The year was 1994. Vince was working as an intern at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. We were newlyweds, married in July 1994. Vince already had the passion and drive for church planting, after finding out that it is the best way to reach the lost. He was there for the experience and to work on his Masters Degree (Vince got his undergraduate degree in Buffalo, then went to law school for a year and then decided to go into ministry. He had one year of Seminary under his belt and was doing the internship while he was finishing up his degree).
While working at SECC Vince met Tim Cole. They quickly found out that they were both interested in church planting and began sharing their vision. By the end of the year-long internship Vince and Tim decided to start a church together at some point in the near future. They decided to part ways for a few years to get some more ministry experience. Tim headed to Michigan and we headed to Northern Virginia.
The idea of starting a church was so foreign to me. To be honest I really didn't understand what it meant. I didn't become a Christian until 1992 and this was my first experience at being a pastor's wife. I'm so glad that SECC was so big and that Vince was only an intern. The anonymity was so awesome! There were no expectations placed on me and I was able to soak it all in. During this time I met my first Christian friend that was my age, Cindy Wright. Her husband was on staff at SECC and we lived in the apartment above them. Her friendship, along with Tim's wife, Lisa, really helped to teach me what it meant to be a Christian wife and pastor's wife. I'm so thankful for their influence in my life.
So we left Louisville and headed to Northern Virginia where Vince became an Associate Pastor at New Life Christian Church. We went into the job knowing that it would be short-term and that planting a church was our next move. We just didn't know when, where or how it would all come together. And I still was completely clueless!!!!
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Sunday, January 6, 2008
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1 comments:
As I mentioned previously, I grew up in a pasor's home. One thing my Dad always did was tell us that we were just a regular family. We were not expected to be any "better" or more "good" than anyone elses kids, etc. He expected us to love God and be good Christ followers, but, not because of his vocation. I really always appreciated that because I never felt some artificial pressure or expectations to fill some "ideal" role. Of course, our family has had it's share of challenges and dysfunction. Because of that, I guess I have never had any illusions about the fact that Pastor's wives and families are far from perfect and need all the love and support that everyone else does. Hopefully, I will be able to keep all that in mind when my controlling---micro-managing, over-achieving self tries to be super Wife-Mom-Church Leader person. I appreciate this blog so much because I sense that you can relate!!
Thanks, Dawn C.
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