When Cody and I got married and moved to Minnesota, we knew that finding a church would be a top priority.  We tried many different churches, but only found one we liked.

Our “perfect” church

I have so many mixed feeling on this.  On one hand, there is no perfect church.  We had our priorities though – they needed to be close enough for us to drive every week, be a place that we could bring friends without them feeling scared off, and we needed to feel encouraged and pushed.

Personally, I had one other key factor in determining our church home. The church had to be small.  I grew up in a small church and loved that I knew everyone.  In college, I was the choir director at an even smaller church that welcomed me with open arms and showed me such love and hospitality.  I wanted to feel connected, and I was certain that feeling wouldn’t happen at a larger church.

Church shopping is hard!

We were feeling defeated.  We hadn’t found a church that felt right, and it had been a few months.  Some coworkers of mine suggested a church that was meeting at the local high school.  At first that sounded great.  If they meet at a high school they must be small, right? Turns out, it was one of five campuses for a much larger church. In fact, it’s one of the largest churches in the country. 

I laughed. Like, I’m pretty sure I legitimately laughed out loud. There was NO WAY I would go to a church like that. I refused to be at a church where I would be a number instead of a name, but we didn’t have any other ideas to try, so I agreed to go for a week. I had so many different emotions and experiences:

1. It was overwhelming and confusing being in a school.
2. We were greeted by dozens of people from the parking lot all the way to our seats.
3. The music was amazing!
4. I was so distracted by the message being streamed, instead of live, that I couldn’t focus.
5. They announced that their permanent location was opening the next weekend!

It didn’t feel like a fair shot to give up after one week right before they opened their own building, so I agreed to go again the next week.  Long story short, that was four years ago.

Big yet small

When we went back for the second time, it was so much easier to focus on the message.  I realized that the high school just wasn’t equipped for streaming the same way the campus building was. Being at the campus, I forgot within minutes that the teaching pastor wasn’t actually there standing on the stage!

The facility was spotless and huge, and yet felt cozy and friendly at the same time. I couldn’t explain it. Even though we didn’t know ANYONE, we were welcomed with open arms.

After about a month, when we were still there “giving it a try” I realized that I liked it and Cody really liked it. That’s when I told him unless we could actually get to know people I was OUT. No more being a number – even if being a number at Eagle Brook Church really felt more personal than that.

Getting connected

We decided to volunteer. Cody chose tech and I chose to snuggle toddlers.  Honestly – we didn’t love it right away! The first month or two was super uncomfortable. Suddenly we had responsibilities at a place we barely knew with people we barely knew.  It wasn’t “fun”, but we also knew it’s what God was leading us to do. Not just to help others, but to get ourselves plugged in and connected to this new church we wanted to call home.

That all changed after just a few months. By volunteering consistently, we were working with the same people month after month.  I started to look forward to seeing the volunteer team leaders and the kids’ pastors who I was getting to know.

Since then we’ve been in a handful of small groups, switched volunteering roles (Cody is a tech lead and I teach preschool), and have transitioned into leaders in the annual Financial Peace University class! Through these things, we know basically all of the staff at our campus (and beyond), and we have friends. We know others and we feel known.

If you haven’t tried a big church, don’t write it off too quickly.  Give it time and get involved. When you allow yourself to get connected in community, you will find that even a big church can have a family feel!

ps. If you are in the Twin Cities area and want to try our church with us, we would LOVE to go with you and show you around!

Wartburg’s campus is beautiful year-round. But don’t worry: we love our skywalks in the winter!

For those of you who may not have heard, Alyssa and I met during our college years at Wartburg College. But for us, Wartburg is not just our alma mater – it was our home for four years! But what makes Wartburg the Finest in the East or West? Let’s count it down…

#5 – Location

Added bonus- the Nestle plant makes the whole town smell like cocoa in the winter!

