Making Decisions 1

As I mentioned last week I will be moving to a new job in a new city at the start of December. For reasons of not having this connected to them in any way, shape, or form, I am not saying where I will be working. Suffice it to say it is still in Minnesota and means a move from the Twin Cities. And it is not back into the ministry of the church.

The past three weeks have therefore been interesting as the process moved forward. I thought I would reflect on the decision-making that went into it. I feel it has a general applicability to making these kind of decisions whether they are this "big" or not.

Today I will look at the first part of the process and that is
making the decision to apply and then go for the interview.
Some people say that it is good to go for an interview once a year. It keeps you on your toes. I haven't followed that advice since leaving the parish ministry, but it has been close. One thing I was always doing was seeing what else was out there. What were the job options in my field? What was the field doing? Is there movement or stagnation or is there something going on that may be seen in the numbers.

One particular place for a while seemed to have a lot of turnover. Then I noticed that it slowed down. Another place seemed to take its time filling openings. Did this mean that I was unhappy where I was? No, not as such. I discovered as I followed the goings on in the field that there is a large variety of types of positions and what is expected of you. Some looked more challenging and therefore more exciting. Others seemed like the same old- same old.

In the end the decision to apply in the first place was simply to see what that place might be like. It offered the possibility that after over 2 years of my wife commuting 130 miles one way to her church, staying there for three nights, and then 130 miles back, we would be able to get live 7 days a week in the same place. That was significant. But so was the intuitive sense that there might be something interesting in this new position.

I was called back within three days of posting my application online. Then they were willing to wait 10 days for the interview when their schedule and mine managed to mesh. That meant they weren't in a panic, but were certainly willing to exercise all their options. That meant that this was something worth considering.

I still wasn't sure that it was what I wanted, but why not at least interview. Sometimes it is too easy to be complacent and decide to just rest where you are. But an interview is simple and, with nothing to lose why not?

Thus the first part of the decision-making for me was simply to be curious and open and willing to think outside of the box I was comfortable in. It can be precipitated by many events- or none- but you have to be curious. Then you have to just be willing to see what happens.