Sunday, June 18, 2006

A little Raitz family news

Not only are we traveling to WI, OH, MX, TX and parts of MI this summer, we are also getting ready for a move to Chicago in August. Yup, that's right, we are re-locating to the NorthWest suburbs, at least I think that's were our new employer will be.

Willow Creek Community Church in S. Barrington, IL, per Scott Rubin (Jr. high pastor) has offered us the position of Community Life Pastor for their Jr. high team and we accepted a few days ago. It's been a relatively short process, maybe a couple of months, and I really never thought they would hire me, but as of August 1st, I will be on theie team.

They approached me a little while back and after praying about it as a family we thought we should at least have some intitial conversations with them. Then that moved to a trip down there, and that moved to another a trip and then after the finger print test came back clean, they called and offered.

It's been tough because we never thought we would move away from family. We love Metro Detroit, we love our family and friends and we love the church we started at in March, 242 Community, and I love the youth workers in Metro Detroit. All these were hard to think about and work through, but after praying as a family and seeking the wise counsel of family, mentors and friends, we said yes. I can't explain the unexplainable peace that we have about this decision. I never thought we would consider moving away, but we believe we have clearly heard God's voice in our lives.

So, I know that's the quick version, and I will blog more about it this week. My head spins thinking about everything that has to happen in order for us to move, but I again, we have a great peace about this. Thanks in advance for praying for our family in this time of transition.

6 comments:

Pat said...

Congratulations! Man, when I heard about this possiblity for you and your family I got really excited and I know Willow is going to be blessed to have you on their staff. Wow, man, congrats again.

Kristi Kurtz said...

WOW! How amazing is that? I cant believe you guys are gonna move...I looked forward to running into you at student events. Well, I am so happy for you guys! So happy. I will be praying for your summer schedule and all it takes to move. If you need ANY help....PLEASE give me a call. I would love to help out anyway I can.

tonymyles said...

Hey man - Scott Rubin is a sweet dude. I know him from back in the day at Willow and know that he will keep you on track with solid balance. There is an amazing opportunity there, so make he most of it.

And as a former Schaumburg resident, I hope you find some housing that's affordable. :)

Anonymous said...

JASON!
I found your blog today (yes, I should be working) and I am so blessed by it!
Val and I were just talking about the kids...and lo - behold, here they are!
I am so excited for you and your family and your future @ Willow.
I LOVE the suburbs, my family is just about 8 miles from Willow - I grew up there! And now your kids will follow in my footsteps - I'm all verklempt.
My brother and sister-in-law are in the real estate business out there...I'll hook you up and they'll find you a really sweet place.
We Love you and really miss spending time with you all.

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh.
Seriously, you should buy our old house! We're the only family that ever lived there--my mom grew up there, and I began my life there pretty much, and now my aunt & uncle are stinking SELLING IT!! Jerks. You should buy it! It's really nice. But like, half a million dollars. So like, if you ever want to spend way more than anyone ever should on a house, you should totally buy it!
There was some website or something for it...I guess. 1223 Fernandez, Arlington Heights, IL 60008. What a cool address, eh?
WHOOOO!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, and we're totally going to visit you at Willow some time. You can't avoid it. You rock!