Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks. I didn't even realize the last time I blogged was back in September. Granted, it's only ten days into October, but there's been a lot of things going on, so it feels like a lot of time has passed.
Exciting things with me include having finalized my winter schedule for my graduating term and having successfully applied to graduate. If everything works out the way it's supposed to, I will officially be in the work force in about half a year. I'm incredibly stoked. I know that it's going to be a very challenging road ahead, but each day that I live and learn equips me to take on that challenge.
Because I'm looking at graduating, I am also looking at jobs. I think it's agreed upon by me and several other people that I've talked to that it's a good idea for me to take a bit of time off before I seriously consider positions. I know that the searching process will almost work in my favor because a lot of churches are already needing people like me to be a pastor in their church. So in some ways, I won't be looking for a job so much as my job will be looking for me.
I was able to have a brief chat with an old friend yesterday about this job searching process, and I came away very encouraged. I asked him about people pastoring in their home church; and while I already had a good idea of an answer I'd expect to get, what he contributed to the discussion was relevent to my entire job search and not just the question I asked. I'm now a little more aware of what I'll need to be looking for when I go out to look for a church to work at, and I'm incredibly grateful. A while back, I mentioned that I'm actively pursuing what people think I am doing well as I transition into ministry and what I need to do better, kind of an overall scope of things. From this chat, it became the second time that someone has said to me that they would hire me in a heartbeat. Hearing such words is probably still the most humbling thing anyone could say to me. It's crazy to think that because I haven't even come out to work for real yet, and there are people that are confident enough in me to tell me to my face that they'd pick me up without any hesitation. In the end, I think it's just a testament to the person God has made me to be. I have so much to learn, and honestly, I'd be willing to work and learn from any of these people that have said such encouraging words to me.
We had a small group meeting today and I came away pretty challenged. One of the questions that stuck out in my mind was to ask ourselves what being a fearless Christian looks like. There were several things that we talked about during the session. And while I'm usually someone that takes a while to be able to contribute to the discussion, I kept coming back to the idea that we need to be so rooted in the person of Christ and what he did for us on the cross. It really gives me the impression that, with the endless amounts of questions that we can ask about our faith and about life in general, it almost always comes back to Jesus. I guess we aren't really wrong to say that Jesus is the answer to everything. It's about being able to recognize who we are in relation to the reason that Jesus came to this earth, and what the result of that is. It's insanely profound, really. We've heard it millions of times, but I am still moved by it every single time I take it seriously.
Are you a sinner saved by grace? Or a saint who sins occassionally?
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