Hi all! So today I went to work at SEI at 12:30 to work from 12:30pm-5pm but when I got there, I was pulled aside. I had screwed up. I was suppose to work yesterday from 12:30 pm-5pm. Oh well no one is perfect. But I am going back this evening to work from 5-10pm. At least that will make up for the hours I lost from yesterday. In other news though, Beulah called. They want me to come spend some time with them. They even have put together a call committee etc so hopefully something will work out very soon. Like my friend Heather says, this call process for me is definetely of Biblical proportions. God is saying keep interviewing until I lead you “home.” I think shes right on that. I guess I will just continue to trust in the Lord. Heather, glad you liked the idea for my children’s sermom. You can borrow it anytime! 🙂 As for my WTS friends, hope you all had fun on your J-term experiences. I enjoyed reading your blogs and looking at your pics. I hope to hear more from you soon. Also want to add a quick prayer request. My dad is having surgery on Feb 10 on his foot. Nothing serious but pray that the surgery goes well. Talk to ya all later. God bless!!

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!

Well I was in a good mood today until I got to work and found out that my hours had been cut. I dont think I was even there more than five minutes before they said something to me. It has been happening a lot at this place but I managed to escape it up until now. And they say it wont be long because they are adding three new stores a week from Sunday but yet people are still getting their hours cut. Do they really expect us to stick around until they give us our hours back etc? It just really pisses me off. But on a good note, Special Olympics asked me to come and help them out and stuff in the mornings doing secretarial stuff so I might do that until I find out whats going to happen with Hazen. In fact a week from today begins the adventure in Hazen, and I truly hope it goes well. Sometimes it is so hard to leave everything especially the call process left up to everyone but myself. And thanks to my friend Mark for posting a quote that I think many of us needed to hear today. You can check out the quote by clicking on the Stumbling Towards Divinity link on my blogpage. I guess thats it for now. Miss you all so much. God bless!

Well here it is my friends….New Years Eve and I wanted to wish you all a Happy and Blessed 2006! I hope that wherever you are tonight you are having fun whether it be at home watching the ball drop at Times Square, just in an intimate gathering with friends and/or family, or with a significant other. I myself didnt have much planned tonight but figured I probably would end up having to make my own plans since my aunt and her best friend plan a big gathering for New Years Eve and also since my sister went to UND and has lots of old friends still here in GF. Turns out Andrea didnt end up going out until 11 pm tonight so Im just by myself for another 40 minutes and then off to bed for me. Im just getting way to old for this stuff…LOL. But I must say the end t0 2005 was pretty special though. My sister and I went out to our good friends house and watched a couple of movies until my sisters friend called to meet her a the bar. The cool thing is that Leslye, the friends house we went to used to babysit for Andrea and I when we were little. Leslye and her husband Jim have four children; Jordan, Alexis, Mackenzie, and Madison. We have babysat for them since Jordan was 2 and he is now 15 so we have known them most of their lives. In fact Andrea and I call them our “adopted” nieces and nephews. We went to spend the night with them so it was fun since it has been a long time since we saw them last. But enough about that. I hope that you all are blessed in so many ways in 2006! I pray that in 2006 God grants you joy, peace, happiness and all the many things that you need! Miss you all so much and wish I could be with you to bring in the New Year but since the miles seperate us, I figured this was the best way to say HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIENDS!!