Good News

But the Jewish leaders went to some of the important men in the town and to some respected women who were religious. They turned them against Paul and Barnabas and started making trouble for them. They even chased them out of that part of the country. Paul and Barnabas shook the dust from that place off their feet and went on to the city of Iconium. (Acts 13:50, 51 CEV)

Todd took a trip down to his hometown (Peoria, Illinois) this weekend.  The purpose of this trip was to meet with a committee in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist Church (www.igrc.org/) regarding candidacy for ordination after he completes seminary, about 12-18 months from now. He was certified as a candidate, enabling him to receive dramatically more scholarship money and financial aid for seminary.  It also begins a relationship with the conference which will ultimately lead him to being appointed as a pastor to a church within the conference.

This is good GREAT news! God is beginning to reveal the edges of His plan for the future of Todd's ministry. But it will mean changes for our family. Todd still has 12-18 months left of seminary, which he will need to complete on-campus in Evanston, Illinois. That means that he will either be commuting from our current home in Michigan or potentially from somewhere in central Illinois.

But as God has opened a door for us, He has also closed one. Less than 48 hours after receiving the good news about his candidacy in Illinois, Todd's formal candidacy process in Michigan ended. We interpret this to mean that the lessons that God wanted us to learn and the growing He wanted us to do here in Michigan is complete. This reality is met with relief, exhaustion, some sadness, but mostly excitement. Now we wait on God's next word.

Please take some time to pray for Todd and our family, that we will be able to make the changes necessary to fulfill God's plan and that we will grow closer to one another in the process. Please pray for us to be renewed in strength, endurance, and peace through this new chapter in our lives. God is good! All the time!