We are embarking on a new adventure… a new chapter in our lives. A new city (or town), a new church, a new home. The problem is… we have no idea exactly where or when. After a 9 year leave from full-time ministry, we feel God moving us back into full-time ministry. Steve has been re-ordained and re-instated as an iterant pastor. We both have been on unpaid staff at YEC (Yakima Evangelical church) and are awaiting placement as a full-time pastor in a paid position. The usual time for placements of pastors in our conference (Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Church) is in August. Our "Annual Conference Meetings" are held in late July. This is where business on the conference level is dealt with. This is also were ministerial students are recognized, missionaries are commissioned, and pastors are ordained. This is also where the assignments for the "new year" (August – July) are read.
In years gone by, the evening of the reading of assignments was the first time that anyone (besides the superintendent) knew who was going to be placed where. The pastor, his wife and family, and his congregation heard of the change that evening. They then had about two weeks to pack up and be moved.
It is different now. There is more forewarning… We know that we will be placed, which means there will be a move, we just don't know where we are going and exactly when we have to be there. We do know that we will know "soon" or at least before conference. This is driving me nuts! I think that I would be a total basket case if I had to wait conference to find out.
For now, I am de-junking, sorting, organizing and packing up non-essentials. I'm using the packing/moving system of idea brought by Fly Lady at www.flaylady.net She has many good ideas that make a lot of sense. This is going to be a big move, so I am trying some new things to hopefully help this ordeal go as smoothly as possible. One of the ideas she has, that I'm not totally using is the color-coded system. Although it makes a lot of sense to me and I liked the idea of a color-coded system, Steve is colorblind and using many different colors just makes things more complicated for him. Instead of making it something that he can simply glance at, it becomes a chore to figure out what color it is and where it belongs. So… I am simply going to use a black marker to write the name of the room the box belongs (or the person it belongs to… if going into a bedroom). Then… (and this is one of Fly Lady's ideas) I'm numbering each of the boxes starting with #1 for each of the rooms. The lower numbers will contain items that are less important. When we arrive at the new house, each room will have many boxes numbered 1 – however many boxes are needed for that room. The items that are most essential will be in the boxes with the highest number, so when we stat unpacking, we will start with the highest numbered box for each room. Also while packing I am taking a 3x5 card, labeling it with room and number and then listing all of the contents. This way, if there is something that we need, we can look through the cards, find the item, and open that box.
So for now, while I don't have the exact plans in front of me, I will do things to prepare and keep busy, knowing that God knows the plans for our future. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV) And it will be good.
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