Transition time

Since I have last posted, I have: traveled to Wisconsin to see some family; traveled to Tennessee to visit a congregation that issued him a call; had an awesome visit from a dear friend from Colorado; drove to St. Louis; went to National youth gathering in Texas with about 30,000 other folks; drove to southern Ohio to see family there; husband accepted the call to the Tennessee congregation; and my grandmother turn 90 years old! Tomorrow we we load a moving truck and Thursday we start drive from Nebraska to Tennessee. It has been a good and overwhelming summer!

Two days ago was our last Sunday at the congregation in Nebraska. The congregation gave us a very kind send off. I have been reading the cards they gave us with very kind notes and I feel bad that there are some that I cannot picture who the people are that wrote such lovely notes! This congregation worships about 2,000 people in a weekend, so in my defense, that is a lot of people to learn names for. The members I do know, have been wonderful to us. I am going to miss seeing them every week.  

During the last morning everyone asked the same questions. Here are some of my answers:

~Things are mostly packed. Anyone is welcome to help us load the truck.
~The congregation in Tennessee worships about 120 on a Sunday. I am looking forward to learning everyone's name!
~Kiddo starts school August 2nd.
~Columbia is about 33,000 people.
~I am sad to say good bye to the folks in Nebraska but looking forward to making new friends in Tennessee.
~The closest Target and Starbucks are in the next town, about 15 mins away.
~Kiddo will be going to public school. We are sure she will do well, though she says she will miss having "Jesus time" at school. We will continue "Jesus time" at home.
~We do have a place to live in Tennessee.
~ I will be waiting until I get my family settled before I figure out what to do with my time.

That is the tricky part, figuring out what am I going to be doing. Of course I will unpack, help prepare my daughter to start school next, and do all I can to make our new place feel like home for us. And then I will think of finding a part time job. One that allows me to have the same days off as my daughter does from school and that it is not stressful to take time off for PLI (a program for pastors and their wives that is educational and has very supportive people who encourage us), and maybe even a family vacation.  I am feeling that that is a high maintenance request of just about any job. It is not a overly stressful thing to find a job, other than it is nice to know that I am helping my family so it easier do some of our favorite past times, like traveling or make it more possible to visit family.  Good thing I know that I can trust God and he will provide for my family.

Thank you for any prayers for my family during this move and for the two congregations impacted, may God guide and bless them.

The Call (really as a summary or overview)

There are difficult parts to being a Pastor's wife. Some vary depending on the situations, they can be very personal depending on the situations. But one situation is a common struggle for many. The Call and the call process. It can be so draining and exciting at the same time.

As an overview:

It is called a "call" because it is about God calling some to serve in a place and to minister to people in that place.

Call process (as I know it in the LCMS) most shorten way possible to explain.

  

    1. Congregation has a need (most times pastor but can be for many other roles like DCE, music director, teachers in a school, ect). 

    2. Congregation forms a ‘call committee ‘. 

    3. The call committee gets a list of names from those in the congregation that know of possible pastors (we will go with pastors since I know about them the most) and a list from their district office that the districts have shared with each other. 

   4. Call committee goes through piles of information about the pastors. Often trying to narrow the list down. 

   5. Call committee can contact and interview pastors on their list. They can narrow the list down again through this process.

   6. Call committee presents what they have learned about the pastors and give the names and information over to the congregation. (The committee sometimes suggests who they think will fit the congregation best. 

   7. Congregation votes, and then extends a call.

   8. Pastor learns he is extended the call then wrestles with the decision through prayer.  

   9. Pastor can either accept or decline the call. If declined the congregation can go back to the list they already have or start the whole process over.

It's hard because both places, where we are and where is calling my husband, have a need. Both have great people (I strongly believe there nice people everywhere, sometimes we just have to look harder to find them).  Both have different draws to live in the communities.

In the end it is not my call, so it is not my decision. Don't worry, my husband clearly knows my thoughts. And as our daughter gets older she does get to share her thoughts on it as well. My husband is intentional to ask her what she thinks about it. In the end thought the decision is between him and God.  My husband knows whatever his decision he has my support (yes, even if it is different than what my opinion/thought was). 

I hope that helped explained a difficult process . Having some understanding of the process might help with having some understanding of my life.