I met my husband in 2002 when I moved to North Carolina from Arkansas (that's another story for another time) and began teaching at Hiddenite Elementary School. He was the PE teacher and I was teaching 4th grade in the classroom closest to the gym. We were friends first, but began dating in December of 2004. By April of 2005, we were engaged. We got married on December 28, 2006 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee surrounded by our family and friends. Things sailed along normally - buy a house, have a baby - until 2015.
In 2015, Robert began to feel like the Lord wanted more from him. We discussed this and agreed that he should begin Seminary and work on his Masters in Religion at Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. He went in front of our church and told them he felt the Lord calling him to work with youth. At this point, I began thinking what in the world is going on. I am not preacher's wife material as I am opinionated and high maintenance. Plus, I am perfectly happy with where we are right now. However, a wise woman from our church told me, that the Lord knew who Robert was married to when He called him. Wow! That was an AHA! moment for me. God did know who I was and He had plans for me, too. I won't lie and say things were easy from there or that there weren't times I didn't question His plan, but that statement would become a life motto for me from that point.
Fast forward to 2017, our Pastor had resigned at our church and our Youth Pastor had been voted in as Senior Pastor. That left a Youth Pastor position open at our home church. So, of course, as most people would, we're thinking the Lord has worked this out perfectly. Robert and I discuss if he should resign from his position at Hiddenite. He had 20 years in and we were hoping he could retire, but because he was only 42 at the time, he would be unable to keep his insurance or draw retirement until he turned 50. We were at a cross roads. While we felt the timeline was right for him to get the job at our home church, there was no guarantee until he went through the committee and was voted in. However, we both felt that the Lord would provide if we stepped out on faith. So, June 2017, Robert resigned from his job and we went to a one income household in August. However, we were holding on to where we felt the Lord was leading us.
Then the bottom fell out! In August, we were told that the committee could not come to a 100% agreement on presenting Robert to the church and they were going to start looking in a different direction. To say we were devastated is an understatement. I will never forget that breakfast with our pastor and how we both cried trying to figure out what was going on. There were a whole lot of emotions going on at that time, but I had to pull myself together and head to my first teacher workday at school. We were a mess. I had this sick feeling in my stomach that we had totally screwed up what God had been saying to us. What if Robert was suppose to stay at school until he was guaranteed a job? What if we had been too prideful in thinking the job at our home church was in the bag? We prayed and cried and tried to understand God's Will in this. I would like to say I wasn't angry, but that would be a lie. Robert began subbing at schools in our area in order to make ends meet. We continued to attend our church. I taught an Adult Sunday School Class and Robert taught a 4th/5th grade Sunday School Class and RAs on Wednesday night. A lot of people came to us as devastated and confused as we were. While it felt good to have their support, we were still struggling with what direction God wanted us to go. We finally came to the decision that we had to move on. Our hearts were broken, but we were trying not to let it effect our witness and keep others from moving on and accepting the person God had for our home church. So, we decided to visit other churches. The last time I taught my class was heartbreaking. I had and still have such strong relationships with those people. They have a piece of my heart!
Once we let go of what wasn't meant to be, God began to show us what His plan was. Our former pastor, Steve, had began to be an interim pastor at another church in our area, Mt. Hebron Baptist Church. Robert had even preached there one Wednesday night. We felt very welcomed there and that they were a loving church. Steve had already mentioned to Robert in July that he wanted to talk to him about Mt. Hebron, but at that point, we were still holding out for the position at our home church. Steve had been talking to Robert about coming there to help him get their youth program going. They had no youth pastor and he wanted Robert to come and see. The first Sunday we decided to visit, we went to a huge church in our area, that was also searching for a Youth Pastor. However, after visiting, we knew that wasn't where God meant for us to be. We ended up visiting Mt. Hebron that evening. We could tell when we walked in that we had surprised Steve. They were actually having a business meeting that night and he was going to tell them that he wanted them to pray about bringing on a Youth Pastor and he had Robert in mind. Anyone who knows Steve, knows it's hard to get him flustered, but when he started to speak and announced what he wanted, we knew why! We felt bad that we had put him in a tight spot, but it gave a face to what Steve was proposing. From that point, we continued visiting Mt. Hebron and began to feel more and more at home. We went to a church function to allow them to talk to us and get to know us. They voted in October 2017 to hire Robert on a trial basis to see if this was what they wanted.
January 2018, Robert was ordained at our former church. At his ordination, the wives of the deacons and pastors (from our old church and new church) prayed over me, while pastors, former pastors, and deacons prayed over Robert. For me, this was a very emotional evening. I cried the whole time, they prayed over me. However, it was extremely healing. I realized that we hadn't lost a church family, but instead gained two who loved us! We have two church families who support us and love us. This was just what I needed to heal the hurt and anger I'd been feeling.
Robert's temporary position ended in March and he was voted in as Youth Pastor at Mt. Hebron. We finally understood God's plan. His plan was not our plan, but as usual, His plan was even greater than our plan. We love our church family at Mt. Hebron and are excited to see what the future holds for us all! God has great things in store!
