Today's post is from Guest Contributor, Lorraine Strohbehn

Today’s post was written by my mom, Lorraine Strohbehn, a pastor’s wife of many years, an author, and a mom, grandma, and great-grandma! She contributes a memory with a Biblical lesson on the last Friday of each month.

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New places, new people, and new circumstances are frightening. Learning that things can be accomplished in new ways is exciting; however, it is a growing process, and growing sometimes causes pain.

When my husband accepted the pastorate in a new location, setting up our home in a new community was a major move—just as it is for any family. Our four children would soon begin the school year in new schools, and my husband would spend even more time in his office and out becoming acquainted with the members in this new church. But as the mom and pastor’s wife, I realized that I had many adjustments as well, not the least of which was that I found myself unfamiliar with shopping places and where to find all the necessities for our new ministry home. I felt very alone in this challenging new setting.

One of the ladies who attended the church called and invited me to go into the major shopping area of our city, have lunch with her, and then visit some of the stores that carried the essentials for our family. I eagerly accepted her invitation! We got acquainted over a lovely lunch and then headed to various stores to find some great sources for future buying. I decided that this was a pretty neat town to which the Lord brought us!

I returned home refreshed, feeling certain that the Lord brought us here for a ministry that would be used in the way of His choosing, and I was also reminded that, of course, there were things available for our needs and stores where we could purchase the things that we needed in this new city. And not only that, but someone had graciously taken the time to introduce me to them. It brought a new calm that I needed.

I have many memories of delightful things that were done for our family as we served the Lord as the pastor and his family. As we reached out to our church family, went through many of their trying times with them, and sought to teach the Word of God faithfully, in the process, we grew spiritually ourselves.

What a privilege through the years to serve our faithful God and see Him use others to encourage us as well. First Timothy 3:2–7 speaks of the qualities of a pastor or bishop, saying: “A bishop must…have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.” He and his family must understand their new community so that they can carry out the work in a way that will reach this new area of ministry. We are thankful for the great church families through the years who helped us to see that happen.

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Now it’s your turn to comment:

Have you ever made a major change in location? When you moved, what was the most difficult part of the transition for you? How did God use that in your life? I know Lorraine would love to hear your replies to any or all of those, so please feel free to “leave a comment” below!

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