and comfortable in AZ... but that's not what God had in mind.
Finally after being in Arizona for 3 months and applying for anything and everything I finally got a part time job on the military base working at a middle school and teen center. Since it was just part time Bethany and ended up having to work as well at the Childhood Development Center (0-5 year olds) on base as well. Because of this both of our kids also were in childcare at the time, which neither of us were big fans of.
On Monday, March 14th 2023, Bethany and I sat down to talk. Neither of us really liked our jobs, there were a lot of issues with Bethany's work, and I didn't realize just how much ministry was a part of who I was. I still loved working with the middle and high school kids, but talking with them and hearing about their struggles and only being able to say "it gets better" was incredibly disheartening to me. We talked about how Bethanys desire was to be able to be a stay at home mom and I really missed ministry. The conclusion of our talk was that in a few months I would start poking around looking for a youth pastor job somewhere and hopefully we would be able to move when our lease was up on the house, which would be in November. We prayed about it for a while that night, and then went to bed.
Two days later, March 16th, i'm sitting in the parking lot at work with the music cranked when I got a Facebook messenger notification. The message was from Brandon, someone I had been friends with since Alaska Bible College. To sum it up, Brandon was looking for a full time youth ministry director for the church he was lead pastor at, and God had brought my name to his mind. I sat there stunned for quite a while because, if this went through, it settled a lot of the apprehensions I had about going back into ministry which I might write about another time.
Over the next couple months there were interviews and applications filled about and all that, and then over fathers day weekend I got to fly up and meet the rest of the staff as well as go to church. It was a great weekend, and it truly felt like coming home. I had diner with the Elders and the rest of the staff, I got to catch up with some old friends from the area (and one past summer staff member from the springs). On Sunday I got to go to church. No one announced I was there, or even knew who I was, I got to experience Change Point MatSu as a first time visitor, and it was easily the most welcome I had felt at a church in quite a while. That trip truly cemented that fact that this was the next step that God had for Bethany and I.
Long story short, we made it! We have now been here for about three months and it has been amazing. As normal there have been hiccups and unplanned things along the way, but it is easy to tell that this is truly where God wants us right now. too many things have lined up for it to just be "coincidence". If I wrote out all the answered prayers and ways God has shown up in our move to Alaska it would take an entire book.
I am finishing writing this around thanksgiving, it's taken a while to write them all because life gets crazy sometimes and I don't have the time or energy to write. But honestly it's pretty cool to look back over these last few posts about my life, and seeing how God has been continually guiding me through the weird life I have lived. I know it sounds cheesy, but in this time I am thankful for God and His guidance. That he has placed me in an awesome ministry working with an amazing team of people that are FOR the community we are in. I am thankful for everyone who helped get us here. I am thankful that we were able to sell a majority of our stuff in Arizona because it would have been too much money to get it to Alaska. Im thankful for a very generous church family that donated SO MUCH STUFF to us when we did get here. I am thankful I get to work with youth AND TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS!!!
This is then end of the story for now. I already know that there will be more to add in the future as God continues to work on me, in me, and graciously though me.
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