Wartburg is smack dab in the middle of the small, yet large enough, town of Waverly Iowa. With around 10,000 people, it felt small at first for a Twin Cities suburbanite like me (Cody), but it quickly grew on me. Located on the Cedar River, Waverly has some amazing parks, bike trails, and more. But, they still have enough shopping, restaurants, and things to do to keep two college kids like us occupied! For me, it was 3 hours from the Twin Cities (although my parents moved an extra 2.5 hours away when I left for college, more on that later). For Alyssa, it was about 1:20 to her hometown. And more importantly: only 20 minutes to a Target!

#4 – Academics

This may seem like a lame thing to include in a list like this, but hear me out. Wartburg isn’t like a lot of other schools of its size for a number of academic reasons. For me, I was drawn to a combination of courses that would let me explore and choose a major over my first year or two. I didn’t know which of my many-varied interests would become a career path. With a liberal arts college, the path to your individual major will look different for every student, and the electives you choose can be much more unique than at a typical state school. Wartburg’s course layout in 4-4-1 format (four classes each semester, then one May term class) gave me flexibility to try things out.

The quality of their academics in also impressive! For instance, Wartburg consistently has placement rates into med schools and graduate programs of between 90% and 100%!

#3 – Service

Our Wartburg service trip to downtown Atlanta.

For us, this has been a big part of shaping who we are and how we serve today. There are not just opportunities to get involved and serve others, which many schools have. Wartburg fosters a community that is focused on serving others first in a way I haven’t seen anywhere else. It’s ingrained into how the college was built, the courses, the faculty, the mission statement, and so much more. Wartburg focuses on building servant leaders, and I am so grateful for the passion and dedication to that mission that I saw. From service trips to Dance Marathon, training service dogs for veterans or singing Christmas carols at the nursing home. So many memories that are not only happy, but actually fuel who I am becoming as a person.

#2 – Travel

Spoiler alert – the Osegards LOVE to travel. Both Alyssa and I had so many different and unique chances to travel in college, and to not be touristy. That’s the best part about travelling in my opinion. We both toured regionally each year for choirs, and internationally (two times a piece!). Plus, more than half that time we were staying with local families in their home, as opposed to just bouncing from hotel to hotel. I spent a month abroad in Costa Rica, worked at an immigrant service center in Denver, CO for a month, and spent a week serving in Atlanta. All told, Alyssa and I spent time (separately or together) in: Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Turkey, Estonia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Costa Rica, plus Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee. Pretty darn good for four years, if I do say so myself!

#1 – People

By far, this was the best part about college for Alyssa and I. Cliché, I know. But stick with me here! I for one am terrible at keeping in touch with people. I fail to reach out to people, and time and distance make the relationship a little bit weaker. But every time we are with friends, acquaintances, professors, faculty or staff, there is just a sense of closeness. Even if I haven’t talked to them for 6 years, we can pick up right where we left off. Plus, I did get a pretty darn amazing wife out of my time there… If that doesn’t say something about the quality of the people and relationships fostered there, I don’t know what does!!

If you haven’t caught up yet – check out part 1, part 2, and part 3!

The Story Continues

Amber did offer me the position as her Executive Assistant!  It was a little tricky to work out – I would be in school for the mornings/early afternoon and then come spend four or so hours working with her.  It made for very busy weeks, but it was worth it.

I fell even more in love with the new job – the team, the culture, the positive attitudes of everyone there.  I also loved what I got to do on a daily basis – day to day organization, helping with emails, social media management. It let me use skills that I didn’t use as much in my teaching job, and I loved having a different outlet.

The biggest bonus in my mind was that it didn’t drain me in the way teaching did!  I LOVE teaching, but as an introvert, it can be exhausting. I loved working for four hours and not feeling the least bit tired from working!  It was amazing!

Now to Decide…

That left me with a difficult decision – pursue my new gig full-time, or stick with teaching.   I loved being at the school I was at, and could picture myself there until I retired, but I also saw potential in this new opportunity. I talked it over with some of the most trusted people in my life and prayed constantly over what the best decision would be.

