Sunday, July 31, 2005

oh how i miss it!

i miss student ministry so much! for 11 years i have been waiting to go full-time as a pastor to students and even though i have been able to do it part-time for 6 years it really offered not much in the way of relief. but then as i read this letter from darren mccarty to detroit red wings fans, i began to think about things. here is the letter....
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A LETTER TO HOCKEYTOWN:
McCarty to fans: Don't shed a tear


July 28, 2005

Don't be sad it's over -- be happy it happened.

In the past few days, since the official word came of the buyout and as the status of my contract teetered, the reality that I'm not going to be a Red Wing anymore has set in, and I've taken some time to reflect.

I don't know if it's maturity ('cause if you know me, that's never been an issue) or the painstaking reality of the past 12 months without hockey. Either way, I'm saddened to leave an organization in a place where I've grown up, raised a family, been part of a first-class and first-rate team, won three Stanley Cups and achieved great personal success.

But looking back, what I really feel is gratitude -- thankful for the opportunity to realize a childhood dream to play for my childhood team. Grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Ilitch and their entire family for letting this boy become a man and always treating my family as one of their own. Grateful to the entire Red Wing organization from Ken Holland and his staff, to John Hahn and Anne Marie Krappmann in the PR department for their ever tireless effort. Grateful to Piet Van Zant and Paul Boyer for patching me up and getting me back out on the ice. Grateful for the support and memories from everyone at the Joe whom I will miss seeing daily, and thankful to the media for not only their endless support of myself but in the way they've always supported the McCarty Cancer Foundation and my band Grinder.

What will I miss most about playing hockey in Detroit? That's simple. The fans. From the day-to-day coffee stop or gas station conversation to the people who say hello on the street or ask for an autograph at the checkout, there are no greater fans than those in Detroit.

These are the great things about my time as a Red Wing that I will always remember no matter where I go. Thank you to all of you. But please don't shed a tear 'cause it's over -- crack a smile 'cause it happened, and no one can ever take that away. I'll always be a Red Wing at heart, and Detroit will always be my home.

Much love to you all,

Darren McCarty, Red Wings No. 25

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the part about "Don't be sad it's over -- be happy it happened" really got me thinking. how often times we look at what we don't have and mourn, instead of realizing what we had.

we have a daily inspirational calendar that resides in the place where you get the most inspiration.... the bathroom. and this was today's quote, "Those we hold most dear never leave us. They live on in the kindness they showed, the comfort they shared, and the love they brought into... life." -Norton boy, doesn't that really make you think!

i had a friend who lost her grandma today after a long time of watching her slowly die and as i read that quote i though of her, but as i started this blog i began to think of how it applied to me. not just in the obvious sense of the impact i left on those students that God allowed me to love and care for, for 5 and a half years. but how i need to think about the positive, the happy things that have happened and not just mourn the loss. and just like my freind, the loss is only temporary because her grandma was a christian, and i will be a pastor to students again.

well, that is it for now..... it is late and i need to get rest so i can go to work in the morning, but i probably will add more tomorrow.

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Friday, July 29, 2005

texas???????????

got a phone message from the church in texas that sent me that extremely long questionnaire (16 pages with my answers) and they said i made their even shorter list. so next week they will be calling me for a phone interview with their leadership team. and if all goes well with that, then i will be going out for a face to face. so things are looking good there as well. i will update you with information when i get the call.

keep praying, please!

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Thursday, July 28, 2005

indiana???????????

the phone interview with the church in indiana went very well. just to catch you up to speed..... back in may they sent me a questionnaire to fill out and i did it and then sent it back to them within the next day or two. then i never heard back from them for a while, so i sent them an email asking them where things were at in their process.

i got an email back from them saying that they never received my questionnaire, but he would like to get another copy of it so he could add me to it. they had taken the original group and narrowed it down and did not find the right person for the job. so they re-listed the job.

after the interview he told me that they are gonna move forward with me, but have other people they are gonna get some questionnaires from. the deadline for those is august 15th, so i will not hear from them until then. but i believe they will be inviting me out for a face to face. the guy gave me a good heads up on things that they will be asking me, especially since i have experience at a smaller church than theirs. but i was actually already expecting to have to answer how i plan on making that transition. but things look good, so keep praying.

hopefully i will also be hearing back from one of the churches in arizona soon.

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Monday, July 25, 2005

get the latest here.....

i found out that the 2 churches in michigan that had me on their short list decided to go with someone else. so unless something else comes up, it looks as if we will be moving out of state.

we put our house up for sale by owner 2 weeks ago and have had a couple of people call that were interested. one is supposed to be calling back this week to come and look at it, so that could be good! pray that it sells quick and we can get what we are asking. we need to sell this house so we can get ready for a potential move, but also because we can't afford to live here much longer. thanks!

last week thursday i sent out emails to the churches that i had not heard from in a while that had me on their short list and got a response back from the church in indiana, that i had filled out a questionnaire for back in the middle of may. well, he told me that he never received it and he said they actually had only got back 6 of the 15 they sent out. and from there the narrowed it down to 2 that were brought out for face to face interviews and they did not feel that either one was the one for the position, so they relisted the job. but he told me to resend my questionnaire, which i did, and then he emailed me back today and said he wants to schedule a phone interview for this week. so pray for His leading in all of this.

and then while i was typing up this entry i got an email from one of the churches in az and it looks like things may be moving forward with that soon. they are very interested in me and just needed to nail down someone to do the music ministry part-time and it looks like that may be happening soon, maybe even this week. so keep praying for us!

will update when i hear anything more!

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happy, happy, joy, joy!!!!!!!

two things in the past couple of weeks have brought me great joy and happiness! the first one i will mention is the most recent to happen......

lance armstrong won his 7th and final tour de france! my passion for this race, which is the greatest sporting event and the greatest test of strength and human conditioning started back in 1986 when greg lemond became the first american to win the tour.

lance set new standards and highs for this great race and i will miss him. there probably will never be anyone who will be able to dominate this event the way lance has. winning 7 tours is hard enough, but to win 7 in a row is insane.

all i have to say is thank you lance for showing all cancer survivors that they not only can survive, but thrive!

thank you for honoring and respecting the history of the tour and showing us americans the greatness of this great sproting event. your awe and love for the tour is great and admirable.

thank you for not only winning, but winning with grace and dignity. and proving to the world that you can win at cycling, heck any sport and do it clean!

i for one will miss you lance, but thanks for leaveing a great legacy!


the second thing that i am excited about happened on july 16th! after two long years it finally arrived!

i was so excited to read the 6th installment of this excellent series. i will not reveal any of the plots or say who dies here, but just say that book 7 is going to be really good! i have no idea how rowling is gonna wrap this up, but she has not disappointed me yet! very good series of books and i highly recommend them!

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Saturday, July 09, 2005

more job news......

on friday, 1 july 2005, i got an email from a church in scottsdale, az that wanted to set up a phone interview with me. and the problem was this.... i was up north on vacation, but thanks to open wireless at a nearby microtel i was able to get my email and respond back to them. we set up an interview for thursday, 7 july 2005, or friday, 8 july 2005, and they called on thursday. it was a real simple interview done by someone who is volunteering to help out with the decision making process and consisted of only about 6 questions. but it seemed to go well and if they are interested in me further i will get another call from the executive pastor. so now we are up to 8 churches that have put me on their short list. keep praying, please!
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