Closed doors - open door

Over a year ago we knew the Lord was closing a door for us in Slovenia but had not showed us where He wanted our family to go next. As we prayed through the options, our hearts felt a peace about moving to Charleston, SC to be close to my parents.

We landed in Charleston October 1st and expected to quickly settle in to life here. We would drive through neighborhoods looking at houses and dreaming about calling them home. We asked about the schools that our children would one day attend and prayed about which local church to invest in.

After a few months the Lord had not opened any doors for us here and we felt no more settled than when we first arrived. We saw the Lord close door after door on opportunities He had in the past opened wide for us and quickly. We believed the Lord had something for us, we just weren't sure what.

We didn't anticipate where this opportunity would come from.

Christmas Eve Mark Stager an elder at Cornerstone near Portland called and explained that as a church they were looking to add on another pastor and asked if I would consider. I was floored, honored, confused, excited,...

A week or so later after talking to Barry, I called Mark back up and told him I'd like to throw my name in the ring. The elders have been going through a more detailed look to see if we would be a good fit for Cornerstone and if Cornerstone would be a good fit for us. They are flying our family out this Friday to spend 10 days there, getting some time with people, meeting with the elders and preaching on Sunday. I'm so excited about this opportunity it is difficult to keep my heart in check and realistic about where we are in the process.

The big question we have been asking is "what about my parents?" Living with MS is a difficult road and we have seen the burden lifted in many ways for my mom during our time here. It will be difficult to say goodbye if this opportunity works out. We asked them if they would move to Portland, to which they replied "not right now." It would be a difficult move across the entire US. My brother in FL would love to move closer and my sister and brother in law will be looking for a job this summer perhaps near Charleston.

We feel that we have received so much in moving here. Our transition back to the states has been fairly easy and going from 2 to 3 children has been buffered by an extra pair of hands in the house. We have been able to do some cosmetic changes to the house and made Dr appointment runs almost every week, starting with the week we arrived. Both of my parents believe the Lord is really opening this door for us and so excited about the opportunity and really sad all at the same time.

We have no idea what the future holds. We'll just keep following the Lord on this crazy adventure called life!