Today some very sweet friends treated Sweetie and I (and our family) to a beautiful send-off dessert at church.  Flowers and colorful balloons, yummy cakes and juice, and informal time and space to say some hard goodbyes.  We were so blessed to be able to visit with so many people as we finished off our time here at this church.

Yes, 3 weeks ago now my hubby officially resigned from his position here at our church, and today was our last Sunday there.

I’ve not said much about it here on the blog because I’m not sure what exactly to say. These decisions are not made easily, as you can expect. It’s hard to know how best to deal with it all when things just don’t quite fit anymore.  It’s been a hard 2 months, and a learning process over the last 2 years we have been here.

We’ve learned so much, and have been SO blessed in our ministries here.  Leaders have been encouraged and have grown in their skills and abilities as well as in their walk with the Lord.  People’s lives have been touched by the love of Christ in beautiful ways. And God will continue to work in and through this church.

We don’t know what our next step will be, except that we are staying in this same town. It was extremely obvious to us when it was time to leave our last city, and we don’t have anywhere near that same feeling now.

We’re willing to go wherever God calls us to, and always have been. And we’ve learned never to say “never” with Him!  LOL! But this time it really feels like this is where we are meant to be.

Shortly after we came here, we felt very much like were called to something more than just this church, though the church was obviously the biggest piece, the main piece, in that calling. Now our kiddos are at an age where it gets harder to move them away from schools and friends. We’ve made many good friends here, and almost feel like we’re just getting started with some things here.

Sweetie is still a pastor through-and-through with a huge heart for the church and seeing Christ proclaimed to those who don’t yet know him.  But there are only a finite number of ministry opportunities available here, so he’ll also be considering secular work.  He’s also an engineer by primary training, and though a little rusty and not a fully registered Professional Engineer, there may still be a possibility there for him, or in project management which he excels at, or something else altogether.  We’re keeping our eyes, ears, and hearts open to whatever God has in store for us next.

Today was a blessing for me.  As another friend put it – it was a balm for my soul.  We had so many encouraging words, so many words of affirmation in our calling and ministry, and so many examples of lives that have been positively impacted for Christ in our short time here.  God is good, God is big, and God is creative – we saw all these things in a great way today, and are humbled and blessed to have been a part of His work going on at this church. I was worried that today would be really hard, and it was in many ways, but it felt like a big hug from God, too.  Through the hugs and words and cards and gifts and tears of our church family members, God was very present with us today!

Another HUGE thank you for the people involved in making today happen.  The decorations were fantastic (those flowers and many others like them were centerpieces on the tables), the food was great (though I barely grabbed a piece of cheesecake when it was being packed up because I was so busy visiting that I forgot to get something and found out that Sweetie didn’t get any!), and the atmosphere was more festive than sad.  I really really really appreciated that, and all the work that went into putting it together.  I really was blessed – God is great, and I have good friends!

Goodbyes are always hard to say.  Thankfully, these weren’t permanent goodbyes, since we’ll still be in the same city and we’ll undoubtedly see many of these people in our daily lives (you know, small town dynamics where you see everybody when you go to Wal-Mart!).  We’re counting on NOT having to say goodbye to a good number of people – dear friends that we won’t let go of for anything!

If you think of us, and you are so inclined, we would appreciate your prayers while we go through this transition time. For peace and provision, for calling and direction, for healing and protection… and for things I probably don’t even know to ask for, but He knows.