A Midwesterner's Move Out West

I can remember the conversation with my wife where I said, “I want to move wherever God is going to take us.” I said this right after one of the hardest times in my life.

Going into the year before our wedding, Megan and I both required an internship in a church to fulfill our degree. For logistical purposes, we thought that an internship in Colorado would be perfect. We could plan a wedding that would be near us, and both of our families.

We applied to dozens of churches. We searched and searched like crazy. We talked to churches that were only looking for a single resident, or they wouldn't hire couples, or would simply turn us away. Others, we reached out to and never heard from them again.

The most devastating of all of these was a church that wanted us to come out and visit. There was only one month left in the school year, and we had to have an internship lined up by the start of the next school year, in August. We went out, loved the church, loved the people we met, and they seemed really interested in us both. Two very anxiety-filled weeks went by that were filled with more begging prayers than I have ever had in such a short amount of time. It felt like everything had been falling into place, like it was God's plan all along. Perhaps it was.

Then, we received the phone call that they would not be bringing us on as residents. Megan and I sat in the stairwell at the college and cried. I asked her, "Do you think God even wants us in ministry?” We then went into the summer with the question still looming over us.

As that summer was drawing to a close, we had given up hope. We didn't know what we were going to do for our internship requirement. We were going to go back to the campus and have NCC tell us what our next steps were. That's when God finally did something.

We received a call, out of the blue, from a local pastor in Omaha who leads a very successful church. We were only acquaintances from his visits on campus and the week-long class he taught. But, he called me and asked, "Are you still looking for an internship?" After a brief conversation, that I spent trying to figure out how he knew this, I told him, “yes.” His response shocked me. The next words I heard from him were, "Great, well I've got an elder meeting tonight where I'm going to lobby for enough budget to bring you and Megan on as residents. We'll be setting up interviews as soon as I get that nailed down."

Within a couple of weeks we were both officially hired on to Calvary Christian Church as residents for one of the campuses. Hands down, it was the best job that I have ever had. I learned more than I thought possible, I had such a deep relationship with the people in the church and the staff, and I know that God put us exactly where He had designed for us to be. God wanted us in Omaha. He wanted us to be at Calvary, and I'm sure of these things. Yet, we fought Him and His plan at almost every possible point. When God tried to do something to show us we needed to stay in Omaha, we searched harder in Colorado.

When we were sitting in the stairwell wiping tears from our eyes, I told Megan that I wanted to go where God wanted us, and I still hold this to be true. When I was searching for what would be next for Megan and myself after college, this thought was at the forefront of my mind. I wasn't searching for a location or a specific role in ministry. Rather, I was searching for a way that I could be devoted to pushing the Kingdom of God forward full-time.

When the search organization that I was going through suggested that I contact a pastor in Arizona, I thought the opportunity would be just as good as any other. But, after many interviews, and a flight down to Sierra Vista, I simply knew. God was at work once again. Sending me to a place that I would never have gone alone. Sending me to a church that I know I will love. Sending me to people who are amazing. Sending me to the desert, for the next chapter in my life. I'm nervous, and I'm scared for what the desert will hold, but I am so excited to be right where God wants me to be.

#Work #Christianity