When we got married, I looked for a job for at least a month before I even got a phone call. Finally, a woman called asking me to work in the nursery at a church on Sunday mornings, Monday evenings, and Wednesday evenings. The pay was pretty good for the job and it was the only job I had been offered up to that point. The only problem was that the church wasn't OUR church. This meant that I wouldn't get to have fellowship with the church that my husband has learned a lot from for a few years with people that have helped him mature in his faith. It also meant that I wouldn't get to attend any church or Sunday school very often. Another thing was that I wouldn't have as many opportunities to be involved in church ministries. If you know me at all, you know that this isn't the best scenario for me, but at the time, it was the only one we had to choose from, so I took the job.
I've really enjoyed working with the kids in the nursery. I've also really enjoyed my other job working with elderly people in their homes. However, we need more money to get out of debt, health insurance, and I need to be involved in church/ministry. So, when we got a call a few weeks ago about a paid, full-time ministry opportunity for me, I got really interested. I would get to work with the youth group and help the youth get more involved with the rest of the church. However, the church wanted me to also be like an associate pastor who is preparing to be a lead pastor someday... um... I don't know if I'm quite up for that kind of responsibility. I told them I'd pray about it and talk to JJ and see what he thinks. JJ was super supportive of my desire to be in church and in ministry. But he also wanted to make sure I was interested in this opportunity for the right reasons. Did I really want to be a youth pastor/associate pastor? Did I really feel like God was calling me to do full time ministry right now? Or, did I just want to do some kind of ministry and be involved some how? Were there other ways to fulfill that desire where I am right now? Have I heard God telling me anything regarding this position? If not, what was the last thing I heard God tell me He wanted from me?
My answers: not really, not sure, YES, yes, no, and "go to China and marry JJ"
I pretty much made up my mind that the youth pastor position wasn't right for us right now before bedtime, but I wanted to go ahead and sleep on it before I called them back up and said no. But it did get us to talking about our current situation. The things we were sure of were that there are ways for me to get involved in ministry and that I didn't have to do anything extremely drastic to do it. However, it would take one change. I really need to quit my job as a nursery worker. The thing is, it pays pretty well and we could really use the money. But, we could still be even more careful with how we spend our money. Right now, we waste money on eating out and just spending a few bucks here and there on stuff like pops or candy. We also make too many trips to see family. If we cut out the eating out and the extra candy, we'd save probably $100 a month, and probably loose a few pounds of extra fat. And if we took turns between parents and only saw one set per month, we'd probably save another 100 bucks a month. That would take care of most of the money we'd be loosing from my job. And, then I'd also be free to work more hours with the elder care job without having to work during church times.
It's definitely a leap of faith. We're trusting that God will give us the discipline to use our money carefully and that He will provide us with the rest. But He has already shown us that He will take care of us. I gave my notice at the nursery and the next day, my other job called to offer us very affordable health insurance even though I haven't been working quite long enough to qualify (I didn't even realize they offered it). Now that I've given my notice, I've been brainstorming of ways to get involved at OUR church. Maybe the worship team, but it seems like there's already more than enough help with that. Maybe get more involved with the youth, but they also seem to have enough help. Maybe I'll just have to sit back for a little while and watch for an opportunity that no one else has seen yet. No matter what, I know God wants me to get involved and join this little part of His family and He will bless us through it.
