My Way or the High(er) Way Chapter III

Remember back in chapter 1 when I said I had my life planned by the time I was 13 or 14? And remember that those plans included marrying a pastor? I don't know if that was the romanticized whimsy of a young girl, or God planting seeds even in a young girl's heart. And remember that I married a man who got a seminary education to become a pastor, but became involved in higher education instead? Well, sit down, grab a warm cup of tea (or hot chocolate, or coffee or oohhh, yes, a peppermint steamer—be right back) and read a tale of how God directed/is directing this family's plans and paths to accomplish His plans and purposes.

For years now Reid and I have kind of chuckled about his seminary education, realizing the value of it and how he has used it even in his current position, but not how we would have thought it would be used originally. "Oh well", we would say, "We sure learned a lot and had very valuable lessons while we were in that stage of life, and what we learned there definitely has applications, both in Reid's work and every day life." We never dreamed that God would bring us back full circle and that we would find ourselves in the position we are in now. But God knew. He went before us and prepared the way, from the dreams of a young girl's heart, to Reid's excellent seminary education at Dallas Theological Seminary, and all the experiences we've had that have prepared him/us to take on the new role of Senior Pastor at Grace Baptist Church, Newberg.

16 months ago, our church was left without a Senior Pastor. It took a few months to form a search committee and Reid was asked to chair the committee. As they began to put together a job description, Reid would come home and passionately describe the kind of leadership they were seeking. I would say, "That sounds a lot like you. Maybe you need to apply." He would shake his head vigorously and say "No way. I love higher education and a pastoral position is definitely not the direction I'm heading." This happened enough times that he eventually became frustrated with me for suggesting it, so I stopped saying things, even though in my head I kept saying it! :) As the months went by, other people on the church staff and in the church family mentioned to him that they thought he would be great for the position and asked if he would ever consider applying, but he'd give them the same answer - "No way!" "Besides", he'd say, "How can the chairman of the search committee just decide to apply. There's no way that could ever work!"

In the first few days of this past August, about 5-6 people—church staff, elders, and myself all again mentioned to Reid that we thought he should apply. None of us knew that anyone else was approaching the subject again with him. Well, that did it. All those people encouraging him again to apply in such a short span of time convinced Reid that just maybe God was trying to whack him upside the head with a 2x4 ... I mean, maybe God was trying to tell him something. So he decided to resign from the search committee and submit an application, even though "It will never work. There are too many hurdles to jump for it to happen. But I'll move forward with it because I feel that God is asking me to, and we'll just see what He does."

You need to know also that for the past year, while all this was happening, Reid was feeling the desire to move from his position at Fox. He felt restless, wanting to stretch his wings more, take on more or different responsibilities. He even applied for a job at another educational institution, but never heard anything back from them. He considered consulting full time, which brings him much satisfaction, and is invigorating, but it just wasn't stable enough and left too many questions as to how it would securely cover the needs of our family. Moving was pretty much out of the question, as we love it here, love being near Dad and other family, and love the schools and community. I believe that God allowed this restlessness, and the brick walls Reid encountered in trying other options, to prepare him to follow God's promptings.

The hurdles Reid was concerned about included whether or not the search committee would approve of him resigning in order to apply; how Ryan, the current preaching pastor would feel about Reid applying; the need for both the search committee and the elder board to be unanimously in favor of considering Reid for the position.

The search committee and some of the board were a bit bewildered at first. Reid? How does he qualify? Hmm ... But once they were made aware of his background and heard his heart about feeling prompted by God to go down this road they became excited and were unanimous in their decision to move forward with an interview. After the interview and reference checks, several meetings where the church family had opportunity to ask Reid questions, a Sunday of preaching, and some other individual meetings, the church voted, and ... WOW! ... here we are! All those big hurdles that seemed so imposing, God easily cast aside in a manner such that the glory could only be given to Him, and we just stood in awe as we watched Him work.

The way this is written, it seems to have all fallen into place nicely and smoothly. It's only been the last three months that everything has come together, and it was a very long three months! There were times when we waited what seemed like forever just to know if Reid had made it to the next step. It was at times discouraging not knowing what was happening in the search committee meetings, and trying to feel out what people were thinking. (It's almost harder when you are closer to the situation than if you are applying for something in another town, or where you don't know the people involved in the decision making process.) Yet almost every time we got down or felt doubtful, God would send confirmation our way. One time when I was feeling particularly discouraged, I told God "It would sure be nice to find a card in the mail today. But that's kind of silly to hope for." Guess what? There was a card in the mail from a church friend, Amber, saying how excited she and her husband were about the possibility of Reid becoming the pastor. She let us know they were praying for our family and was just very encouraging. I had to laugh as I thanked God for showing me how He cares for us, even in small things, even when our faith falters and we doubt His leading. I remember right after the interview with the search committee Reid was unsure how it went and hadn't heard a word from anyone. The following Sunday, the new chairman of the committee came up to us, clapped Reid on the shoulder and said "That was a great interview last week, don't you think?! We are all really excited about this!" Finally, one of the greatest confirmations for Reid came right when he was going to apply. He was driving our 6th grade daughter, Katie, to Youth Group on the night he planned to turn in his resignation from the search committee and turn in his application for senior pastor. We hadn't told the kids anything at all about what was going on, in case things didn't work out. Out of the blue, she said to Reid "Daddy, I think YOU should be our senior pastor. I think you'd be good at it." What?! Out of the mouths of babes, eh?

So how does this chapter relate to the others? What does it have to do with God's plans versus our plans and how does it demonstrate 'God with us'? Well, a few things come to mind. I won't ever forget this quote from a Beth Moore Bible Study our church lady's Bible study did last year. She said something like this. "Sometimes God uses a crisis or something huge to pick us up and pivot our heels to turn/move us in a new direction." God pretty much picked Reid up and turned him in a whole new direction. We weren't necessarily at a point of crisis, but you can see how God brought him to a place where he was ready for this new direction. God had different plans than we could see, different plans than we would have imagined. But I know enough now through past experiences, both positive and hard ones, to trust Him, to follow His lead, and to know that He is with us and cares deeply for us. And we are excited to be on this new path!

Also, a verse from that study has stuck with me and fits too. Esther 4:14b says "And who knows that you have come to royal position (or in this case - come to this place in your life) for such a time as this?" God seems to have given both Reid and I dreams and experiences that have prepared us for this new adventure we are about to embark on. He has weaved it all together to carry out His purposes, in His timing.

To tie all three chapters together, I would say this. Our plans for our lives don't always match up with God's plans for us. He is gracious in bringing us to a place where we are ready to follow His plans, and much learning goes on in the process. Sometimes our plans do match up with God's plans. Sometimes it takes a very long time for us to figure out what He wants us to be doing. Sometimes His plans are painful. Sometimes His plans are exciting and an adventure. Sometimes it's easy to see and follow His plans. Sometimes we have to go kicking and screaming (like me in Dallas :) ) until we learn to accept His plans. We are not puppets just carrying out the desires of a master. We are partners with Him, mixing our efforts and desires with His. The more we grow to be like Him, the more our plans will look like His plans right from the start. And always, He is with us, and if we are looking, we will see how He cares for us, how He loves us so deeply, how He makes Himself known to us. I encourage you to start looking! :)