One Day Left

Sorry I haven't been very good about keeping up with the blog lately. It's been a hectic finish to the semester the last couple of weeks but we are doing well. Tomorrow is my last day of classes at Seminary. Next week my parents are coming up to visit and will be here for my graduation on May 16th. We're looking forward to having some time over the next few weeks to celebrate the completion of my seminary degree and spend some time with friends who will be starting to go their seperate ways soon.

I should be able to do a better job of keeping things updated during the next couple of months. I'll keep busy enough looking for a job and preparing for our transition but I'll still have some time to relax and hopefully stay in touch a little better.

In the mean time I wanted to let you all know that I have a phone interview with a church in Crawfordsville, IN on Thursday. I don't know a whole lot about the church or job yet but it is still good to see things moving along. We'd appreciate your prayers. Thanks!

God Closes a Door

We heard from First Baptist Church of Clovis today. They've decided to go in a different direction with regard to their staffing plans (which I took to mean they're not going to add a full time associate pastor right now). They didn't elaborate beyond that which is probably just as well.

As you might expect we're feeling kind of disappointed right now. We were pretty excited about this possibility the church was healthy and growing, the position sounded like a great fit for Matthew, it was close to family and as a bonus we already had good friends at the church. We've been praying that if God had something different in mind for us that he would close this door so that is how we're trying to look at this decision but we're still a little bummed out for now.

Please keep praying for our job search. We've got some conversations started with a few other churches but nothing is very far along. We're continuing to look around for other possibilities as well. Thanks for all of your prayers and words of encouragement.

Our Trip to Clovis

Here’s a quick overview of our visit to First Baptist Church or Clovis (FBCC) this past weekend. We had a really good visit. The church treated us like royalty not only flying us down but renting us a car, putting us up in a nice hotel, feeding us tons of wonderful food and on and on.

Matthew flew down Thursday afternoon and spent the evening hanging out with his friend Nick (the youth pastor at FBCC) and a bunch of high school students who come over for Bible Study every Thursday night. Friday morning he got a chance to tour the church and get to know most of the staff in an informal setting and over lunch. Friday afternoon Emily flew down and that night the Sr. Pastor and his wife took us both out to dinner where we had a chance to get to know each other a bit.

The folks at FBCC were thoughtful enough to keep most of our Saturday free so we could have some time for ourselves. We took advantage of the opportunity to meet Emily's immediate family in Turlock (halfway between Roseville and Clovis) for lunch and a short visit. Then Saturday night we had pizza with the staff and some of the church board members and had a chance to answer questions on a whole range of topics.

Sunday we got to church early enough for Emily to get a quick tour and then attended the first service. Between services we met briefly with a couple board members who couldn't make it Saturday so we could answer their questions and then we got to hear our friend Nick speak at the youth service which runs concurrently with the second main Sunday service. After all of that the Sr. Pastor took us out for one last fabulous meal and we all had a chance to ask a few more questions and offer some impressions in a kind of debriefing session.

We don't expect to hear anything for at least a couple of weeks which gives us plenty of time to continue to process our experience and get whatever insight we can about this decision from people that we know and trust. Of course we don't even know if we will have a decision to make, there is no guarantee they will make us an offer but so far we're feeling pretty positive about the possibility of joining this church if they do. It is a healthy and growing church and seems to have some needs that fit Matthew's skills and interests. We continue to appreciate your prayers for wisdom for both us and the leaders of FBCC in considering this possibility.

FBCC Visit

This weekend Emily and I will be visiting First Baptist Church of Clovis (FBCC) near Fresno, CA to discuss the possability of my joining their pastoral staff. I will be flying down Thursday afternoon and Emily join me on Friday. We will stay through Sunday evening but don't have the details on how exaclty we will be spending that time yet.

One of my very best friends, Nick Bradley (he was Best Man at our wedding) is the youth pastor FBCC so we know a little about this church and they know a bit about me through him. The church would like to create a new pastoral position to oversee discipleship and small groups and help out with some teaching ministry. Right now this sounds like exactly the type of position that I've been looking for. In addition the idea of being on staff with Nick and being only 3 hours from "home" (Roseville, where our families live) is very appealing, plus some of our very best friends from Seminary (Luke & Virginia Thomas) would only be 45 minutes away in their new home. With all of this in mind we are very excited about this possability but are trying to keep an open mind and really seek God's will in this.

We will let you all know how things go and when we have any hard information we will post it here promptly. In the mean time we would really appreciate your prayers for God's peace and clear guidance both for us and for the leadership of FBCC as we explore this possibility together. I continue to be in various levels of contact exploring possible Associate Pastor positions with a number of other churches but right now this potential opportunity is front and center in hearts and minds.

