It’s a very bittersweet time. We’re saying goodbye to some wonderful friends–our Texas family, really (that’s the bitter part). It could be worse, though. I could have been fired and everyone could have been saying “good riddance!” But we’ve been told a thousand times, “We’re so happy for you, but sad for us.” It has been very satisfying to be in one place for so long and celebrate with families when their babies came into the world–then watch those babies grow and become youth age and welcome them into the youth group. That has made for some very close relationships. It’s also been exciting to watch the youth ministry grow. We started with four kids, meeting in an apartment. We now have more than 70 each week and the small groups fill the upstairs classrooms of our new building.
It has also been satisfying to prepare a group of volunteers to take over the youth ministry in my absence and then watch them step up and take on the responsibility. It’s clear everything’s going to run smoothly until a new youth pastor is hired.
To have great sadness and great joy at the same time is exhausting. But we are excited about the future and joyful that God is graduating me to a church that needs a slice of what our church here has so much of. There is much to be done, but each time I speak with the people in Lawrence, I’m convinced that God has prepared me for this church at this time. Beth is excited too and their worship team has no idea what a boost they’re about to get when she straps on her bass and steps up to a microphone. They still haven’t heard her sing. I’ve jokingly said I didn’t want her to sing for them while I was candidating because I would have always wondered whether they really liked me or whether they were willing to put up with me just so they could hear Beth sing every Sunday.
After I drove up to Lawrence last weekend and preached and met with a few groups, one of the elders was tired of waiting. He said, “We need you here now.” So, while I was driving back to Texas, he was trying to figure out a way to make the transition happen faster. He emailed me and asked if the sale of our home in Texas was the only thing keeping us from coming to Kansas and I told him it was. I can transition out of the Texas church today if necessary. The next day he emailed me and said a friend of his was going to let us live in a farm house he owned for FREE. He said, “It’s not the Taj Mahal, but a family of five has been living there for the past five years and it is quite comfortable.” So, we’ve accepted and we’re busily packing right now. At the same time, a potential buyer has stepped forward and made us an offer on our Texas home. He low-balled us, so we sent him a counter offer last night. We have not yet heard back from him, but we expect to work something out and be in Kansas later this month.
When I told the kids that someone was going to let us live on a farm, Hannah stood up and declared with great passion, “Oh, I forever wanted to feed the chickens and collect the eggs.” Abigail and Josiah were jumping up and down shouting, “I want to feed the cows, I want to feed the pigs, I want to feed the…” Lydia was in her bouncy seat mesmerized by all the excitement. She’s clueless.
I explained that Mommy and Daddy didn’t know what animals the farm would have, but they wouldn’t listen. Farm (in their minds) equals exactly what Grandpa and Grandma Mettlach’s farm was. Even though they never saw it, I’ve told them stories about playing in the barn and skipping rocks across the pond. And, they’ve read enough books to know what a farm looks like—I hope they’re not too disappointed.
We’ve seen a few pictures, but we don’t really know what we’re getting into. We know it’s a 60-acre farm (the owner lives in a different, newer home somewhere else on the farm) and there are apple trees in the yard and lots of space to run around and a storm cellar for when tornadoes roll through. We’re thinking of it as a family adventure!
Well, I’m off to find some more boxes for packing. Hope y’all are enjoying life under the sun and satisfied with your work. The writer of Ecclesiastes said that if you have something to eat and something to drink and you find satisfaction in your work, this is from the hand of God. Then he wrote, “…For without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Expected answer? No one.
