Simon has a story to share. Sorry for my own lack of blogging since we've moved in September, things have been... well, changing. Keep reading to get a better understanding. --Rachel
Let me tell you a story. A story of
running and being found. I was the one running, and I have now been
found.
My story starts over 10 years ago, when
I was merely a high school student enjoying life. I had the honor and
privilege of growing up in a fine, Christian home. My parents sent me
to a Christian school and provided the needed encouragement to get
involved in church and other ministries. It was around 16 years old
when I first felt my call to ministry. I never experienced a "Damascus Road" type of call, but through consistent prayer and petition of God
I felt this was the direction He was leading me. I then began to
experience what some would call the “firstfruits” of ministry.
During my late high school and early college years I was greatly
involved in ministry at my church and worked the entire summer at a
Christian youth camp. It was these experiences that pushed me to
study Christian ministry and youth ministry at Indiana Wesleyan
University.
The summer after my freshman year of
college was when I had my first significant leadership role in
ministry. I was the Activities Director at the camp I had been
working at for years, and was one of five on the leadership team that
led the rest of the staff. This opportunity at ministerial leadership
was a great experience that only reaffirmed my passion and calling
into ministry.
The following summer I did an
internship at a church in South-central Pennsylvania. This internship
was good to show me more of the inner-workings of the every day life
of a church. It was a great learning experience, and I learned and
saw what it meant to actually lead a church. I was again reaffirmed
that my calling was to become a full-time pastor.
Fast forward. In the following year my
girlfriend and I, who went to high school together and were now at
Indiana Wesleyan University together, prayed and talked about our
future and decided that it was time to get married even though we
were still in college. As any married person knows, with marriage
comes a barrage of responsibility. I only had 1 semester left of
classes, but my young wife had at least 3 semesters left if not more.
God greatly blessed us and provided a full-time job for me at the
university in the admissions office.
Over the next four years many things
transpired in our lives. I loved my work, spreading the name of
Indiana Wesleyan University. I saw this as my area of ministry
because of the great impact attending IWU had on my personal
spiritual journey. I saw it as my current calling to help prospective
students understand how God could work in their lives through
attending IWU. During these years even more amazing things happened
on the family side of life. The Lord blessed my wife and I first with
a son, and then just under 2 years later with the gift of twin girls.
At four years of marriage my life was drastically different than the
day we said “I do,” and I began to feel a yearning I didn't know
what do about.
I took this yearning as a sign that I
was supposed to do something different, something bigger than working
at the university. Over the previous four years I had slowly started
to think less and less about my calling, and thought more and more
about “providing” for my family. I never really had a desire to
be super-rich, but I wanted to be in a place where my family was (very) comfortable financially. Several other factors contributed to my
thoughts, but in the end I decided that I was going to look
“corporately.” Not corporate as in a large group of people, but
corporate as in “I need to work for a big company so I can make
better money.” Don't
get me wrong, I realized that I could be a light for Christ wherever
I ended up working. I believe this is completely possible, but in retrospect, I
think I used it more as a rationalization. I don't think God was
necessarily calling me towards the corporate missionary lifestyle.
In
October of 2010 this prompted me to move my family 500+ miles back to
Maryland (where my parents live) to start as a Financial Advisor with
Edward Jones Investments. I worked very hard over the next 10 months
to make this job work. I studied and got the needed licenses, I
prospected clients, I made calls, and I was doing well. But something
seemed missing and out of place. In July of 2011 I got to the point
where I was sure that I was not supposed to be an Advisor with Edward
Jones. But my wife and I had no clue where God was leading us. I
continued to work hard, but began to look at other areas for possible
jobs.
In
almost an instant I received a lead from my in-laws who were now
living in Mishawaka, Indiana that led to a job. I took a position at
Korhorn Financial Group as a Client Services Specialist and was put
on the track to become a Certified Financial Planner. The acceptance
of this position called for the need to move my family another 500+
miles back to Indiana less than one year after we had moved away.
It
started happening a few weeks after I started working for Korhorn
Financial. I started hearing a whisper. It wasn't a literal whisper
in my ear, but more of a yearning or pulling on my heart. I began to
have feelings that I had not felt for many years. This yearning grew
and grew until late one night it hit me, I had forsaken my calling. I
had turned my back on what God had called me to do with my life. I
came to the startling realization that I would much rather provide
for my wife and kids an abundance of love, joy, and peace than an
abundance of possessions or wants. It took me over 5 years, but I
finally realized that God had never stopped calling me into full-time
ministry. I had simply turned and started walking and sometimes
running in the other direction.
A
week after coming to this realization and talking it through
thoroughly with my wife, I decided to tell the folks at Korhorn
Fianancial that, although I was willing to continue working for now, I would not be there long-term and that God had
called me into ministry. While they were very supportive about my
call, they decided that they wanted to get somebody into my position
who would be there long-term. This decision brought about the reality
that I would only be working there another week. My last day at
Korhorn was November 3rd.
While
Rachel and I were both surprised at this sudden change in thinking,
we both felt confident that telling the company the change in our
perspective was the right and ethical thing to do. In the following
days I came to the realization that I was a young father of 3 without
a job! God certainly works in strange and mysterious ways. Because of
our sudden move to Indiana, we had moved in with Rachel's parents until
we could find a place of our own. In short, there has been no other
time in our adult lives where it was more feasible for me to lose my
full-time job. God has richly blessed us with an amazing family, and
we are very thankful to Mom and Dad Potteiger for their blessings of
love and a roof over our heads!
In
1 week (answer to prayer!) I was able to find a part-time job working at Panera Bread
while we do our best to discern God's direction for our lives. I have
been working there for several weeks now, and I truly enjoy it. This
is my first job where I leave work and I don't really have to think
about it until I go back. This aspect is actually quite relaxing.
I
don't know what the future holds for my family. I don't know when,
if, or how long it will take me to find a full-time position as a
pastor. But I do know that God has called me into full-time ministry.
I do know that I will not turn my back this time, and I will open my
heart to wherever He leads. I'm more excited and scared about the
future than I have ever been in my adult life. It is this excitement
that encourages me to write this today. Thank you for your
time and for listening. We simply ask that you walk beside us and
help us pray through this time of transition and discovery. May the
Lord bless you and hold you close.
---Simon
C. Henry
