Friday, November 14, 2003

I just closed a door a few minutes ago; it was a little hard to do and also a little scary.

A little background to explain - there are two scenarios on the job front for me.

Scenario 1: Our church admin is leaving her position to go work for another ministry. When they announced it in church about a month ago, I didn’t even blink. But a couple of weeks ago, I felt that God was telling me to ask our pastor about the position - I knew that I would be a great fit for the position because it’s similar to the work I did with Young Life. So one Sunday I grabbed him after church, asked, and was told that they were thinking of downsizing it to part time. OK, I thought, a clear closed door.

Scenario 2: Right after my conversation with my pastor, MB had a long talk with me about my options in this office - part of it involving LW’s job should she be leaving (and that was still up in the air). LW got word this week that they definitely got the job in Texas, so she will be gone by the end of December, most likely. MB has sort of been grooming me for her job, but we’re talking about the government here so I’ll have to compete for it, which means it’s not 100% certain that I’ll get that position. But he wants me to have it and I want it.

Then about a week ago, I was chatting with The Marshal at my desk, when my phone rang. On the other end was my pastor, so I wrote a note to The Marshal explaining who it was - he waved off and went back to his office. (Remember that The Marshal is an elder at my church.) My pastor (VC) then proceeded to tell me that he and the elders had discussed the admin position again after talking to me and that they decided to expand some tasks to make it full time, was I interested?

WHAT?

I thought that door was closed, Lord. I had to laugh, because He does this kind of thing to me all the time. Also, VC told me that The Marshal was supportive of them asking me about it and that he would be fine with what ever decision I made. It’s a little weird to have The Boss know that I’m talking to our church about another job.

VC and I set up an appointment to meet, which was last Friday morning before I left town. It was a good meeting and I got excited about the possibility of working in ministry again - I loved my years with Young Life - supporting the staff, knowing I was helping the mission. Anyway, I was honest with VC about the possible promotion here and that I was leaning in that direction because I had thought the admin job was a closed door. I appreciated hearing one-on-one from VC a little of what his vision is for the church and just having the chance to get to know him a little better. He’s a good man and I think he’ll be a great blessing to our church. He asked me to continue praying about it and we’d revisit it later.

I’ve thought about it a lot over the last week and when I had a voice mail from VC this morning, I knew a decision had to be made. I told VC that I was going to pursue the position here, but that there was one particular task they had listed for the admin that I thought I could do (and would enjoy doing) as a volunteer (it’s involved with music and it’s something I sort of already do unofficially). He told me to discuss that with our worship leader; I plan to send him an email later about it.

So I’m a little sad at the re-closing of that door. But I’m convinced that I made the wise choice. And in the meantime, my church is in need of an admin, so I covet your prayers on that.