Thoughts on "call night"

For several months we had no idea what our future would hold. I tried to keep all things “on the altar” so to speak, trying not to even form opinions about our future knowing it was completely out of my control. Then a dear friend told me “It is ok to tell God what you want, He can always tell you no!” So instead of making pathetic attempts not to have wants or opinions about our future, I began to make a list of requests regarding our new place, learning to be bold in asking and trusting that the Lord knows when to say yes and when to say no. At the top of my list was being placed 2 hours or less from family (Grand Rapids would be great!). I also requested a dishwasher, a nice yard for the kids, and other more practical things. In one of my more fanciful moods I even asked Jesus to throw in a climbing tree or a tree house (I loved climbing trees as a child.)

We gave our input to the placement professor and I continued to give my input to God. We got to a point where there was nothing left to do but wait. The last three days before call night I spent trying not to worry but worrying anyway, and finishing up things at Alpha Omega. The night itself was stress and joy mixed together. Joy began to break through the stress even before the call as I felt the love of family and my dear husband who bought me a corsage for the occasion. My mother came to watch the kids, and Josh and I went out to dinner before the service. I was feeling adventurous (or trying to make myself feel adventurous) so I ordered something other than my usual lasagna at Olive Garden. This is a very big deal.
The call service itself was torturously long, and I was so grateful for Robyn sitting next to me. The whole day felt like being strapped in a seat of a roller coaster and slowly going up the hill, clickclickclickclickclickclickclick, then sitting at the top to WAIT and sing a few hymns. My mind frantically grasped for the peace of the Lord, trying to hold onto it with shaking hands and a pounding heart. Then came a call to Mount Olive Church, five minutes from my mother’s house…for someone else. Then Josh’s name, and my heart stopped. When I heard St. John’s White Creek Lutheran Church, Columbus, IN, my first reaction was a panicky “that’s northern Indiana, right?” No it is not, in fact is it only about 1 hour from Kentucky. I did not cry, but I did think of mother crying at home (she was listening to the call service on the internet.)

The name of the city was all I knew, as I sat through the rest of the service thinking of everyone at home on Google and Mapquest. I was glad to know something concrete, but I did not yet have enough details to form strong feelings about it either way. Josh had the call papers with all the other information, but we had to wait until after the service to open them. When I finally found him after the service (there were quite a few bald guys wearing black that night) we opened the papers and started reading the details. A lady came up to me and said “I have been to your parsonage- you have a beautiful kitchen!” Josh talked to her husband for a minute, then another woman asked me if that was “Pastor Cook” and I was a little confused, but said yes. She waved to someone, and all of a sudden we were surrounded by at least 10 grinning people from the church in Columbus.

I cannot put into words the warmth of the welcome. They drove 2 ½ hours to come to the service, and even though they had to drive back that night, they were happy to stay and visit with us. They were so excited to meet us, took our pictures, and gave us tons of pictures and information about the church. Josh had to meet with the president of the district, so I went with the crowd to drink coffee and chat. I felt right at home with them while they were talking to me. Where do I start to count the blessings of this place- a growing church, a thriving Lutheran school, out in the beautiful country but close to a city, a great parsonage, a generous and energetic congregation… I see God’s fingerprints everywhere- right down to the treestand in our yard!

We are confident that God has placed us exactly where He wants us. When I look over my list of requests, there are many YESes, a few NOs, and some I am waiting on. But He is a loving Father, and He is going before us and with us. He has assured us time and again of His great love for us. During these years of seminary (and Iraq right before that) this family has had to rely heavily on the Body of Christ to meet many of our needs. We have truly lacked nothing.
We have been constantly upheld by your prayers, time, gifts, and love. I am amazed as I think of all the people God brought together to help carry us through these years of training: dear friends and family, fellow Christians at Alpha Omega, the love and generosity of the church family at Prince of Peace, the churches and people who “adopted” us during seminary, and of course our church family at St. Paul’s.

I pray that everyone reading this, everyone who has helped us bear the load over the years of training and waiting, will also now share in our joy as we follow the Lord on this new adventure.