We managed to make it work with what I had gained in support while in preaching school. Kaycee also worked through a temporary employment agency and had a couple of different jobs during our first year in Florida. She worked at a non-profit organization and for a lawyer in one of the biggest law firms in Pensacola.
After a year of that another great opportunity opened up for Kaycee. There is a small school in Pensacola that is sponsored by the local Church. It is a private school for kids from Pre-K through 8th grade and they were in need of a 5th grade teacher. This is a really small school and each grade is in one class. Without a 5th grade teacher, the kids had nowhere to learn!
When Kaycee began college she was working towards an education degree and had taken a lot of classes in that area before switching to Public Relations. She took the job teaching 5th grade and loved it.
I struggled through school. There were quite a few times when I wanted to quit. I wasn’t sure why, but there were times I felt it wasn’t for me. I stuck with it and we knew that it wouldn’t be long until I would be done and we had a decision to make. Would we look for a full time work somewhere or stay in Pensacola and work with the church there and keep her job as the teacher.
I have always wanted to do youth ministry but we seemed to be pretty settled in Pensacola also. We had considered staying there and I would find another job to help pay the bills and we would make Pensacola our home. Then, the phone rang.
A friend of mine called and asked me what I was planning to do after I graduated. I told him our plan to stay in Pensacola for a while and he said that he knew of a congregation in Tennessee looking for a youth minister and wanted me to check it out. I told him thanks but we really were happy in Florida and wanted to make a home there as long as we could. He told me to let him know if I changed my mind and I said ok.
Kaycee and I talked about it for a while. What would it be like to be a full time ministry family? Would we be able to handle it? It was a scary thought, but the more we talked about it, the more we liked the idea of it. I called him back and asked for the info on the Tennessee job.
It was January or February and I wasn’t going to graduate until the end of June. I called one of the elders and talked with him. I explained my situation and he said they wouldn’t mind waiting if it worked out. They had been a while without a youth minister anyways and could wait a little longer. We went to Cleveland for the interview weekend and it went great. We loved the town and the kids there. We prayed a lot and a few days after we interviewed in Cleveland, they offered us the work. We couldn’t believe it! It was the most excited and scared I had been in a long time.
After all of the struggles I had I managed to graduate valedictorian of my class (I was the only graduate…). We moved to Cleveland two days after I graduated. Looking back, I wish we would have taken more time in-between and had taken a vacation. It was too late then. We were hard at work in Cleveland just a few days after graduation.
To be continued...
After a year of that another great opportunity opened up for Kaycee. There is a small school in Pensacola that is sponsored by the local Church. It is a private school for kids from Pre-K through 8th grade and they were in need of a 5th grade teacher. This is a really small school and each grade is in one class. Without a 5th grade teacher, the kids had nowhere to learn!
When Kaycee began college she was working towards an education degree and had taken a lot of classes in that area before switching to Public Relations. She took the job teaching 5th grade and loved it.
I struggled through school. There were quite a few times when I wanted to quit. I wasn’t sure why, but there were times I felt it wasn’t for me. I stuck with it and we knew that it wouldn’t be long until I would be done and we had a decision to make. Would we look for a full time work somewhere or stay in Pensacola and work with the church there and keep her job as the teacher.
I have always wanted to do youth ministry but we seemed to be pretty settled in Pensacola also. We had considered staying there and I would find another job to help pay the bills and we would make Pensacola our home. Then, the phone rang.
A friend of mine called and asked me what I was planning to do after I graduated. I told him our plan to stay in Pensacola for a while and he said that he knew of a congregation in Tennessee looking for a youth minister and wanted me to check it out. I told him thanks but we really were happy in Florida and wanted to make a home there as long as we could. He told me to let him know if I changed my mind and I said ok.
Kaycee and I talked about it for a while. What would it be like to be a full time ministry family? Would we be able to handle it? It was a scary thought, but the more we talked about it, the more we liked the idea of it. I called him back and asked for the info on the Tennessee job.
It was January or February and I wasn’t going to graduate until the end of June. I called one of the elders and talked with him. I explained my situation and he said they wouldn’t mind waiting if it worked out. They had been a while without a youth minister anyways and could wait a little longer. We went to Cleveland for the interview weekend and it went great. We loved the town and the kids there. We prayed a lot and a few days after we interviewed in Cleveland, they offered us the work. We couldn’t believe it! It was the most excited and scared I had been in a long time.
After all of the struggles I had I managed to graduate valedictorian of my class (I was the only graduate…). We moved to Cleveland two days after I graduated. Looking back, I wish we would have taken more time in-between and had taken a vacation. It was too late then. We were hard at work in Cleveland just a few days after graduation.
To be continued...