A new phase in our life!

Warning.....this post will be a long and wordy post!  I apologize in advance for it!!

8 years ago I got engaged to my best friend.  We were living in Japan separated by many miles as we taught Conversational English.  We communicated mostly through e-mail and had lots of meaningful e-conversations.  So much so that I thought we would continue to talk through e-mail even when we lived together....that didn't happen!!
7 years ago in August we were joined together in holy matrimony and became a family.  In 4 short months our world changed (well mine did) I had returned from Japan, got married, had a honeymoon, moved across country (to a desperately flat area) attempted to find a job substitute teaching, John started seminary, moving into an apartment & then a few months later moving to another place.  It was probably one of the hardest years of my life. I didn't feel like I had a friend -- someone to share my life with (besides John but he didn't always understand my girlie thoughts & emotions). I went to my first seminary wives meeting scared & terrified and left even more horrified and terrified that I had my the worst decision of my life marrying John & him going to seminary.  Thankfully it's all about the way you look at things -- looking back on those 3 years of seminary they were probably some of the best years of our lives.  It helped prepare us for ministry as a couple and we also made some great friends through out our time there.  It was such a blessing.
Before we (John) graduated from Seminary we had done some candidating but it was stressful because either they didn't want us or it just wasn't a good match for us.  At graduation we were on of the only seminary family who graduated without a call. Which was VERY hard and depressing for both of us.  We looked into SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) in Grand Forks for the summer as a way to figure out what we were going to do.  Either I was gonna get a job or John would receive a call.  I got a job offer & the interview kept on getting put off.  Finally the day before our anniversary I got a call for a hiring interview down in the Cities.  The day of our anniversary we were out with friends at Coldstone and John got a call from the elders at Zion Lutheran Church.  The very next day I called and pulled out of my interview for the job.  I call that God's timing! 
We accepted the call and moved to Cooperstown!  I started the process of trying to get my teacher's license in North Dakota, unfortunately that door was closed because it involved me going back to school.  I worked with Americorps.  It was during that first year that we became a family of 3.  Little N was born August 2007 and changed our lives forever. He has been the light of our lives.  Two years later Little M joined our family making us a family of 4.
We have been in Cooperstown for 4 years we have been a part of some great things -- marriages, baptisms, confirmations, graduations and spending time with some great people. We've also been a part of some not so pleasant things -- funerals (for younger people and for older people also), people moving away.
One of the hardest things is coming to the decision of when you need to leave a place.  We have been called to be the English pastor at one of the Lutheran Brethren churches in Taiwan. Please pray for us as we have made this decision.  Pray that this would be a wise decision and remember to keep us in your prayers.  Pray for our families and for us as this is a hard decision to leave Cooperstown a town where our kids have some very special "grandparents" and a wonderful church (family), leaving to be far away from both our families.  But we are excited for this wonderful opportunity to serve the Lord.

Comments

  1. Love, love, loved your post. It was very cool to read. I miss you Olsons! I was so excited to hear that you accepted the call to Taiwan. I think it is going to be awesome! I know it will be hard to leave the place where your kids have started to grow, but I will pray for your transition. And I am super jealous that you will be able to hang with the Larsens...brings me back to those early Sem Days...
    Love you and will keep praying as you prepare to begin another adventure with Him!

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