And God Says "Not Yet!": Moments, Marriages & Memories, Edition 3

The following is based on a true story.

The events are deemed accurate based on my knowledge, research and understanding of said events.

The narration is assumed and some details may be slightly fictional.

Some names were changed due to their insignificance to their stories.

 But you'll know which one's were not.

But you cannot tell our story without discussing these events......

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The year was 1995.

Tears were shed, and hugs were shared as the church of the O-town {my hometown} said goodbye to their beloved pastor and his family. Their last service was filled with sentimental elements, sharing memories of their pastor and his family, and the  Jr. Girls Group {Old School Point of Grace wannabes} sang a heart wrenching rendition of the then popular song "Thank You {for giving to the Lord}" to honor their pastor who was moving away. The church shared a meal with their pastor and then shared tearful goodbyes.

But as the church bid farewell, there was work to be done. The church was in the midst of a building project and they needed to find a new Pastor very, very soon. So the board of deacons gathered, compiled names of possible candidates, and made phone calls.

A few weeks later up in Northern Minnesota, there was a knock on Pastor Johnston's office door. "Come in," he said.

"Good afternoon, Pastor Johnston, how ya doin', sir?" said the tall Dutchman, "It is a long drive from O-town all the way up to this icy northern tundra, something like 10 hours?! It is good to see you, sir."

You see, Pastor Johnston & tall Dutchman knew each other from way back when PJ {my own abbreviation, not a nickname} was the pastor of a small church 30 miles from the O-town.

"Tall Dutchman! What brings you up this way? My, it has been a long long time, something like 9 years, I think, it is good to see you, too, sir," PJ said as he stood to shake tall Dutchman's hand.

"Well, Pastor," Dutchman hesitated, "I wanted to talk with you myself, and uh...as you know, the church in O-town, we're looking for a pastor. Well,  sir, we want you to come be our pastor."

"Wow," PJ said, "I am honored that you would think of me, and I know that coming back to Iowa would be great, as we do greatly miss being near our families, and it would be less than 30 minutes from where all of our children were born. Obviously I cannot make a snap decision without praying first, and talking with my wife. But off the top of my head, I do know that this is the beginning of our oldest son's senior year of high school, so we could come once the school year is over."

The men talked over a few other logistics of the possible move, the condition and status of the the church and the building project. And tall Dutchman left icy northern Tundra with great resolve, and great confidence in his pastor-finding abilities.

The deacon board of the church in O-Town was less impressed. Not cynical, but realizing that the church needed a pastor as soon as possible, maybe the 9 month waiting period wasn't the best way to go. The continued their pastor search with PJ in mind.

In February 1996, the church in O-Town installed the now current pastor of the church. At the time he was quite the young 'pup' in ministry with a young family of 3 small boys. The church was glad and quickly endeared themselves to their new pastor & family. And Pastor Johnston along with his wife and 4 children enjoyed 6 1/2 more years in northern MN.

This is not THE END.

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You may have read that entire story and noticed that our names were not mentioned once, so you might be thinking "What on earth does that have to do with Jesse and Katie!?'

Ummm.....everything, hello!?

My future husband almost moved to my town 7 years before we ever met!

The thought of that makes my stomach go in knots, as you may have noticed my junior high years were not some of my finer moments.

As we've established, I was boy crazy. So I, of course, would've still liked him. I've seen pictures ;) He....would probably have been annoyed to tears by me. And, I had some very pretty friends. Proving yet again, in case you were in any doubt ..... God's timing is perfect.

For more MMM's, check out Rachel @ Musings of A Future Pastor's Wife, she has a great story. Tell us your own!