Playlist

I feel like I'm getting nowhere fast.  I haven't packed a thing in the past 2 days.  Oh wait, I did pack up the playpen from out of the kitchen.  So, 1 thing packed in 2 days.  See!  Nowhere fast. (Sigh...)  I just got off the phone with the realtor.  He's coming Monday to check out the house.  I guess I should start cleaning...

I decided I needed to start a "Seattle" playlist for my ipod.  So far I only have 2 songs, but I know that list will grow.  I almost broke down & started crying on my run this morning while listening to Britt Nicole's "Have Your Way" (http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/britt+nicole/Have+Your+Way/).

Do you see the tears keep falling?
And i`m falling apart at the seams.
But you never said the road would be easy,
But you said that you would never leave.
And you never promised that this life wasn`t hard,
But you promised you`d take care of me.

The only other song on my playlist so far is Chris Tomlin's "I Will Follow"  (http://www.lyricsreg.com/lyrics/chris+tomlin/i+will+follow/).  God has been all over me with this song for months.  I almost wanted to change my radio station because it seemed to come on ALL the time.  It is my anthem for this whole process, though.

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

My favorite pic from our trip to Seattle (@ Deception Pass):

Why?

I have a minute, so I thought I'd better take advantage of it (really, I'm avoiding laundry & packing!).  So why in the world would we move to Seattle?  We have great friends, my dream house, a job at a church that loves us, close enough to both sides of our family, did I mention great friends?!  There is no earthly reason for us to move.  And that leads us to the answer.

This is not a move that we would pick.  BUT it is a move that we feel God is choosing for us.

About 2 years ago, Jason really started feeling that God was moving him toward something different.  Not necessarily bigger or better, just different.  He has been a youth minister for 13 years & (we both) thought that he would be youth minister his entire career.  But more & more he knew that God was wanting him to become a full-time pastor.  Not only that, but a pastor where there is great need.

If you live anywhere in the south, you know that there are churches on nearly every corner.  And that should mean that everyone loves his neighbor, there are Christians in every business & miracles happen all the time, right?  Not true of course.  I have started to realize that the Bible belt has become very complacent & happy with the American Dream, not Biblical truths.  All that to say, when Jason started applying to churches, he put his application in the NE, Mid-West, West and Northwest.  Martha Lake Baptist (www.marthalake.org) was not the first church to contact Jason, but was the first that we really could see God's hand in the process.

On a side note, it was overcast & mild temp all day today.  Thought about Seattle all day long & wondering how we will cope with the change in weather/climate...

Our 2nd day in Seattle @ Snoqualmie Falls.  Hot proposal spot! :-)

Here goes...

I imagine that more blogs start with "I never thought I'd write a blog", and I guess I'm no exception.  I decided this blog might help me with the next chapter in my life.  The title of that chapter? "WE'RE MOVING TO SEATTLE!"

By the time you read this, it will all be official.  Jason is accepting the postion of Pastor-Elder at Martha Lake Baptist Church (http://www.marthalake.org/) in Seattle/Lynnwood, Washington.  Yes, as in "Sleepless in" and "Birthplace of Starbucks" and "As far as you can get without leaving the country" (quoted from my mother).

"Why?"  "When?"  "For how long?"  "WHY?!"  I hope to answer all these questions in the months & weeks to come.  In the meantime, if you are a Christian, I covet your prayers & any verses that you find to encourage me in this process.  If you're not a Christian, you are part of the reason we're doing this crazy thing.  And I hope that by reading this, I can somehow help you fall in the love with the Jesus that I am trying to completely trust & depend on right now.
~MJ~

                          Our first night in Seattle (Mukilteo area):