WOW!

I'm sitting in the most boring meeting I've been in years. We are going over the constitution for our association, word by word, phrase by painstaking phrase, and we are just on page one! And now we are discussing it. . .Wow! I'm so ready to be in a local church.

*********

School started yesterday, and I like the classes that I'm taking. Pastoral Counseling, Integration into Ministry, and, Growth something or other(i was unable to attend last night). The exciting part is that I'll be able to finish possibly in 2 more semesters.

***********

I heard back from Portland yesterday. Via voicemail. Basically, the secretary said - Buck, the senior pastor and associate minister have conferred and don't think that your skill set is a good fit with our youth ministry needs. Thanks for your time that's all i really know.
- Yep the secretary –

Aaron, one of my closest friends, remarked "that's like getting dumped by your girlfriend over the phone". Actually, it's like having a potential date’s friend leave the message "can we just be
friends?" It's painful to hear, but it's harder to hear from a distance. I don't have any resentment toward the 2 pastors or the church, just disappointed in the way it ended. I wasn't 100% sold on it, but I did like the potential.

Ultimately it'll be fine. God's sovereignty will win out and he'll place me where I need to be. It's not a fun process, but we'll see what God's got in store.

*******

It's an hour later and we are just now flipping to the 2nd page of a 10 page document!!

FYI - I typed this whole thing on my handheld. Lots of time on my hand

Now comes the wait

I had the interview last night. 2 and a half hour drive one way to eat dinner and talk about myself and this church. It's a lot like dating. Only she better be a really good prospect if I'm driving that far!

At any rate it went great! Now it's just a matter of them getting back with me. From everything I know I think it will be a good fit. The next stage is where I do the meet and greet with the church. I'm sure it will involve meeting the students and the staff, a really long interview with the Elder Board, and some type of introduction to the entire church body.

However I have to make it to that stage first. I'm not a proven commodity, but I have a lot of potential sooooo the question is do we fit???


Cool Quotes of the Night -

*
Me - What does a regular Sunday Morning look like?

Pastor - We don't have those at our church.

*
Associate Pastor - We need someone we can Laugh with, this is a serious business (ministry) but you have to enjoy those you work with, so were looking for some one that will fit into our team

*
Me - What are your expectations for Office hours?

Pastor - Depends on your function, some of us spend most of our time in the office, others work more like real estate agents in and out with a lot of meetings. We realize that sometimes you’re going to be up here late at night and other days you'll need to be meeting outside the campus.

*
Me - So what I'm hearing you say is that the person that comes in has complete freedom to change whatever they need to get the job done?

Pastor - Absolutely.


(please forgive spelling, the checker is

Post Camp Interview

Hey gang sorry for the long hiatus, but I got back from Camp this weekend and have had company till last night. Camp was great, but very hectic. We had 10 students accept Christ this week as well as numerous other decisions. I'll try and write more on camp later.

This evening I'll be driving down to Portland to meet with the Sr. Pastor and Middle Adult Pastor of a Bible Church there. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous, but I'll be fine after about the 3rd question. I'm actually most nervous about asking the right questions. I also have no clue if this is the place god has for me. Sooo, if you get a chance pray that God would give me clarity as I meet with this church.

Walking in Memphis

I'm in Memphis. It's the morning after Brad's wedding (my roommate in college), I'm sitting in the club section at Autozone park ( a very nice AAA baseball park) about 50 min. till first pitch. I've had a great weekend.
The Bachelor party was a blast 7 guys playing quarter poker till 3:30 in the morning. The guys were a lot of fun, we had barbeque at the rehersal dinner, which was preceeded by a lunch ar Rendevous (the best rib joint in memphis). And no there is no such thing as too much BBQ. It's fun to come back home and see old friends. But that wasn't why I was here.

Serving as the best man I had the privialdge to stand by one of my best friends and his bride to be as they made the most significant commitment a person can make to another person. I felt very priviladged. Blessed to have a friend that valued me enough to say I want you right here at one of the most significant moments in my life.

Theentire weekend I wanted badly to just serve them. To do whatever I could to make this day special for Brad and Hannah. Anyway, they are in Mexico now probably checking into thier hotel. I know they'll have a great marraige. And I pray that I get to stay in close contact with them.