It's actually a great providence. Here's why. This whole process is pushing me to refine my vision of how I can more effectively pursue my vocation, whatever that vocation really is. And it does boil down to vocation. If I spend the rest of my life in Huntington, WV, teaching classes as The Potter's School or wherever else I might end up teaching, it's really all right. My wife and children have always had food on the table and a roof over their heads. We have more clothes than we need, though probably not as many as we might like. One daughter is grown up and married, happy in her vocation as a wife. Both daughters appear to be serving Christ faithfully in their lives, in age-appropriate manners. I've had the opportunity to encourage people and strengthen them in their faith, tough I haven't taken all the opportunities I probably could have - like the rest of us.
What does the future hold? The idea of pastoral ministry is a good one. As a pastor I'd have the opportunity to spend my full time doing the most exciting thing I get to do on a weekly basis - telling people about the good news of salvation and hope in Christ. I'd have opportunity to encourage many people in their faith and urge people to live lives of commitment and fidelity to Christ, regardless of their vocation. Of course, I have those opportunities as a Christian school teacher as well. I'd have those opportunities in any place the Lord put me.
One idea that has been emerging of late is that a seminary education, as well as being quite expensive, would require me to spend a vicarage year away from my current employment. I'd then get to spend an additional year in seminary and would probably find it very difficult to return to my current job. Making ends meet during that time could be phenomenally difficult. It makes me think I might wish to pursue a different route, that of seeking some professional advancement that may give me a little more job security as a Christian school administrator. After all, I'm not a stranger to Christian schools or to administration. It may be that there are some things I can do which would move me in that direction. It's complex, having several things I could do and which would be very pleasing both to me and to our Savior.
Even if I pursue the professional development, our proposed move to Fort Wayne has some very positive features. It puts us into a place where I think we'd find more freedom and support surrounding home schooling. It puts us into a location where there is a broader group of Lutheran church congregations. It would be very good to see a number in operation, to learn what they are like, to see what is normal and what is an anomaly. That's something I have no way at all of doing in the area I live now. It puts us into a location where there are a variety of collegiate programs available, many of which offer training that could lead to advancement in either the pastoral or educational ministry I desire to engage in.
Now, if someone would come along and want to buy our house, and if we could find a house we'd like to live in . . .
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