The Office

Last night I asked my Facebook friends to pray for a family decision we had to make in a very short amount of time.  I thank you for praying!

The decision regarded where my husband's new office would be located.

You may recall that after 17+ years in ministry my husband lost his last pastoral role just weeks before I went to China for our daughter.  Since our Nebraska house was sold and awaiting closing, we decided it best to let the sale continue so that we didn't have a mortgage over our heads while facing unemployment.  So, we hightailed it to Texas and moved into my mother-in-law's condo.

After a summer of searching for ministry work and coming up empty handed, we decided it best to leave ministry and start a new career in the marketplace in the financial sector.  My husband trained for months and then his firm suggested we set up shop in San Antonio, sharing an office with a seasoned investor while my husband set up his business and proved himself profitable.

Jay has done a great job and has worked hard to make his business a success.  He has won a prestigious award from the corporate office and he has outperformed many of his fellow classmates to date.  And he has now left "level new" and is officially "level one," and soon to be "level two," and is ready for an office of his own.

We recently decided to take a day trip to the Gulf of Mexico to see the Texas coastline.  But this trip was not purely for family fun.  There is a branch office down there that my husband could take over immediately.  We owed it to ourselves to check it out in order to make a fully informed decision.  We drove around the area for quite a while, looking at the town, the office and the neighborhoods before enjoying a couple hours of family time on the beach.  An office by The Gulf was certainly a possibility.

The beautiful Texas coastline.  So beautiful and inviting -- except for the jellyfish!

This week, while we hadn't made an official decision about the office location at the Gulf, another office here in San Antonio became available for immediate occupancy.  This office possibility isn't on our end of town and would be a 24 mile commute one way (and in SA rush hour traffic, it won't be pretty).  The office is also known to be in a high rent area, which could make building a successful business a bit tricky and difficult.

But having an office of his own would mean Jay would get the administrative support he needs to be truly successful, something he gets very little of currently and isn't in his own gift mix.

At the same time, my husband knows that this move has been the hardest move for me.  He knows I feel trapped in the LARGE state of Texas and I'd like to be back in the Midwest closer to family.  So, Jay also did some calling to see if there would be any offices available in the Minneapolis area where I have family and lots of college friends and one of my very best friends who I miss terribly.  Right now, there are no offices available for Jay in the Twin Cities, but it doesn't mean one might not open up eventually.

So, The Gulf, San Antonio or Minneapolis/St. Paul?  That was our question.  We had only 1 business day to make our decision about the San Antonio office.  That's why I sought after your diligent prayers.

Today we have decided to let go of the idea of the office by The Gulf and take the San Antonio office.  While it may be a risk, Jay and his associates think this will be a great boost for Jay's career.  At the same time, it does establish us in Texas all the more.  That's not to say we can never move away, but it would be difficult to leave an office behind and then start "from scratch" in a new locale should Minneapolis come calling.

Since the office is located at a different edge of town from where we live currently, we can think about relocating to that area in the next year or two.  Schools are very good in that area and we can consider sending the kids back to public school.  We also have some friends who live over in that area and my boys would have a good friend nearby.

Downtown San Antonio at night.

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not sad to say goodbye to the dream of moving back home.  I am sad.  That's all I have to say about that.

So, I thank you for your prayers.  I'd appreciate it if you'd continue to pray God's hand of blessing on Jay's career.  Please pray for more clients and more successes so that we can afford more van repairs and some home improvements so that we're ready for market whenever God leads us to move onward.

Thanks, friends!  I really appreciate my prayer warriors!  How can I pray for you?  Comments section is open and I won't "publish" your comments if your prayers are of a sensitive nature.  But I'm happy to pray for you!