A new journey begins...

Wow, we look so young!

Mitch and I were married on a perfect day in June of 2006. Two months after our beautiful country wedding in Virginia, my new husband began his masters program at Wheaton College in clinical psychology. Life was great, we had a new puppy, we both had jobs, insurance, and a cute-newlywedish apartment. We had even found a church to plug into...Six months later, though, Mitch drops the bombshell...

He tells me one night as we're going to sleep, "Kris, I think God is calling me into ministry. I think he wants me to be a pastor." WHAT? HUH? WHERE DID THIS COME FROM? YOU'RE GOING TO BE A COUNSELOR! is what was initially running though my mind. But instead of screaming, "ARE YOU CRAZY!" to my new husband, I calmly said, "That's nice. You tell God your wife isn't interested." That was literally the end of the conversation.

After all, I had been raised on the misison field, I knew the pressures and expectations put on a Missionary Kid, and I knew Pastors Kids would only have a harder time. The pressures of an MK are hard but for the most part, those that would cause "pressure" (ie. the church congregation) were thousands of miles away. A Pastors Kid can deal with scrutiny non-stop as they're at church each week, all week long. Granted, Mitch and I didn't have any kids at this point, we were still in our first year of marriage remember, but thinking down the line, I never wanted my children to experience what I had envisioned in my mind. There are also pressures of being a Pastors Wife. Did I want that kind of pressure myself? Was I even a "good enough" Christian? My mind wandered that night and eventually, I went to sleep.

I thought little of that night and the conversation again.

Fast forward 4 years. Mitch is now a licensed counselor in Illinois, our puppy Mickelson is now an amazing, obedient dog, and Mitch and I are now the proud parents of two! We're still active in the same church and are also actively involved in the youth ministry at that church. Life is good, financially hard, with me staying home to take care of Elianna and Jameson, but life is nonetheless good!

Elianna Josephine, 8 lb 8 oz, March 2009

Jameson Andrew, 9 lb 1 oz, August 2010

January 2011. Mitch comes home from work one day and very cautiously tells me, "Kris, uh... I think God is still calling me into full-time ministry. I think God wants me to pursue being a youth pastor. What do you think?" My mind began to race, but different then it had four years ago. This time, I began thinking of our life as it was. Mitch and I were super involved as volunteers in our church youth ministry, we LOVED our students, the relationships we had built and the ability to speak God's truth and love into their lives on a weekly basis. My reaction, surprised me. I looked Mitch in the eye and said, "Okay... I think I'm okay with that. Let's both pray about it."

So we began praying, and within two months the Lord had made it clear to Mitch and I through conversations with our mentors, our pastors and our parents, that yes, we would be in God's will to pursue full-time ministry. Where and how we weren't sure. We have a family of four, after all, what church can financially afford a brand new youth pastor who already has a family established? That was for God to work out. In the meantime, we kept praying and seeking wisdom from those around us.

Through different circumstances, Mitch and I were asked to be the co-Interim Youth Directors at our church in Wheaton. We were elated to take on this new role and practice what we were hoping to someday do full-time. Mitch would teach and I would do a lot of the behind the scenes administrative work and spend a lot of time mentoring some of the high school girls and college-aged staffers. We began doing this between May and June of 2011.

Most of the CAUSE crew 2011-2012

At the same time Mitch began applying for full-time Youth Pastor positions all across the country, from Georgia to Texas to Montana. We were really open to anywhere. After nearly six months of filling out applications to churches, Mitch had received a total of ZERO responses. Well, I take that back, he got a few letters saying the church was going in a different direction, but overall, nothing was happening. He and I both began to question God's call, not His goodness or His plan, but had we misunderstood His call. Should Mitch begin applying to more psychology positions instead of youth pastor positions?

Around October or November, our church had narrowed down their search for a new youth pastor, to take over the ministry Mitch and I were interims of. The week his name was announced to our church staff, Mitch received twelve, not one or two, TWELVE responses from churches asking him to be a candidate in their search process. We were totally overwhelmed with God's mercy and perfect timing. I still get chills thinking of this week, and how through it, Mitch and I were both given the confidence to continue on with the pursuit of full-time ministry. It was this week that Mitch stopped looking for psychology jobs altogether.

The second of these twelve churches that contacted Mitch was a church in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania called CrossWalk Church. It was a fairly new church, just 3 1/2 years old. Mitch began corresponding with the church, wrote answers to 10-20 questions and then had a first Skype interview the week before Christmas. Another interview soon followed, and soon we were realizing wow, we REALLY like the church and they seemed pretty interested in Mitch.

We continued to pray for the Lord's direction as other churches were also pursuing Mitch at this point. On a mild-weathered weekend in late January 2012, Mitch and I were invited to fly to Pennsylvania where Mitch, candidated for the position of Youth Pastor at CrossWalk Church.

We went into the weekend with lots and lots of prayer and also with a mindset of take it all in, enjoy a weekend without kids, be open to the Lord's will and leading, and just learn what CrossWalk is and is all about. We were immediately welcomed into an amazing community, family, really, of believers. They were so generous and kind, happy to ask lots of questions about us and answer any questions we had. Mitch and I were beyond delighted by the beauty of God's creation in that part of the country and truly blessed by the people of CrossWalk.

After hours of interviews, tubing with students and again, lots of prayer, Mitch and I flew home, exhausted and elated. God had been very clear to us, if CrossWalk called to offer the job, we would take it. This felt like home. HOME! We have lived in Chicago for 5 1/2 years and though we have loved our time here and the people in our Chicago-life, Mitch and I would often say, it never felt quite like home. Today Mitch and I received joyous news that Mitch was being welcomed as the first full-time youth pastor of CrossWalk Church!

So what does that mean for now? Well, we haven't worked out all the details yet. Our timetable lends to a moving date of late March. Our hearts are bittersweet as we are saying good-bye to friends, many of who are now like family. I think the hardest part of the good-bye is letting go of our students in the WAVE/CAUSE who we have truly come to love with a love only God the Father can give. These students have formed Mitch and I so much, into the people we are today. Without these students, these specific teenagers, I don't know if I would have been ready and willing to answer the call to ministry. They helped me fall in love with sharing my life, my story, and my Jesus with teens. We hate to say good-bye here, but we are beyond excited to meet the students of CrossWalk and to begin loving of on them and sharing Christ's perfect love with them.

As this long post comes to an end, I want to say thank you to so many of you who have prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more for Mitch and I throughout this process. Jonathan Der, Mike & Maggie Rowe, Lois Bishop, Lori Lane, and our beloved parents have been our biggest cheerleaders and our greatest prayer warriors. We are blessed to have them in our lives!

The Young family, April 2011

Please join Mitch and I in prayer:

• For our youth group students and life that we are leaving behind in Illinois. Praise God for Mark Zuckerburg and his creativity with Facebook and likewise, thank God for Skype!
• Pray for CrossWalk and their youth group, Fusion, during this time of transition as well.
• For the sale of our townhome in West Chicago, that the Lord would be honored in the process. If you know anyone looking, I would be thrilled to send you our listing!
• For the location of a new home that would meet our family and the youth groups needs in Waynesboro.
• For the conclusion of Mitch's jobs in Wheaton.
• For packing and moving across country with two toddlers.

We are beyond blessed and are truly speechless at the goodness of God. Those six months of no church responses were hard, but the Lord never let go of us, He walked beside us each step of the way. His plan, His timing, and His will were all perfect.

Rejoice with us in His faithfulness!

Kristen (, Mitch, Elianna, Jameson, & Mickelson)