This past January, Brad attended the Desiring God Pastor's Conference in Minneapolis. During one of the "meet and greet" sessions, he met a senior pastor who shared with the group about a new Pastor of Family Discipleship position at his small, 8 year old church plant just south of Des Moines, IA.
I remember that evening very clearly. Brad came home, and for the first time after several weeks of job searching, he was really excited. He was instantly drawn to this pastor and this particular position. And as we slowly continued the journey getting to know this church, her leadership and her congregation, we were more drawn to the possibility of serving there.
After 7 months of resumes, questionnaires, references, interviews, candidating weekends, phone calls, emails, prayer, fasting, and seeking wise council, the Lord has clearly led us to serve at Grace Evangelical Free Church in Indianola, IA. We are grateful for God's leading, clarity, and direction as we prepare for this new adventure.
Since Brad officially accepted the position on September 2, it's been a bit crazy around the Aust house! We decided, before the REAL crazy began, to squeeze as much fun and sun from our last Minnesota summer as we could. As a family, we explored, played, and traveled all over the Twin Cities during Labor Day weekend.
Even though we knew there was so much to do, I was bound and determined to have some good old family fun with our kiddos after a summer of job interviewing and candidating weekends, and I just had to make sure we completed the last several stops on our 2016 summer bucket list.
And those of you who really know me, know that I'm a bit of an over-achiever.
Brad and I made our plan, and once the older 3 kiddos headed to school on September 6, we began to tackle our to-do list of the 60 final things we had to do to get the house on the market.
Yes, I did say 60 MORE things! Eeek!
We have been slowly progressing through our list, and we hope (Lord willing) to get our house listed by Friday, September 16.
We have felt many of your prayers for wisdom and clarity for us these last few weeks, and we praise God for His answer to those prayers! He was faithful to have led us to Bethlehem Seminary over 4 years ago, and He continues to be faithful to lead us to Grace Evangelical Free Church.
We must also confess that we have had many bittersweet moments this last week as we look ahead at God's good gift of this pastoral position and also as we say goodbye to so many dear neighbors and friends in Minneapolis. Brad and I have realized that we have lived in or within 2-3 hours of the Twin Cities for over half our lives. It really has been our "home" since we both left our North Dakota and Indiana homes for college at Northwestern 21 years ago. We have deep roots here, a strong support network, and the comfort of many familiar places and things. Yet we do not put our confidence in those things. Our hope is in God! He has been faithful to provide all that we have needed during seminary, and we are fully trusting Him to provide a home, new friends, and new opportunities to love and serve the people He brings into our lives. Our desire continues to be to make much of the name of Christ, whether that is in Minnesota or Iowa.
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6
Please continue to uphold us in prayer this week as we work to get our house listed and begin to think through the many, many other details about our move to Indianola.
