well...hello, there.

hello all -

a lot has changed since i last blogged and i thought i would update those that are interested.

*warning - this is quite a long post, but i wanted to share all that has been happening in our lives. so please bare with me.

in July, Chris was let go from his position as worship/assistant pastor at a church we were at for 8 weeks. long story short - the church told him he didn't do anything wrong, that it was their fault, and that he couldn't have done anything better, but for some reason (that we still don't really know) they didn't feel that it was a good fit. we were stunned, shocked, confused, angry, saddened - and so many other feelings all combined. we knew God was in control, but we felt so lost and confused. we were very hurt, and still are stinging from the pain, but we are trusting that God will bring beauty from this situation and will be glorified.

in August, i got a job at Starbucks. during my first shift, i got a call from the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) and they offered me a job. i quit Starbucks the next day and started at DCS on August 23rd.

this job is a huge blessing to us financially and it will give me great experience. with that said, i am still very anxious about the job. for a long time (after accepting the position) i didn't feel a peace about it. i continually prayed that God would give me a peace about the job. one day, as i was praying, i realized that God had given me a peace about the job. i knew that DCS is where i am supposed to be right now. the feeling that i thought was a lack of peace was really an anxiousness about the work i would be doing. i will see and experience many difficult situations, there is an overwhelming amount of paperwork, and the hours sometimes fluctuate with the needs of the families i will be working with. also, i felt like it was a big commitment that i wasn't sure i was ready to make. i hadn't really pictured myself in a very structured, full time, working for the state kind of job. i planned on being a pastor's wife who worked in the community to help pay the bills and gain experience in my field. well, i am definitely gaining experience - it just looks a lot different than what i had in mind. but this is not my life, my plans - it is God's. things are getting better at work - i am feeling less anxious about the work, but i am having to daily put my will and plans aside and let God be in control. (this is very hard for my controlling/type A personality).

chris got a job last week at Starbucks (the one that i worked at for four hours). :D since he worked at Starbucks before, he got caught up quickly and was making drinks his first day back. everyone there LOVES him. they are always saying how great and fast he is. and the girls he works with love the fact that he cleans up after himself. ha. many of the shift supervisors called the manager on his first and second days to tell the manager that they loved him. they kept asking the manager, "where did you find this guy?" and "can we keep him?" haha. even though Starbucks is not where Chris wants to be forever, he is happy to be doing something he is good at and making some extra money for us.

three weeks after Chris was let go from the church, we met some new friends, John and Danielle Freed. John and Danielle are planting a church in Noblesville (about 25 minutes from our house). John facebooked Chris on a Wednesday, and they met for the first time and had coffee on Thursday morning. Thursday night, C and I were at their house for a BBQ. and that Sunday, we went to their church, Waterline. that Sunday was the church's second time meeting, so we got in at the ground floor. we fell in love with John and Danielle (and their son Dean), and with Waterline. when C lost his job, we prayed that God would give us a church where we felt safe and could heal, with friends that would understand our situation and love on us. it's been 9 weeks today since we started going to Waterline. we have jumped in and started serving - which is something we didn't think we would be able to do so quickly after being hurt so badly by a church. and we are loving it. we have no idea why God brought us to Indy. we don't know why we were let go from a church so soon after C started. we don't know why we are still here. but we are seeking God and trying our best to follow him through it all.

i don't want to sugar coat it, though. it is still really hard. we often still feel lonely and frustrated that we aren't "on staff" at a church, living the life we had planned. we struggle with the fact that we are so far away from family (except for Shay and Haley at IWU). we often feel that although we do have some close friends, we don't have very many friends nearby.

the lease on our house is not up until May. so - here we are, in McCordsville, IN. it's not a bad place - it's just out of the way - like 20 minutes from EVERYTHING (except Walmart). we feel kind of stuck. not sure what God has planned for us in the future, and really not entirely sure what he wants from us now. so as for right now - we are working at the jobs he has provided for us, we are enjoying building relationships with our new (and old) friends. we love serving at Waterline. and we are praying and seeking God's will for us come May 2011.

i don't mean to sound down or give you the impression we are moping around all the time - we are not. i just wanted to give you all an honest update of ours lives. i enjoy writing, and i feel that writing and this blog are a way for me to get my feelings out and share with friends and family what is going on with the Sniders.

as a side note - Ace is getting big. some days he is more mellow, but most days he is still very puppy. we are having trouble getting him to obey - so we are trying to work on that. i let him out in the front yard yesterday without a leash and he took off running. i chased him, but that faster i ran, the faster he would run. i finally caught him about a block away from our house. so yes - obedience is something we are working on. ha.

well, this post is quite long. if you read all the way through, i am impressed and grateful. :D

please pray for us as we continue on this crazy journey. we know God has a plan for us. we are just learning that our plans are not always His plans, and that we simply need to trust him.

love you all -

~The Sniders.