In the end, I announced to my coworkers that I would not be returning to teach in the 2018-2019 school year. It was so tough to leave the community! These were the people who had been my closest friends as a transitioned from Iowa to Minnesota, from college to the real world, and from single life to married life.  However, I knew God was leading me to take a risk and try this new path.

Looking Forward

I know that working from home is going to be so great for me.  I know my mental health will be better (and likely my physical health as well – thanks to those germy preschoolers! 🙂 ). This job offers different opportunities than teaching offered me.

I know you may be thinking, “but Alyssa! You told us that teaching is in your blood!”. And it is.  I’m not leaving all aspects of teaching. I will still be subbing on occasion, and I still get to teach at church as well!

I am so excited for this new job and I can’t wait to let you know how life changes from here!

Join the journey here!

We left off in Part 2 talking mostly about LuLaRoe, but to understand what happens next, I need to tell you about my friend, Amber.

Amber is a blogger over at mommysmetime.com.  She’s got four kiddos (that she birthed in under three years. Is she insane or is she wonder woman? I would argue both).  I had taught three of her kids at school, but hadn’t really met her before. One day, Amber came over after picking up her kids from to school to shop my LuLaRoe. I loved watching her rock it as a momma of four tiny humans.  I could tell she was pretty much super-mom at this point. Even so, life with four kids five and under is a little crazy.

She seemed cool and her kids were precious, so I casually offered that if she needed any help during the summer, I’d be happy to bring coffee to the park to be extra hands. We parted ways after that, and I hoped that she would take me up on it, but also figured she probably wouldn’t.

Fast forward a few weeks.  

Cody and I were at a reception for a family wedding and I got a Facebook message from Amber.  I figured that maybe she needed to exchange a shirt or something, so I quick opened it to see what she needed.  You guys, it was like a novel. They were in a bind and their childcare for a trip that was two days away had essentially fallen through. She wondered if maybe we would watch their 4 kids for five days/four nights?  

Here’s where I say this was 100% a God thing.  First off, who asks two basically strangers to move into their house to watch their four kids for a week?  Secondly, who AGREES to move into a basically strangers house for a week to watch their four kids (and their dog)? HA! But Cody and I read the message and both of us just had a gut feeling that we NEEDED to say yes.

We went and watched the kids for a week (details on that another time!) and they quickly became our tiny besties.   

But it didn’t stop there. . .

A few weeks later, Amber asked if I was interested in potentially helping their family out some during the school year, because her business was blowing up!  I was looking for a little side hustle as we were working to get out of debt. Plus, I loved their family, so it was a perfect fit. I became their Family Assistant for a few months. It was the perfect introvert job after a busy day of teaching – doing laundry, dishes, and such in silence!

During this time, I also signed up as a coach on Amber’s health and fitness team – mostly for the discount, but also because I felt a draw to this community that she was building and the health results I was seeing.  I knew I needed to be a part of it somehow, but I also knew that with everything else in our life right then – I just wouldn’t feasibly be able to work that business to level I would want to.

Months later, Amber’s organization went through some transitions and she needed a little help.  I happened to be on winter break on the time, so I said I’d help her through the transition.

Enter God Again.

I fell in the love with this job immediately. It used so many of my teaching skills AND LuLaRoe skills. It gave me adult interaction but was also a super good introvert fit. I knew that she was hoping to fill the position ASAP, so I didn’t say anything to her about it. My teaching job was a priority through May! I told Cody that I was bummed, however, because it seemed like such a perfect fit for me.

Meanwhile, Amber told her husband that she thought I would be a great fit and maybe they could get me to switch from Family Assistant to Executive Assistant for the school year… Do you see how this is falling into place?  Even though it is 100% outside of that PERFECT plan I had for myself growing up? God was doing things in me and around me, and it was about to get even better.

Continue the story with Part 4!