Change

What would our lives be without change? I think we have become so accustomed to change that we would be really bored without it! So, as usual we are about to experience more change. Aaron has accepted a position as Interim Pastor at the church where he has been supply preaching. Yes, our lives are about to get even busier! This is not something we were seeking. It has been very hard for him not to preach very much while he has been in school. He has taught Sunday School the majority of the time but still not the same. It is not easy to find opportunities to preach. There are so many seminary students looking for that same opportunity, not to mention professors who do some preaching as well. As a wife, it has been really hard to see him struggle with this a lot at times. The man is called to preach and so he wants to do just that! It is also neat to watch him long for that so much because it confirms over and over that this is his calling! A few months ago, a former boss and dear friend of his called to ask him to fill his pulpit while he was on vacation. Aaron of course was thrilled. He also mentioned to Aaron (because he knows the strong desire for him to preach) that he knew a man from another church that was without a pastor and that if he wanted him to he would give him Aaron's name as someone to fill in. This is the church that I wrote about where his dad went and preached, etc. Long story, short they formally asked him to be the interim about a week and a half ago and he asked for a week for us to pray about it and on Monday he accepted. It is a long drive and it will be a challenge and we know that but more importantly we know God has called us there for this time and so we go. We love our church and it will be different for us to not be there all the time. We will still be there on Wednesday nights because we do not have to be at Red Springs on Wednesday. Elleigh will be able to continue with LITs and we will not completely lose touch with our church family here. The girls and I will also stay here on some Sundays but we will go with him most. We feel for the most part we need to be together as a family for church and also we are taking this interim as something we will all do and gain knowledge and experience from. They have a parsonage and we will be going over on Saturdays a lot and spending the night so that all of our driving is not on Sundays and to be able to spend more time there. It is in the country and is in a beautiful part of Texas. It really is a wonderful opportunity. This post is getting way longer than I intended but I really have to share this. Last year I did some co-teaching twice a month for Kindergarten Sunday school. In the spring I began to pray about whether I should continue in that role. There were several factors weighing on me about this decision. However, the one thing is that the Lord kept laying on my heart that Aaron was going to get the opportunity to preach and I needed to be freed up to be with him. God is so good! So, when they called to offer this to him he asked me what I thought and I said, "I think I had my answer some time ago." But, I did have to make sure that this was the place. It really was not an easy decision still because we did have to make sure. Elleigh was not happy (she is better). She is at a really hard age for change and she loves our church here and she is anxious about what our future holds. We pray that one day she will be able to look back at her life and say that her parents went where God led regardless of what WE want and that she will be thankful we did. I don't think she will mind me sharing this. Now that Elleigh is older and we feel spiritually mature for her age we are sure to include her in these discussions and prayer for direction. She let us know from the beginning she did not want to do this but after praying for a week her response was, "I know it is the right thing, but that doesn't mean I want it." That sums it all up! How many times do we know the right thing, but we don't want to do what it takes to do the right thing. The Lord often calls us to do things we don't want to do. It is often not the easy thing to do. The important thing is that we do it regardless. I assured her that as Christians we struggle with this every day-from the minor things to the major and that it is all about the decisions we make. After we had all agreed that God was leading us to do this Aaron shared with us that the Lord laid it on his heart to be the interim there the first time he preached there. He had not told us because he said he had to be sure and he did not want that to affect our discernment. I will end with a funny story. Aaron did his first Lord's Supper at this church. He had done it as a deacon but never actually preached, etc. I know he is mine but y'all that was the best Lord's Supper I have ever been a part of. Ever! I get chill bumps and tears just thinking about it. I wish I had it on video to share but it wouldn't be the same because the Spirit was in that place in such a powerful way. The way he did it was just great and his heart was so full and it was just great. Anyway, after they called and asked if he would come as interim this was Elleigh's response-"You just had to go and do the best Lord's supper ever didn't you!" It was hilarious!!! If you know Elleigh you can hear her telling him that. After he accepted he told her that the man he was talking to told him that they already loved us but that the Lord's supper just took it to a whole new level! Elleigh was right! We appreciate your prayers for us and for the church!