Job Search Update:

Oh, job searches.  Fun fun.  Nathan and I have been keeping our eyes and ears open for our next job for months now.  I do believe Nathan started checking the Briercrest website for job postings back in August 2010.  That's almost a year ago now.  He started applying/inquiring about jobs just before Christmas.  And he started interviewing in February/March of this year.  I'm not sure how many interviews Nathan has done...3? 4? 5?  At any rate, it feels like it's been a long process.  But, as I alluded in my last post, we do feel like the job search may be ending soon!  At least that's what we've been praying.  See, we've been unemployed for the last two years (aside from a cleaning job at the seminary that was enough to cover our groceries but not a penny more) and are itching to get back into the workforce.  Well, our bank account is itching for us to get back into the workforce!  Anyway, I'll give you half of the exciting news and hopefully the second half will follow in a couple weeks.  We are candidating tomorrow.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the process of hiring a pastor, most often it goes like this:

-  you apply - send resume with cover letter like any other job
-  they ask for more information
-  you spend a couple hours answering the further questions that they have
-  if you answer their questions correctly, you make the "short list" of 5-10 people who they interivew
-  interview - either in person or through Skype, depending on where the church is
-  if they still like you and feel that you could be a good fit for the job, you are asked to candidate
-  a date is set and you either spend a day or a couple days with the congregation who is thinking about hiring you, usually over a Sunday, and do things like preach, share your testimony, and mingle (just generally get to know people and give them a sense of who you are)
-  if you make it through all that and everyone is on the same page about God's leading, hopefully you get a job offer, and that's that.  You have a job.


So we are at the candidating stage.  One of the last stages before actually being offered a job.  If all goes well tomorrow and we are all hearing God say that this particular position is a good fit for us, we'll hopefully get a job offer before the end of the month!  If not, I'm not really sure what we'll do as we've closed all of our other doors.  (It just didn't feel right to pursue more than one church once we were in the candidating stage.)  SO, I say all this to let you know where we are with the job search stuff and to ask you to PRAY!  Being an introvert, the thought of spending a full day with a bunch of people, wonderful though they may be, who I don't know sounds intimidating and tiring.  Don't get me wrong, I am really really excited to meet the people who will hopefully become my church family, but mingling...small talk...not my thing.  I plan to just take it one hour at a time, one conversation at a time, and I'm sure it'll be not nearly as intimidating as I think it will be. : )  But prayers are still welcome.  Thanks so much and I'll let you know how it goes!