Settling in to the new home and call

One of the real amazing things about pastoral ministry is moving to a new congregation. People my age seem to move from profession to profession and employer to employer pretty regularly.

But what about pastors?

I'm 35 and I've been a pastor for 9.5 years. I spent 2.5 years in my first call before moving to a new call to marry a bride who'd just taken a job in a new state. We moved back to the land of 10,000 lakes after the birth of our twin girls. After five years in a congregation not far from the Mayo Clinic and suburban Rochester we have picked up everything again. We've headed west into the Prairie for a fresh start in ministry and in our family's life.

The folks church we left were stunned that we'd chosen to move; most of my friends in ministry weren't surprised. 7 weeks after we announced the plan to leave I worshiped in another congregation taking a week off. 8 weeks later we were introduced as a family in a new place. 9 weeks later I'll be introducing the Passion reading to the new congregation. It's gone fast, and for that speed I give thanks.

Our fresh steps have given us a lot of opportunities for change. We've sold the rambler and we've bought a big old 2 story frame house in a prairie town. The town is beautiful built around a chain of lakes. Its a good 50 minutes drive to a bigger town; there are a few new big box stores in town and a small mall. We're settling in and getting used to things. My wife will start a new job in the summer and we're getting used to having our little one at home.

Right now I'm giving thanks for fresh starts.
Pax
Unlikely