Changes Ahead

For those of you in our "Blogging Sphere" I need to let you in on what has been transpiring in our neck of the woods recently.

Before we took off for our Seattle vacation we were asked to come and candidate at Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH. Their pastor resigned in the beginning of March and was gone by the end of March. They have had information about Taigen since the beginning of April. We were honored to be considered.

Taigen had gone down a couple of times in order to fill the pulpit and one of the most recent times had an interview time with the deacons (pulpit committee). Things progressed from then on. When we came back from Seattle, we hit the ground running.

Our candidating weekend encompassed Thursday evening through Sunday night. Thursday evening was a dinner with the deacons, wives and their children. It was casual and a ton of fun. Friday we had a tour of Dover and the surrounding areas and then on Friday night we had a potluck at the church and a time for Q&A for the congregation. The questions were gracious and thoughtful. On Saturday morning Taigen went to a men's prayer breakfast and gave the devotional. Later on that morning I went to a Ladies brunch and gave a devotional and then answered a few questions for the ladies. After this meeting we met again with the deacons and then enjoyed a restful afternoon. Sunday morning Taigen had Sunday school and then we were both involved in the morning service. I played the piano, Taigen did a solo and then he preached. Sunday night I played the piano again, Taigen directed the congregational singing, we did a duet and then Taigen preached. After the service we had a fellowship where we could get to know people better. It was a busy, wonderful weekend.

Heritage had a business meeting last night to vote on whether or not they would ask Taigen to be their Senior Pastor. I am very happy to say that the vote was in the affirmative and we have accepted it. We are so excited about what God holds for us in the future.

Of course we are going to miss our Maine church family. They have become just that: family. But the nice thing is, Heritage is only 45 minutes away so we can still stay in close proximity. Jason and Joni, Brennen and Lydia are only about an hour further south which will make getting together with them even easier. This doesn't make goodbyes any easier, but at least we know we're within driving range.

Thank you so much, to those of you who have been praying for us. Please pray that we will be able to sell our Saco home quickly and find another home in the Dover area that will be ready for quick occupancy.

On a blogging note: I will be changing the actual web address soon to reflect our departure from Maine (mainejooses.blogspot.com). I'll be sure to notify you of this change. Does anyone have any ideas? Go ahead and email them to me or post them to this article.