lots of updating to do!

first off i've been blessed with many artistic opportunities. i keep joking with myself saying, "everything i've been wanting since i moved here is happening all of a sudden." ie i'm slightly overwhelmed but i'd be lying if i said i'm not enjoying every minute of it! nags head church has enlisted me in making seven paintings total for their moses sermon series, amy's having me paint a big wave on her youth room, i'm making the logo for this year's impactobx, at some point andy will be having me do stuff for The Call, etc.

i also have something else exciting happening. for those of you that don't know i have been periodically sending churches my resume in hopes to land a youth ministry position of my own. many of these churches don't respond and if they do i get a polite "thanks for your interest but we're looking for someone with more experience/don't feel lead to pursue you/etc." it's understandable because the majority of my experience has come since i moved to the outer banks but i do feel disappointed when these responses come.

for a while i had been sending only colorado churches my information. it's silly i know. the reality of, "hey! you don't know where God wants you exactly just yet. you need to keep your options open so you can hear Him more clearly! apply whereever." so when i sat down a few nights ago i decided i'd just apply to whatever sounded interesting. within two hours i had two emails. that alone is so rare and so surprising.

the first email is from a husband and wife wanting to plant a church in nashville, tn. to my amazement the church they're pastoring right now is about 45 mins from my hometown and secondly, they almost went to johnson bible college [where i went for three years!].

the pastor continued to floor me when he mentioned he checked out my art blog, that he would like to hear my ideas on [youth, art, etc] ministry, and sent me a tiny email just to say, "hey i'm praying for you, have a good weekend." talk about humbling!

what's crazier still, is i'm planning on taking a trip home to meet them as soon as i can afford it. wow.

the second church plant i heard from said that they weren't looking for positions to fill but to offer a rescource to anyone going into church planting that might have questions or need insight.

for you prayer warriors out there, please keep me in your prayers! there is a door opening and i'm waiting to see if i'm supposed to go through it.