TURNING THE PAGE... A NEW CHAPTER IN OUR LIVES

I'm sharing a personal life update post today. So many of you have been faithful readers over a lot of years and have been so sweet to be interested in the happenings of our family that I felt we needed to share this news with you.  We are in the middle of a huge change and are turning the page to start a new chapter in our lives! After 22 years of Ray being a Minister on staff, last Sunday we said farewell to Quail Springs Baptist Church.  

As we shared the news early in September with our new pastor and the church family that the Lord told us that our time at Quail was over, everyone was shocked and surprised but the Lord has been working in our hearts about this decision for almost 4 years. 

We came to QSBC in 2003 when Ray was called as the Minister of Education.  In 2009 he transitioned to the Executive Pastor and through our 22 years there he's worked with 3 Senior Pastors and led the church through 2 significant interim seasons in between pastors.  

In the time leading up to his 20th Anniversary two years ago, he felt the Lord beginning to stir in his heart that our time at Quail would be coming to an end.  We didn't know at the time what that meant or what the timing would be, but he did know that he had several commitments he felt compelled to complete.  He was dedicated to continue working and serving to fulfill those commitments, all the while being sensitive to the Lord's timing and leading for our- and the church's- future.   

I shared with you in a previous post that early this summer we welcomed a new Senior Pastor and his family.  We love them so much already and are excited about the future for QSBC under his leadership.  As we had prayed for months over the interim asking the Lord to send the exact right person to be the new Pastor, getting to know him and his family and sitting under his teaching confirmed in our hearts that the Lord answered those prayers in His perfect way.  And with our confidence in his love for the people and leadership and vision for the church, and with Ray being finished with all of the personal commitments he had over these past few years, we knew the Lord was telling us that now was the time to leave.  It was a bittersweet decision for sure, but we completely trust how the Lord is directing us. 

It was certainly not a decision that was made lightly, as I mentioned we have prayed over and prepared for this change for several years.  On our family vacation in the mountains in August, the Lord confirmed once and for all that He was calling us to GO do something different, and that meant that we couldn't STAY where we were at the same time.  Ray announced to the church in early September that we would be leaving, then spent the month wrapping things up.  (Here's the video- start around minute 16- of him sharing if you want to hear his own words.) 

Our sweet church family gave us an incredible sendoff farewell reception last Sunday.  All month fellow staff members and church members have shared the sweetest meaningful memories with us- things that might seem routine or insignificant to us but meant the world to them- and those stories have meant so much to hear. 

Our incredible Communications Director and Media Associate created a video to share at the reception. We had no idea about any of this but they asked the kids to write a letter to us about our years of serving. They secretly came to town and filmed it, needless to say it was hard to hold it together while this was playing!  What a treasure. 

Our church family blessed us with the biggest pile of cards and gifts- we're still working our way through them and will be writing thank you notes for weeks! 

We have spent 2/3 of our married life serving at QSBC.  When we started there, Caleb was 2 and Emily was 4 months old, they don't know another church and what a blessing it has been to raise them in one place their entire growing up years.  

Serving there was our life for 22 years - Sunday School, youth camps, Vacation Bible School, building projects, Monday night visitation, hospital calls, retreats, banquets, choir tours, funerals, Christmas Eves, business meetings, special events, weddings, staff leadership, parties in our home, mission trips, weddings, funerals, Lord's Suppers, discipleship classes, Thanksgiving dinners, planning meetings, Easters, services week in and week out... so needless to say, this place and the people there will always be near and dear to our hearts.  

So what's next? We don't know yet. We didn't feel right about looking for a new position before sharing with the pastor and the church, so we are waiting on the Lord to fill us in and lead us toward what He wants us to do next. We are taking a little bit of time to rest and continue to listen to His leading. Ray definitely has a specific skill set for church ministry, leadership, and people development, so we'll see what the Lord has in store for us! 

We are confident and encouraged as we look back over the years to see the countless ways in which God has always been faithful, and are now excited to see how He proves that to be true in the months to come. We would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction if the Lord brings us to your mind!