CCC's headquarters at Lake Hart, Orlando.

The Short Story

We’re going to be staying in Orlando.

The Full Story

Sometime in the next couple weeks, Carrie and I will be taking a(nother) scary step; while we’re going to be staying within Campus Crusade for Christ, we will be moving away from the Campus Ministry, at least for a season.

Over the past 4 months, since we found out that going back to DC was an option, we’ve been weighing a huge list of options where God might call us next. The options included positions somewhere on campus, off campus in a regional office, and on teams developing many of the cutting edge tools staff in the field will be using in the near future. Possible locations were as varied as Philly, Boston, the University of Virginia, Denver, Portland, and (of course) here in Orlando (among others). I’ve emailed and called about a dozen team-leaders, I visited Indianapolis & Portland, we spent hours in prayer, talked to friends and mentors for wisdom and advice… and still the decision came down to God impressing a calling just this past Monday.

As of Monday the options had been narrowed down to a position on the Metro Team in Portland, OR and one working with the Jesus Film Project here in Orlando. With three weeks until our daughter is born, five weeks until we have to move out of our apartment and eight weeks until we have to make our way to the national staff conference in Colorado – I was starting to get stressed that we weren’t landing on a decision. I had been waiting on the Lord’s leading and wondering if it was one of those times where He calls us to just make a decision and trust His goodness that we aren’t stepping out of his plan either way.

One of the awesome materinty photos that Melonie at Imago Photography did for us. Click the photo for her site.

I stole away from my desk for another 15-minutes to pray about our options, as I opened the journal that I use to keep myself focused while I pray I felt like I was finally hearing a solid answer from Him, “Here, you’re staying here.” Emotionally, my reaction was relief with an aftertaste of mourning – because that means not going back to campus, because that means not moving back to a more vibrant city, because I’m not sure it was the one that I would have ended up choosing on my own. As the reality has set in and we’re working through the red-tape of a ministry transfer, we’re settling into feeling grateful and hopeful for what lies ahead.

In the following months we’ll fill you all in on what the job will look like. For now, please pray for our transition into parenthood, and also that we would be able to prepare well for this next season of our lives & ministry.

Pray For

• We have a significant amount of financial support to raise. In the past year we’ve lost nearly $800 of monthly support. We have to make that up and cover the additional expenses that go along with parenthood and living in Orlando.
• Our daughter will be born sometime around June 3, we are supposed to move out of our apartment around June 17 and our bi-annual trip to Ft. Collins, CO will happen in mid-July. Pray for all of the details and stress that surround these transitions and travels.