The Kids Room

So Noah and Ana share a room right now. Once we get into our own house, they'll probably still do that until Brooklyn gets old enough to share a room with Ana.
This is Ana's dresser and the kids closet. The fan is in there to generate white noise and help the kids sleep.



This is Ana's crib. We're debating moving her into the toddler bed that we have, but we'll probably hold off for a couple more weeks, especially if our house sells soon.

And here's Noah's dresser and bed. Really it's all the space we need. It's amazing how much space and stuff we think we need, when really you can get by with so much less. JM

Prayer Request

Wednesday night someone is coming to look at my house for the second time. This person sounds very interested and they love the house. It sounds like they want to take their time on making the decision, though. Please pray that they still like the house when they come through again and that they will feel compelled to make an offer that we can accept.
Oh, and if you would like to buy a house in the Newnan, GA area, buy this one. JM

Family Room

So this is our family room. The only part not pictured is the toy closet and the TV. We chose not to have cable hooked up to the TV to save us a couple of bucks a month and because we mainly hang out downstairs.

This is part of the toy corner. The futon acts as our couch and the wicker chair is just uncomfortable additional seating. We store some toys under the futon so that it doesn't feel crazy cluttered in there.

This is the other corner of the room. The TV is to the right of the dollhouse. Underneath the futon you can see Noah's racetrack and Ana's doggie is sitting on the end of the futon. We're not in here a ton, but it's a nice little place to go if we need to get our family alone for a little while. JM

New House

Over the next couple of days, I'll post pictures of my current living situation. It's really not that bad since my in-laws live in a big house. We occupy three of the four bedrooms - one that Noah and Ana share, one that Eryn and I share, and one that we use as a family room.
This is our master bedroom. It's pretty much just a bed, a closet, and a dresser, but that's all you really need.

And this is the dresser in our bedroom. We went from a fairly large dresser and a large walk-in closet to a medium sized dresser and a regular sized closet with sliding doors, so it's a little bit tight, but it definitely works. It definitely forces us to be more organized because things can get messy quickly. JM

Losing My Computer

I won't have a computer until Wednesday because my church that I'm leaving owns it. Consequently, I won't be posting until then. Pray that my house sells quickly. I'll be staying with family until it does. JM

Acts 9:29-31

Sometimes the best thing to do is to run away. Everybody loves to make a glorious stand and fight for justice, but that's not always what God wants. Sometimes the fight will be to distracting to the goal. Sometimes the fight cannot be won no matter what you do. So you do what you have to do and move on. JM

Student Ministry

Student ministry is not my job. It's not even my career. It's my passion.
I hate it when people think it's only my job. I hate it when people think it's only my career.
I didn't take a new position because I have family around. I didn't take a new position to use it to further my career.
I took it because I feel that it's where God wants me to be. It's a chance for me to expand my passion.
I love students. I think a lot of student ministers have lost that. They love talking about ministry. They love coming up with ideas. They love using trendy words, reading books, and going to conferences. But they've lost their love of students. It just got kind of left behind. That almost happened to me. I'll fight however hard I have to to prevent it from happening to me.
I hear about student minsters leaving churches all the time to go to bigger churches or better opportunities. Sometimes they're not even at their church very long and then they go to a different church in the same town. I wonder if they love their students, or if they just love their career. JM

Acts 9:22-26

This is going to sound lame and trivial, but I feel just like Saul in this passage. He had just made a major decision and was going through a significant life change, but nobody was with him. The people that he was going to didn't believe that he had changed, and the people that he had left had just kind of let him go without helping him transition.
I feel like right now my wife and I are all alone. We're leaving our church. I know the people there care about me and love me. We're going to a church where I know God wants me to be and I know that people will love me. But for some reason I don't feel it. I'm just kind of overwhelmed by the emotion. When it comes down to it, I'm a pleaser. I want people to be happy. I want people to like me. And I hate hurting people. Especially people that I love. It hurts me. I mean, it really grieves me.
When I first started talking to my new church about going up there I had no idea it would hurt this much. I'm extremely excited about my new job, but right now this sucks. JM

Acts 9:10-16

I love reminding God of stuff that he has overlooked. I mean, it's cool that God gives me direction and leads me and all, but He's busy with so much stuff that He sometimes forgets some of the details.
Case in point: I feel like God is calling me to a job that I've accepted in St. Louis. The problem is that God forgot that my wife is pregnant. So we need to get up there now and get situated. God also forgot that I have a house that I need to sell before we're able to get a place of our own up there. God also didn't notice, and why should He, that the housing market is really rough right now with home sales declining along with prices.
What's really crazy, though, is that God hasn't forgotten these things. He's known all about them the whole time. He's working it all out for my good. But my actions don't reflect that fact. Instead, I worry about it. I feel like I need to be doing something rather than just sitting back and letting God sweat the details. He's a lot better at it anyway. JM

Acts 9:3-9

A lot of times following God will not make a lot of sense to the people around us. We can be convinced that it's what God wants us to do, but sometimes people will look at us like we're crazy. When I told people that I took a ministry job back where my family and my wife's family is, they all thought it was solely because of family. I guess that's part of it. It will be nice. But really, the youth ministry that I will be a part of is awesome and that's the reason I'm going. God has opened the door for an amazing opportunity for me, and I seized it. It's just tough for other people to see it that way. It's important to remember that God hasn't spoken to them about it, so they're just seeing it on face value. JM

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye properly is important. It's great to leave on good terms when you can, and you usually can. And even when you leave on bad terms, you can still leave well. I'm trying to do whatever I can to make sure that I leave well and don't burn any bridges.
I read a great post by Seth Godin on leaving well the other day. Check it out. JM

Great News!

