The Next Six Months

In August of 2007 I accepted an invitation to serve as an intern youth pastor for two years at Rye Congregational Church in Rye, New Hampshire. The last year and a half has been the most adventurous and exciting time of my life, but it has also been the most difficult leap of faith that I have ever taken. My time in New Hampshire has been extremely rewarding, but also challenging. Uprooting one's self and relocating thousands of miles from friends and family does not come without cost. However, from this vantage point, a year and a half later, I have no regret for moving to Rye.

But this post is not really so much about the last year and a half of my life as it is about the next six months.

On Sunday I made my official announcement to the congregation that my last day on pastoral staff will be June 7th. I had planned to stay until August, but the church is hiring someone new to fill my position and wants this new person to go to work no later than August 1st. This leaves me about three weeks short of employment until the time of my move to Chicago and the start classes at North Park Theological Seminary.

Shortly following my last day at the church, I will be coming out to Seattle for my sister's graduation and Joe's wedding. After that, I'll begin my job on the summer maintenance crew at Pilgrim Pines Conference Center (a two hour car ride from Rye). My primary responsibilities will consist of mowing, weed whacking, bush trimming, wood splitting, garbage disposal, and painting. Believe it or not, I'm really excited for my work at the Pines. But more importantly, I have a place to live and employment until the time of my move to Chicago. This also means that I'm working with my girlfriend Carol, who has worked at the Pines since last August. Although she'll probably out rank me on staff and make me do extra weed whacking or something, I don't care because I'll get to see her every day, rather than once a week.

So there it is... the next six months of my life in a nut shell.