We Got the Job!!!

Faith Bible Church in Willows, CA held their vote tonight and officially invited Matthew to be their new pastor. We happily accepted and look forward to putting down roots and investing in a new community. We are very excited about the future and can't wait to see what God has in store for us and for the people of Faith Bible Church.

We still have to nail down the details but right now our target move date is March 14th with Matthew starting work on the 16th. We have a lot to do between now and then. We want to spend a few days up in Willows in February with the outgoing pastor and his wife to get to know them better and help prepare for the transition. We already had a trip to Florida scheduled to visit family and we're hoping to squeeze in a short trip to Portland while we still have limited Sunday obligations.

We'll try to keep you all updated on the details as we transition into the next phase of life. Thank you all for all of your encouragement and prayers during this period of uncertainty and searching out God's will. Thanks especially to Aunt Miriam and Mom & Dad Brooks for providing us with free housing and to all of you who have provided for us and for Naomi in countless ways.

We were told when we started this process that it takes a year on average to find a pastorate. Matthew started sending out Resumes on February 1st of 2008 so that is just about what it was for us. The eight and a half months between graduating and getting tonight's news have actually been quite wonderful but we are glad to have some direction for the future and look forward to having our own home again.

Blessings, Matthew and Emily

P.S. Emily wanted to title this post "Matthew is Jobful!" but Matthew wouldn't let her.