Being in Ministry

On Monday the kids and I went to Ft. Wayne to spend time with friends. We lived in Ft. Wayne for 7 years and have been in the South Bend/Elkhart area for 5 1/2 years now. As I was driving to Ft. Wayne it was bittersweet. John Michael kept saying, "Oh, I remember this... I remember that".

First, I had a meeting with my attorney about the settlement from the accident - 4 1/2 years ago. It has been a long road with this part of it all. This was the FINAL meeting and it's FINISHED!! It still seems strange that this is a done-deal. It's closure... again. This has been an open part of the instant my life changed. It was exciting to sign the final papers, but yet knowing that this is another chapter closing for me was alittle emotional. It feels good though.

After leaving the attorney's office, we drove by the house we lived in and it was nice to see that it's been taken care of. (I don't like to see homes not being taken care of.) The front door was still red like I had painted it. :) The bushes were trimmed and the siding had been replaced with updated siding. It looked nice. I thought about all the work that I had put into it, so it was nice to see that it wasn't "wasted".

From there we went to our friend's house for lunch and hangin' out. It was great to be with friends who I can be real and honest with. We talked all afternoon. The kids had a great time being with their friends. It blessed me to see John Michael and his best friend Micah together again. They've both grown up so much so it was interesting to see how differently they interact now than years ago.

One of the topics of discussion that my friends and I kept going back to was ministry. Each of our husbands are in leadership in the church. It was good to be real with each other on how this impacts our lives as wives of those in leadership. It was a time of venting and a time of being blessed. :)

I'm realizing that I haven't addressed this subject here yet...

Clint was in IT for 15 years and worked his way up the coorporate ladder and was doing very well career-wise and financially. To be completely honest, money was not an issue for us. Two years ago God called us into full-time ministry at VCC. Clint accepted a position as Associate Pastor. This was a hard decision for us financially. It meant taking a pay cut of nearly 70%! We had been blessed with the ability of saving in order to be able to make this transition. God is good! Has it been a challenge? Yes!

God continually confirms that we are to be in ministry at VCC. We initially agreed to a one year term, but in our hearts felt like this was a long term decision for us. In short, there are many blessings that come with ministry, but many disappointments too.

From a pastor's wife perspective... I am truly blessed to have Clint as my husband, a man of amazing integrity, and a firm relationship with Christ. He absolutely loves being in full-time ministry! Me? I feel like this is where we are to be - within God's will. With that said, being in His will isn't always the easy thing to do. It's the right thing to do, but not the easy thing to do. I will say that I would rather be blessed with being in His will rather than not receive the blessings while outside of His will!

Being a pastor's wife means sacrifice, support, blessing, and more sacrifice. It would be easier to not be in leadership and sit back and go along for the ride with other people. That would not be as rewarding though... easier, but not rewarding.

With all that being said, it's been 1 1/2 years since the transition of being in ministry started. I am still adjusting and working through issues of learning how to support through the sacrifice. In talking with my friends, I'm realizing that being in full-time ministry never stops being challenging.

I don't want to make it sound like this is a "bad" place to be, because it's not. It's like other transitions in life, it takes time to adjust. I'm grateful for a husband that desires to serve and love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength! I honestly don't want him to go back into the coorporate world and be stressed like he used to be... it's not worth it. There are too many blessings that come with serving God to want anything else! I have times when I think it would be easier to have Clint go back into the coorporate world, but in reality that's not what I really want. I want him to be where God wants him to be and that means being a pastor... possibly for the rest of his life. That means that I will be a pastor's wife ... possibly for the rest of my life. I'm ok with that.

Hangin' on to Jesus!...