It's a great time to sell your house because home sales are at a record low and home prices have fallen 5.1% in the last year. Yet, if God wants somebody to buy my house, he'll make it happen no matter what the conditions are. JM

Resignation

Here's my resignation as I read it to the second hour worship service. JM

Telling The News

It's so tough to drop a bomb like announcing your resignation, and I had to do it four times. I told middle school at 9:15, high school at 9:30, our first service at 10:10, and our second service at 11:45. Each one was unique, but I said the same thing to both MS and HS and something different to the services.
The notes of what I told MS and HS I posted yesterday.
Telling MS was tough because I work with these students every week. They took it really well. It was so quiet in the room. I didn't have any problems maintaining my composure (even though I don't ever cry, I thought I might doing this). At the end there were a few questions that mainly dealt with logistics. It was interesting to see their reactions afterward. Two of the 8th grade guys that I know very well just kind of walked right past me. I don't think they were mad or anything, but just didn't know what to say or do. It's weird for them. Heck, it's weird for me. The 8th grade girls spent their small group hour crying about it. It took me a long time to earn their trust, but I finally did about a year ago. They've been awesome this year and are really the best leaders I have. They help plan our events and plan an opening time for the MS girls every Sunday morning.
Telling HS was actually a little bit tougher because of my relationship with the 10th grade guys. They were sitting to my left and I had trouble making eye contact with them. I'm sure it hurt them pretty good. I know it hurt me to tell them. Most of them responded well, but some of them you could tell didn't know what to do. It's just an awkward situation all around. I'm sure I'll probably have to do it again at some point, but I really don't like doing it. JM

I Quit

I quit my job today. It was weird telling the middle school and high school students. I'll post some more about all of this later as well as the whole process that I went through. I'll post the video of me announcing my resignation in big church tomorrow. I'll also post as we go through this transition. It will be cool to look back at eventually, but right now it's just kind of sad. JM

So

Here's what I told our church this morning.

I'm going to tell you:
1. What's happening
2. How it happened
3. Why it's happening
4. How it affects you

What's happening - I am submitting my resignation effective 12.17.07. Basically that means that I'm quitting my job as the associate youth pastor at First Baptist Peachtree City and that my last day will be 12.16.07.

How it happened - On 08.02.07 I got a call asking me if I would be interested in the MS position at First Baptist Harvester. This is the church that I grew up in and left 4 years ago to come work at FBCPTC. I told Harvester that I was happy where I was, but that I would be interested in exploring the possiblity at Harvester. I talked to them a couple of times over the next few months. In November, I flew up to St. Louis for an interview. I received an offer shortly after this interview, and accepted it on 11.20.07. I told Pastor Steve and Jim of my decision on 11.19.07 and we talked about what my departure should look like.

Why it's happening - I feel like God is leading me there. That's kind of a nebulous statement, so to break it down a little bit more, I feel like it's a great ministry. The student ministry at Harvester is amazing and I really feel like I line up closely with where the other youth ministers there feel that youth ministry is heading. This is also the church that I grew up at, so I have a heart for the ministry of the church. Also, both my and my wife's families are there.
Not why it's happening - This isn't happening because I'm mad at somebody, or because I'm frustrated with anything, or because I'm disappointed with something, or because I'm being forced to do it. I am leaving on very happy terms and Peachtree City is being very understanding of this transition.

How it affects you - I won't be at FBCPTC anymore. The nature of my job is that I will go to a different church now. And this church will be 600 miles away. It's normal to feel emotions about something like this. I certainly am. You may feel sad, mad, happy, or be apathetic about it. Or you may experience these emotions at different stages.
Please feel free to talk to me, Jim, your teachers, or your parents about any questions or concerns you may have, or just to help you process through this experience. Also, please don't forget me. I invested in your life because I want to see you become all that God has for you. Please keep me updated on how you're doing. Come and visit if you can, but wait until I have a house. Please talk to me. It may seem awkward at first, but it'll be worth it. My family will be leaving the south on 12.18.07 and moving up to St. Louis. I hope to see you before we leave and hopefully we can see you after we leave sometime, too. JM

Stuff

A lot of stuff is happening right now that I can't talk about publicly. I'll talk about it on 12.02. Until then. JM

Acts 2:5-13

It's amazing how God sees opportunities. Here's a bunch of Jews from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem, and God sends the Holy Spirit so that the disciples start talking in all of those languages. But they're not just talking, they're sharing the gospel.
I wish I could see and seize opportunities like God does. It's scary, though. A lot of times it's easy to see opportunities, but it can be tough to step out and seize that opportunity. And a lot of times we can't see the opportunity because it's more than we could ever dream of doing. I wonder how different our lives would be if God opened our eyes to the opportunities we have and we stepped out in faith on them. JM

Meeting Today

So there is a meeting today concerning the opportunity that I might have concerning budget and if there is really any opportunity at all for me. I've been praying earnestly about it. I'm anxious. JM

Conversation

The conversation went well yesterday. I'm excited about the opportunity, but remain ignorant of what my involvement with it will be. Exciting to hear what is going on, though. JM