P.S. If you're curious about FBCC you can check out their website at http://www.fbclovis.com/

Spring Break in New York

We had a lot of fun on our trip to New York. It wasn't probably as relaxing Spring Break as we might have benefited from but we had a good time and squeezed a fair bit of the New York experience into our three days there.

The Manhattan Skyline from the Ferry to Ellis Island (Tuesday)

On Monday we got up dark and early (4:30am) had a quick breakfast, walked to the max station and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our flight was oversold so they offered us $200 in travel vouchers each to fly through Atlanta instead of direct. We accepted and it wasn't until we were being rushed on to the plane going to Atlanta (it was leaving earlier) that we realized it meant we wouldn't be sitting together on that leg of the flight. So that was kind of lame but we connected fine in Atlanta and got to fly first class together from there to New York. Our two-leg flight meant that we got in to JFK 90 minutes later than we would have so by the time we tracked down our luggage (taken to but not yet scanned in at the luggage storage facility because it arrived on the direct flight that landed earlier) and took the subway all the way to Grand Central station we were pretty wiped out. Fortunately it was just a short walk to the hotel and after a rest we walked down 5th Avenue to the Empire State building and over to Times Square.

Emily in front of the Brooklyn Bridge (Thursday)

Matthew with Lady Liberty in the background (Tuesday)

Tuesday we slept in a bit had a big breakfast at the diner next to our hotel and then headed down to Battery Park for a trip over to Ellis Island. The weather was beautiful but the lines were long. We ended up boarding our ferry around noon and enjoyed the ride and a cool audio tour of Ellis Island itself. We were back at Battery Park around 4pm where we had a hot dog and enjoyed some street performers before walking through the financial district, past the bull statue, down Wall Street and over to the New York Stock exchange. From there we made our way over to Ground Zero before heading over to Times Square to see about discount Broadway tickets. We didn't like the selection too much and were pretty pooped so we went back to the hotel and relaxed for a while. When our appetites returned we took the subway down to Chinatown and found a hole in the wall Chinese food place that our guidebook had recommended. It was obviously good because it was packed out but we didn't have to wait. The food was great and we shared a table with a couple from California which was fun.

The Statue of Liberty (Tuesday)

Wednesday we got a little earlier start, just coffee and a bagel for breakfast and plenty of snacks in out backpack and we headed to the Metropolitan museum of art. We spent a little over 4 hours exploring the art work from various time periods and regions, not counting a 30 minute break to have a snack and enjoy the sun in Central Park. From there it was over to Times Square to try for discount tickets again, this time we were early enough for a good selection of shows. There was a line but it moved quickly and we got tickets to a musical comedy for half price with time for a bit of a rest before dinner. After a little down time we got ready for our night on the town and headed down to Union Square for a fancy dinner at the Blue Water Grill. After dinner it was off to the theater district for our play. It was called Curtains a light hearted murder mystery with plenty of silliness and big song dance numbers. It starred David Hyde Pierce ("Niles" from Frasier) who was excellent and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Emily in front of the Flatiron building (Thursday)

The Empire State Building at night (Monday)

Thursday morning we got up fairly early packed up our stuff, checked our suitcase and checked out of our hotel before heading out for our last day in New York. We got Jamba Juice for breakfast and drank it while walking North on 5th Avenue past Rockefeller Center, St Patrick's Cathedral and some of the world's most famous stores. We even ducked inside FAO Shwarz to warm up and play for a while before heading down another block and beginning our exploration of Central Park. We spent several hours wandering through the park from it's woodsy interior (called "the ramble") to it's children's zoo, it's famous carousel, it's Shakespearean theater and Belvedere Castle which provided a great view. After all that walking we had worked up an appetite. We took the Subway over to Brooklyn and walked down to a little place under the Brooklyn Bridge called Grimaldi's in search of New York's best pizza, according to the people we'd met Tuesday night (and apparently the cityguide website). After a short wait we settled in and devoured a ham, olive and mushroom masterpiece. We took a short walk down by the water to take in a view of the bridges and buildings that make New York famous and then rode the subway the long way around so as to catch the line back into Manhattan that would take us across the Manhattan Bridge for some more views. We even still had time to make a quick stop to see the Flatiron building before buying our tickets at Grand Central for the 4:00pm shuttle to JFK and grabbing our suitcase and some Starbucks for the road. The traffic to the airport was horrid but we were able to relax and had no problem making our 6:55pm flight. After a long, but thankfully direct, flight home we made our way home and collapsed into bed thankful that we had Friday to unpack and recover from an amazing but draining trip.

Matthew in front of Belvedere Castle in Central Park (Thursday)

Matthew's Quirks

I didn't make this up but I got "tagged" so I guess I'll play along.





