I'm back!  I had a wonderful time at the Children's Pastors' Retreat, and then came back to work (where I do most of my posting during my down time and on breaks ) and my Internet wasn't working.  So it's Saturday morning, and I'm just now getting around to checking back in here...

The second night of the retreat, the speaker said that he'd had a whole sermon planned out with PowerPoints and everything, and God had told him to scrap it and give the one he was about to give: It was on trusting God, and how He often uses bad situations in ministry to bring about great things.  He then asked point blank at the end (there were about 40 of us there total) if there was anyone who was in a transitional time in their ministry and needed prayer.  No one stood up at first (you know how no one likes to be the first one) and he said, "God told me there is at least one person here in that situation."  After a good kick in the shins from DH, I finally stood up, along with 5-6 other people.  A bunch of my fellow CPs gathered around and prayed for me, and I really felt a release from a lot of the stress I've been feeling.

Another interesting thing that happened was that the first person I talked to (I had met him one time before at another event) was a guy who has just transitioned from a tiny church to a megachurch - even bigger than the one I'm looking at!  So I chatted with him for awhile about how that's been going for him, and I mentioned that I was looking into doing the same.  He asked, "Where have you interviewed?"  I told him, and he got all excited, and said, "No way!  Pastor _______ and I are motorcycling buddies!"  Divine appointment?  Who knows? I told him to put in a good word for me!  This guy loves my husband and me because he's a fellow actor and can "talk shop" with us in the areas of children's ministry AND theatre...so he very well may go back to this SP and rave about us!

As far as the waiting game goes (stil haven't heard anything!), DH pointed out that two weeks is not a long time for a church that size to decide on a children's pastor - especially when:

1. Their current CP is most likely not moving into her new role until after the first of the year (that would be logical, since her new role is with the Christian school, whose new semester begins then!).

2. They haven't had to hire a CP since the early 80's and probably don't realize the "market," and that (assuming I was looking out of my geographical area) I could very well already be in another church by now.

3. Holiday season.  'Nuff said.  I know it gets insanely busy for me, and I'm not even doing any huge musicals or outreaches like this church is!!

Anyway, regardless of the outcome, I feel at peace about it.  Whatever happens happens, and I know that God has an amazing plan for me.  Whether or not it is this church or another one, I finally realized that I can trust Him.

In the meantime, I still have kids who need me where I'm at, and have some really exciting stuff planned for them - I'm starting a "Narnia" unit in December, based on the books and the upcoming movie.  As long as I'm still there, those kids (however few of them there are!) are going to get the best children's pastor in the district!  They deserve that, even if the grouchy CA's in the church don't - I already know who those people are, and I have just made a choice to not let them bother me.

I believe that God is calling me out of there, anyway, so if they get all antagonistic on me or call me ungodly, or occultic, or whatever, I can just smile inside, knowing that He is calling me to greater things...

Everyone take a deep breath: the holiday season is almost upon us!