A Long Overdue Update

I've been putting off doing a much-needed update on what's going on in our lives for a couple of weeks now while waiting for final notification on a fairly major change in our lives (no, Cari is not pregnant, so just put that out of your mind right now). However, it is much needed, and things have finally developed to a point at which I felt it was a good time to post.

As most of you know, we've been living with my mom since May while saving up money and figuring our next move, which we had believed would be to move some place (possibly overseas) for me to pursue a Ph.D. I've decided not to do so - the short reason why is that I discovered that there were no positions available teaching the topic I wished to teach (Religion and Culture). We weighed several different options for a month or so (teaching in a university, teaching a different subject, educational work in a church, etc.), and finally determined that I liked the idea of doing educational ministries in a church if I could find the right church.

About the same time as we reached this decision, an Adult Ministries position opened up at my home church in Omaha, and I knew this would be an ideal position for me. Its a strong, growing church that is outreach-minded and pretty progressive as far as Christian Churches/Churches of Christ are concerned. I've known several of the ministers and elders for years, and knew I would enjoy working with them. And the position is exactly what I was looking for - it is primarily focused on the church's adult education and small groups program, with additional duties including occasional preaching, pre-marital counseling, weddings and funerals, etc. I've been pursuing the position for almost 3 months now, through 3 interviews, and was offered the position today - my first day on staff will be April 1. I'm very excited about the position, and really looking forward to getting started in a few weeks.

Of course, this new position means we'll be settling in Omaha - I never expected to be saying that! Over the next week or two we'll start looking for a house out near to the church - obviously we're looking forward to that as well. It'll be nice to know that we're settling down without the constant knowledge that we'll be moving in a couple years, and it's certainly nice that we're going to be near both Cari and I's families.

In the midst of this career change, we also learned several months ago that Cari's mom, MaryAnne, had cancer. By the time it was discovered it was already pretty advanced, and had spread to several different organs. They attempted treatment for a couple of months, which slowed the growth in some areas but not in all of them. A few weeks ago they went to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where they recommended that they discontinue treatment and work to control pain and symptoms. Obviously this situation is difficult for us, and certainly for MaryAnne and the rest of Cari's family. We greatly appreciate everyone's prayers.

These are the major developments in our lives over the past few months. I'm sure I left some things out - if so, Cari will remind me and I'll post them later. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care.