I hope you all havent missed me to terribly much. This past weekend was my weekend at the church in Hazen ND. It was a crazy weekend but I feel like both interviews went well. For those of you that dont know, another church in Beulah which is only 10 miles from Hazen also is interested in me. I drove to Bismarck Thursday and stayed with my dad’s girlfriend and then Friday drove the rest of the way to Hazen. The pastor took me to the second parsonage where I would live if I got the job, took me on a tour of Hazen, out for lunch, etc. Pastor also told me that they were having a lock-in that evening and I was going to get thrown right in with the kids. Now not a huge deal but it would have been nice to get a little heads up. A lot of the kids remembered me from camp which was nice. I also got talked into giving the children’s sermon for the Sunday service. Saturday I met with the people and pastor from Beulah to see what they were looking for. These positions are two very different positions. The one in Hazen is looking for a youth director who would work 70 + hours a week. They also have used Tentmakers before and want to continue with the Tentmakers values etc. The position in Beulah is looking for a director of youth and family ministry that would work with the youth, families, etc to strengthen the youth program. They want to make sure that the youth program does not fall or rise on the personality of the youth director if that makes any sense at all. They seemed to really like me and were excited because I seem to be truly what they are looking for. Sunday I went to church in Hazen, went to a potluck, went to a movie event for their jr high youth and then had my interview later that evening. Oh yeah I also gave my VERY FIRST EVER children’s sermon that day too. And it went well. But in order for me to tell you the basis of my children’s sermon, I have to explain a few terms. At the lock-in, this adult who has been helping out until they find someone came up with these terms. Now MP5 stands for My Purpose=5. GPS stands for God’s plan is specific and IPOD squared stands for I pray outreach and do devotions daily. I had something completely different planned for my sermon but as I was in the shower Sunday morning, I got another idea. I remembered that the rental car had a map in it so I took the map with me and asked the kids what we used a map for ….to get places, etc. I then went on to explain how in today’s texts Samuel and Nathaniel and Philip didnt need maps because they had God to guide them. I went on to explain how the map God has for us isnt always what we want or even expect and sometimes its even scary. I then talked about what a GPS is and how we can use it in our daily faith lives…to remember that God’s plan is very specific for each and every one of us. So that was my weekend, I came back last night but got stuck in Fargo because there was black ice and stuff on the roads so I decided not to finish the drive until this morning. But I am now back in GF safe and sound. The more I think about all of this, I would love to be in ND but Im not restricting myself to ND. I would love SD, MN, IOWA etc. By the way, Kev and Mackenzie, do you think you could email me that number for that church and stuff we talked about a little while ago. Miss you all lots. And hope you all didnt miss me posting. God bless!