Jesse and Kristy: The Blog

Big news in the lives of the Ottesen family. We are moving home! By home I mean we are moving back to central Florida. This was a decision planned out by our great and wonderful Lord. Please let me explain. Approximately 2 years ago during my time of reading and prayer I felt as though God was telling me to prepare to move. I, being a stubborn man, told God that I was not moving and that I was going to stay through seminary graduation and the graduation of the class of 2017. God laughed, I laughed and then he corrected. Just kidding, there was no laughing but there was correction. These particular kids were the 7th graders I started with, one of them was an autistic young man that I have seen an innumerable amount of growth as well as baptizing several and seeing God draw them closer to himself and the struggle for them to be real Christians. These kids became a make shift idol in my life. It’s like a genuine picture of Jesus that we look at and the cry to because a picture moves us and not the savior himself. Although their growth was extremely important I was wrapped up in the work or the title and the students became more important than following the Lord’s will. I chose my desires over the desires he has for me. So the leadership was left to make a very difficult choice. The leadership didn’t know about my struggle prior to their decision but they were left in a predicament that was not going to be easy. What do you do when a minister is stubborn and serves and goes through the motion but the fruit is very small? Yes, there was definitely fruit and there was lives changed but it’s hard to place a price on that fruit and therein lies the question of, “What do we do?” So after much prayer and discussion the leadership of the church decided to dissolve the position of youth minister and have someone else fill in that position which is what the church has done for a 100 plus years prior. So how does one respond to this news? How do I react to being told that my position will no longer exist within this season of the church? How do I tell my family that we are going to have to move because Daddy no longer has a job at the church? Tough questions that I didn’t have answers to give. So I prayed and ask God for clarity. I asked that God would make it so that the only direction we were to go was in the direction he wanted us to be taken and God did just that very thing. After I was informed of the dissolving of my position, I plastered my resume all over the southeast. I gave my resume to the seminary, to my college and every Southern Baptist State convention in the lower southeast United States. This is the area I felt I needed to focus on but I did send a few resumes off to Virginia and Maryland as well. I received 2 responses from churches. The first response was to ask if I was looking for a part-time position and I clarified that I was not. The second response was asking if I was still interested in the position. I informed that pastor that I was and I asked for clarification on what the pay because I have a family of 5 that I need to support and the current pay was not even up to the median household income. So that position fell through as well. At this time I kind of started freaking out from not knowing what to do. I am the leader of my family and God has called me to take care of that family which he has placed me as the leader over and so I was unsure of what to do. Kristy and I began the conversation of maybe God was calling me to take a sabbatical from working on staff at a church for a season. Maybe I needed a time of rest where I can just serve the church in whatever means necessary but not as a paid staff person. So I began applying for jobs that I have prior experience. Through Kristy and my conversations one of the things I remember saying is that as weird as this sounds, I enjoyed working in child protective services. I believe it was the working with families one on one and seeing growth and understanding occur. I believe I made a difference in the lives of some of my cases and if reunification was not an option I know I could sleep at night knowing I did the best thing for those kids. So I applied for several different jobs in that line of work (now don’t forget that I asked God to show me the path he has for me). So a couple of weeks ago I was asked to go to Florida for an interview in my hometown. So I went and stayed with my in-laws for the week (contrary to popular belief my in-laws are great and I had good week). Approximately a week or so after I called about the interview and was unofficially offered the job of protective services in the city I spent most of my life. A chance to work with families that I grew up with in communities that I love and people that have always been near and dear to my heart. So our big news is, The Ottesen Crew is moving back to Central Florida. Several things to know before our move: 1) We are going to truly miss our family in North Carolina. The church really did gather around us and made us family. They invited us into their home, welcomed us to holiday gatherings and have helped us out in times of emergency. They loaned us vehicles, fixed our cars and helped us in countless other ways. They truly were an example of what the church should look like to others. 2) We will be moving to Lithia with Kristy’s family for a season. We are unsure how long this season will be but we know that we will be there for at least 6 months. 3) Our plan is to pick up the moving truck on September 15th and will load and then leave on the September 16th. So please be in prayer for Bethany Baptist in this time of transition and please be in prayer for us as we begin to reduce our stuff and pack up to move. Also please be in prayer for my family because during this time my parents lost everything from the flood in Louisiana. They are safe and with my grandparents but are having to rebuild from very little that was savaged from the flood. At this time please continue us, the church, my kids and the youth program at Bethany Baptist. Florida we will see you soon!

So we have been doing this thing for a week now and it has been crazy. I say crazy because Jesse has really enjoyed it and I have been struggling....I have wanted a turkey sandwich like nothing else or just a piece of chicken or a snowball from Penguins or a piece of bread....all things I can't have...for now... BUT Jesse has LOVED it! He enjoys hummus and tofu fajitas and fruit smoothies for breakfast every morning....he has ate veggies with no complaining and has been absolutely awesome and I am being a brat...i don't like this whole following rules thing...I like to only listen to Jesus and even Him I fight sometimes....but I feel like I am following this ladies rules and it irritates me, that is sad, huh? I know that this is a God thing for our family and it already is changing us and shaping us! I just have to get over myself...(working on that!) I am so thankful to see God work in Jesse through this and give Him ALL the glory and praise for any good that comes out of this!! So on to the update...each week I will update with food we ate and our weight loss for the week....so here we go!