New beginnings

Today is Michael's first day at his new job. He is working for InTouch Ministries, a wonderful ministry whose mission statement is a masterpiece of simplicity and believability: 'Our mission is to lead people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and to strengthen the local church.'

Because InTouch Ministries is connected to our church, I had always assumed it was just responsible for the editing and production of the Sunday sermon broadcasts, but it actually does so much more. As a company, it's a wonderful place to work in that it seems the perfect combination of ministry - meaning it's a good cause that one can whole-heartedly believe in - and professional - meaning that they believe in taking care of their employees. (In a way, it almost reminds me of HSLDA, down to the exploitation of local youngsters for volunteer work, thus employing good stewardship of resources and giving said youngsters a real thrill by serving them a free lunch.) =)

This new job process has happened incredibly quickly, but we are very excited at the new direction in which God is leading us - it has very clearly been entirely His doing, since we weren't out there career prospecting at all. It began with the Fiddler performances, when Michael was chatting with various fellow cast members about their jobs, and soon enough Michael was encouraged to submit his resume for a new position so freshly opened up that it wasn't even on the website. The interview process followed, and we had such fun one night running out to shop for a suit for his job interview; and the crowning touch (well, not quite the, but it was a great moment) came after he accepted the position and discovered that all employees receive a free lunch as served daily by the cafeteria (it sounds so weird to say that, but they actually call it a cafeteria; I have to keep catching myself from choking on it and wanting to say Dining Hall instead). So no more packing his lunches, which I've done fondly for the past two years. The end of an era indeed!

Tomorrow Jane and I are going to join him for lunch and explore the premises. I'm still learning new things about the ministry and the job perks every day, but I am so excited about this new adventure!