Exploring a Call
In 2015 God called our family to move to Louisiana to start a new church, and we knew about one other person here. At the time, we were in Iowa. My husband, Brian, was finishing his M.Div. and I was teaching as an adjunct part-time, volunteering as an InterVaristy leader/campus pastor, and enjoying life as a mom in the Midwest. Life was good. We were preparing to get hired on at a successful suburban/urban church that was thriving. My husband had taken the necessary steps to make himself hirable and marketable. I, too had my M.Div. and had done my due diligence in this area.
We were a power-house ministry couple-or so we thought. And while my husband did have churches around the country seek him out (even some near the Big Mouse’s House), God did not want us to pursue those opportunities. Instead, we had a friend that attended our University from Louisiana that grew up as a PK (pastor’s kid). He told my husband that he and his father had a lot in common. He connected the two of them. My husband had a few phone conversations with Pastor Paul and our lives changed forever. Something sparked in Brian. One day in an E-mail, whether in jest or in seriousness, Pastor Paul invited us to come to Louisiana to train as church planters.
So, a few months later we spent our last Thanksgiving break exploring Louisiana, praying, and preparing for a new call on our lives. We felt this was the plan the Lord had for our family. And we started making preparations. This included fundraising for our position. We weren’t even sure where we would live until shortly before graduation and the big move! We couldn’t travel from Iowa to Louisiana to check out every rental on the market-we didn’t have the time or the resources for that. But, thank God for technology and Pastor Paul’s willingness to tour rentals for us. We would FaceTime as he would walk through houses. Still raising money for our church planting position/ministry and not yet fully funded we moved our family, my husband, myself, and our two oldest children to Louisiana.
Thankfully our sponsoring church had generously sponsored our housing. At least we would not be homeless! But other than that, nothing was guaranteed. We had to rely on God and the consistent generosity of others to get through these years. And then, shortly before making the big move to Louisiana we found out–to our surprise–that baby number three was on the way. Boy did God have big changes in store for us!
