GUEST POST::a whole new world

Pastor Filip & Taylor Bajic

Taylor Bajic, born and raised in the United States, is a newlywed pastor's wife married to Filip, who was born and raised in Serbia. Together, they now live in Scotland, where Filip is a pastoral intern.

Coming into ‘pastor’s wifehood’, I had no notion of what to expect. None of my family members are pastors, so I had never experienced or witnessed first-hand the ‘pastor’s kid’ life. 

Before meeting my PH, Filip, at a Christian college in England, I had never, ever thought of myself as being the wife of a pastor. Mind you, I had never had anything against it – on the contrary, I greatly admired pastor’s wives (and I do now, even more); but the thought had simply never entered my mind.

I had no idea of what kind of man I would end up marrying (I had my educational studies on the mind at the time), but I wasn't closed-minded about it and was open to God’s leading.

I met Filip when I was 19, and I had just begun my second year of Literature studies and he was in his first year studying Theology. Being the ‘homebody’ that I am (and very comfortable in the States), I had only planned on attending college overseas for one year. Then I planned to go back home and finish at a Christian university in Tennessee, where I had begun my studies. But I think God had other plans – and today, I can say that I am very glad and truly blessed.

Filip and I connected surprisingly quickly and felt with each development stage in our relationship  that God knew what He was doing and we were somehow part of a bigger plan. We both felt for the first time that we were being truly led to another person, like we were ‘meant to be together’, silly as it might sound.

Largely due to the small-school dormitory life at the college in England, we became very close very quickly, started dating and even began to discuss the possibility of marriage by the end of our first year there. What should we do? Should we try the long distance thing, or should I stay there with him and continue our studies together?

As terrifying and new as this was, it felt right. If you know me, you'd know that I wouldn't lightly make a decision to move an ocean away from family and life-long friends – not without very careful consideration and prayer. Needless to say, after much discussion with Filip and our parents, I chose to stay until we had finished our Bachelor degrees and Filip had completed his Masters. Without a doubt, I am very close to my family and I greatly miss them – we wish we could visit both our families much more often – but I have never been so sure about a decision in my life, and God has truly blessed us!

Filip got sponsored to pursue his Masters in Theology by the Scottish Mission, so we made plans to move to Scotland in the summer of 2010 for him to begin his pastoral internship. When it was time to apply for visas, pack up our flat (that's called an apartment in the USA) and get ready to go, something happened with the visa process. Suddenly we were completely uncertain of whether we had a position at all, and we were advised to look for another post.

Being so close to our planned moving date and confident that everything would go smoothly, we had already left our respective jobs, so we braced ourselves for a financially tight transition. We were so worried – not sure of where to turn.

Our British visas would expire in two months. We prayed and prayed. We thought maybe God had other plans, so we tried our best to be patient and open-minded. God really worked on our hearts and gave us such peace; although we were worried and scared, somehow we both felt confident that God would provide. And He did, as He always does.

Four months later, after much difficulty and stress the visa situation was ironed out and we were able to move to Scotland after all. Since arriving here, we have received blessing upon blessing – we quickly found a lovely flat to live in, we have met such incredible people (both in the Mission churches and the community) and life is full of joys.

No, I haven’t found a job yet in the four months that we have lived there. And yes, we are still recovering from financial strain.

But God has shown us a different side of things – the bigger picture. He has shown us what pastoral life is like and what it can be. He has shown us that no matter what happens, He will provide. It may not be in the way we would like or expect, but we can count on it – it will always be for the best in the long run.

Since becoming a pastor’s wife, I have learned such a great deal. My eyes have been opened to the reality of ministry. I do not consider myself to be a ‘gifted pastor’s wife’, but I believe God can really use me – and I sure hope He does.

He uses the quiet passions that you never expected to be able to use and turns them into a way to serve His children, as well as Himself. He puts people in our lives – and puts us in others’ lives – in a way that we cannot ignore and that we can learn from.

God is working. And it’s fantastic to witness it. I have never experienced God in such a way as now. People are what God cares about. And boy, am I glad He knows what He’s doing!

No matter how unequipped I feel, I think I can get on board with that.

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