1. Link to the person who tagged you.
That would be Sara Greco: http://bighairbetty.blogspot.com/


2.Post the rules.
Done.

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
See Below. I'm posting for myself (Matthew) only. If Emily wants to come back and list her quirks later she can but I'm not going to go there.

4. Tag at least 3 people.
Um...I don't read a ton of blogs but I guess I'll go with:
1. The Jordans - http://fljordanfamily.blogspot.com/
2. The Bankers - http://littlebylittleonetravelsfar.blogspot.com/
and
3. Jason Kirkpatrick - http://idrinkicedtea.blogspot.com/

5.Make sure the people you tagged know you tagged them by commenting to them.
Taken care of.

Matthew's six quirks:

1. I'm a bit of a language Nazi: I can handle the occasional grammatical error or mispronounced word OK but there are certain misuses of language that really bug me. The worst is when someone uses the word "literally" for emphasis but then follows it with a figure of speech. Sportscasters are really bad for this one: "He's literally carrying his team to victory" (No you idiot he's figuratively carrying his team, if he were literally carrying his team they'd all be on his back) or "He literally flew over the defender" (Really, did he sprout wings? Did he get in an airplane? or did he just jump really high so that it seemed like he was flying). I don't mind figurative language but don't go out of your way to say you're not using a figure of speech and then use one anyway.

2. I hate sticky fingers: This wouldn't be that odd except that in all actuality I'm kind of a slob. I'm not neat and I spill stuff pretty easily but for some reason anything sticky on my fingers is really annoying to me. I've always been that way. I hated paste when I was in kindergarten and to this day when I eat something sticky with my fingers I compulsively touch them together until I can wipe them (repeatedly) on something. My wife calls me "napkin boy" for this one.

3. The noise of scratching cardboard is torture to me: I'm not exaggerating. My skin crawls (figuratively) when I hear finger nails against cardboard, or cardboard scraping against concrete or something like that. That noise is far worse to me than fingernails on a chalk board and I actually get a horrible physical sensation when I hear it. My wife thought it was funny at first but when she realized how bad it really was for me she stopped using it to tease me.

4. I am a leg shaker: I'm convinced this is hereditary. My dad does it worse than me and his dad does it and both my brothers do it. When I'm sitting around kind of relaxed with my foot flat on the ground and my thigh parallel to the floor my leg frequently shake up and down rapidly with my heel striking the floor and the balls of my feet staying put. I don't even realize I'm doing it until someone gives me a dirty look because they can feel the ground shaking. It is really weird, I have no idea why it happens.

5. I am a slow reader: I'm not sure how quirky it is but people who don't know me real well might be surprised to learn that I am really a very slow reader, especially for a Grad student. I almost never read faster than I would be able to read aloud. I have to hear the words in my head to really follow what I'm reading. If I really focus I can make myself read a bit faster but my comprehension goes way down. When I read slow and "hear" the words I have very high comprehension and really enjoy reading, it just takes me forever.

6. I can't remember numbers: For most things I have a pretty good memory. Words stick in my brain particularly well and I generally can remember names, concepts, even directions OK but numbers are another story. I have almost no phone numbers or addresses memorized. Even when I hear a new phone number I have to keep saying it to myself or I'll forget it in like 10 seconds. If I say it to myself for a whole minute and then am distracted for 20 seconds and haven't written it down I will have lost it. Fortunately Emily is great at remembering numbers so I can just tell them to her instead of writing them down all the time.

Well there you have it, six of my quirks.

Busy Weekend

Emily has been feeling better energy wise, which is a good thing considering our busy weekend. Friday night we went out for dinner and then saw the Beaverton High School production of "Once Upon A Mattress" one of Emily's students played the lead (Princess Winifred) and is extremely talented. It was a good show and we really enjoyed it. Afterward we went to the local Dairy Queen and got to use the 2 for 1 coupon Emily has been saving for months.

Today Emily had a Student Wives Fellowship event from 8:30 until about 1pm and then tonight we are going to a joint birthday party for two of our friends that are classmates of mine at Multnomah. Tomorrow Emily teaches Sunday School and I'm helping lead a meeting for all of our welcome ministry personelle before church. After church there is a potluck and meeting for all of the Young Adults which we are attending and then in the evening we have Life Group.

It's all fun stuff but makes life a little crazy. Emily's napping right now (good idea) and we'll both need to rest up and get some work done in the coming week so we'll have energy and freedom to enjoy our Spring Break in New York.

To our prayer warriors out there thanks for praying for Emily. She has been doing better. Please pray for her dental health. Her gums have been receding (which is normal) and now have reached the point where food or water can get between the gum and tooth in a few places. She'll try to get in with a dentist before we leave for New York.