Waiting for Direction

As most of our friends know, the Aguilars have been out of the “full-time” ministry for over two years now.  It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by so quickly, but it has.

 When we resigned our pastorate in Orting (spring ‘05 I think), we had no idea what would take place or how God would meet us like He has.  We left Orting and returned to the place where we started in marriage and ministry back in 1985.  We even attended the church where we were youth pastors off and on.  While I worked in construction, Adele got a job at Viewcrest School as the administrative assisstant and we got a chance to see what it was like to just be real people (not pastors) for a change.  The life lesson for me was that it doesn’t matter what I do for a living, I don’t need a title to be a pastor.  The job was alright, and God was good to us, but it didn’t take long for the whole family to realize that we are called to the ministry.  I seemed to lack motivation and drive and confidence to explore opportunities, so creating a resume was a slow process.  By December ‘06 I was asked to fill in as the Interim Pastor at Viewcreat Assembly of God, so I left my short career as a laborer and joined the staff during  it’s transition.  It felt good to lead and preach and invest in people again.  It came to me pretty naturally.  We asked God to help us to grow and flourish during this time of transition, and He certainly did teach us about how to trust Him and rely fully on Him.  He also taught us how to lean on each other as a family.  I will always be greatful for being blessed with such an incredible wife and children.  He also amazed us with the spiritual, social, and personal growth of our kids.  It was hard for them to move from the only place they had ever known, but they did it while exelling in their different areas of gifting.  Adele and I are so proud of them.

 Well, our time of interim ministry has now come to an end as of August 5.  We had a tearful end to a great seven months of ministry and now we find ourselves looking forward to what the next chapter of our lives is going to look like.  We have had resumes out since early spring and honestly, have seen little results.  One of the challenges is finding a place that can support our family financially.  I never wanted ministry to be about money and I’m not looking to get rich, but I do feel a very strong responsibility to care for our basic family needs.  Even so, I believe that My Heavenly Father is also my provider so I will trust Him and praise Him wheather I have plenty or barely enough.  We do have an interview this weekend (Aug. 6), and possibly one on the following weekend (Aug. 19), so we are asking our friends to pray with us for God’s perfect will.  I don’t want to just take what I can live with, I want to wait for the place that I can’t live without.  I believe it’s there somewhere.