Life is not linear; and most often, it is the unexpected events along the circuitous route God has us on which give life its sense of adventure and intrigue. Not only that, but by keeping us on the less direct path to wherever it is in life we think we are headed, God reminds us of His sovereignty over our lives and begs our trust in Him. Joseph, while living life as the privileged son, never expected to live his entire adult life in Egypt; King David, while he tended his sheep, never expected to one day rule Israel; and Paul, while persecuting Jewish Christians, never expected that God would use him to bring the Good News of Christ to the Roman world. It is in the surprises in life, the things we least expect, that God makes Himself most known.
Living in Montana is something I had hopes for, but never anticipated. Living in Cooke City, Montana is something I never considered. Being appointed as a pastor of any church is a ridiculous notion I laugh at even now. Yet, the Lord has combined all three unexpecteds into a great privilege and blessing in my life these last one and a half months. Truly, being called to ministry here in Cooke City, Montana is an appointment I never expected and one in which God is already revealing Himself in unexpected ways.
My name is Haley Goranson and I am the newly appointed interim pastor at Mount Republic Chapel of Peace. Originally from Minnesota, I did my undergraduate work at Crown College in St. Bonifacious, MN and graduate work at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Massachusetts, where I graduated from in May 2009. I have ministered for two summers in Yellowstone National Park, many summers at Camp Victory, a Christian youth camp in Minnesota, and lived overseas both in Lithuania and Kyrgyzstan. Cooke City is not terribly different than those non-western, non-first-world countries, other than the locals and I speak the same language... sometimes.
The day I placed my faith and trust in Jesus Christ I pledged my life to be at His disposal, promising to go and do whatever and wherever He might call me. I was twelve years old. I did not know then that life is filled with uncertainties, and now it is the uncertainties in life that plague me. But while my recognition of those uncertainties has increased, so also has God increased my faith in Him who is sovereign over them. He has taught me to expect the unexpected and to discover who He is in the midst of those surprises in life we least expect.
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