Big Update!

I have completely and totally been neglecting my blog. It's been crazy around the Ellis household! Tonight I am taking a break from homework (yep, started a new Masters class) and I am blogging!

Okay, first on the agenda. Big news. The Ellises are moving to Washington! Crazy. Everyone has been asking for details, so here they are.

In July, God made it very clear to Tyler and I that Tyler was done working with the youth at the Grove. He had been working in the youth department there for 2 years and is thankful for every second he got to be a part of such a great ministry. We weren't quite sure what to do with ourselves. We weren't expecting such a clear call that he was done serving in the youth department. It was hard. We both had relationships with many of the youth that we valued very much and it was time to look to the next thing. The trouble was we weren't sure what that next thing was. Tyler has continued to work at the Grove since July and gained great experience working with the children's ministry, small group ministries, counseling, and serving as pastor on call.

Tyler has known he wanted to transition into a full-time youth pastor job since right around the time we got married. There have been several opportunities and interviews, but God shut the doors each time. We had never fully felt peace with any of the opportunities, so we knew we had to wait on God and just trust in his timing. Waiting isn't always easy. So many people have asked us over the last couple years, "So what's next?" That's a hard question to answer when you really don't know. ;) We have continued to pray and seek God over the past couple years and were confident that when the time was right his plan for us would be revealed.

Fast forward to this past November. Tyler and I are sitting at Starbucks one evening and he realizes he has a missed call. He checks his voice mail and hears a message from Kent, the associate pastor from Moses Lake Alliance Church in Moses Lake Washington. We knew nothing about Moses Lake; in fact we had never even heard of it. Tyler's resume had been passed on to Kent from the CMA Pacific Northwest District Office (Tyler had sent them a copy months ago). Kent called Tyler to ask him if he had received an email a couple weeks before asking if he was still looking for a youth ministry job. Long story short, Tyler had not received the email because it was sent to a secondary email address that he does not check frequently. Tyler felt terrible that he hadn't seen the email and gotten back to Kent. Tyler called Kent back the next day and I guess the rest is history! Tyler had his first interview with the church over the phone a few days later. Shortly after, they asked if they could do a second interview over Skype with both Tyler and I. A week and a half later we flew to Moses Lake for a pre-candidating weekend. Three weeks later we flew back to Moses Lake to candidate for the job. A week and a half later the senior pastor called around 9:30p.m. after a board meeting (the entire board and Kent were on speaker phone, as were Tyler and I) and offered Tyler the job! :) Tyler is the new junior high pastor at Moses Lake Alliance Church!

I can honestly say that Tyler and I are ecstatic about this new opportunity. The entire hiring process with Moses Lake Alliance Church has been such a blessing to us. We are 100% at peace with this move and this new job. This is what we have been waiting for. One afternoon very early on in the hiring process, Tyler and I were laying on our bed just talking. He looked at me and said, "Babe, I have a feeling about Moses Lake." I said, "Really, is it bad?" He said, "No, I think this might be the one." I will never forget that conversation. From early on he had a peace in his heart; soon after I began to feel the same peace.:) We can't wait to be in Moses Lake and be part of such a great church and community. The staff, their families, the students, and church families were so loving and welcoming to us from the first moment they met us. We instantly felt like we had known these people for years.

So, we will be loading up the Uhaul and heading to Washington on February 21st. Just 18 short days away. Deep breath Tiffany. Deep breath. Details are really starting to come together. Tiffany likes details, so this is good.:)

Of course our move is bittersweet. Don't even get me started on saying goodbye to our wonderful family, friends, co-workers, and my students and their families. I absolutely love my job, so leaving is going to be so hard. I wish I could take my job with me. It doesn't quite work that way. :) Hold on, let me go get my tissue. Okay, I'm back. Deep breath.

God's timing is the best timing. It doesn't always feel that way, but it sure is. God never ceases to amaze me and humble me. He knows just what we need and when we need it.

So, keep us in your prayers. Big changes lie ahead of us, but we are ready! Well, almost ready...I guess we better get packing!;)

Here is a picture of us sledding in Washington during the candidating weekend.:) It was at this point that I realized I wasn't in Southern California anymore.