WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE LORD BEN POHL
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oug and Joni’s paths came together in 2006. Joni had been working in real estate for a few years and Doug had just returned to Michigan after doing some consulting work in Silicon Valley. He moved back to avoid the “dot com” bust and to be closer to his son in Williamston. He decided to pursue a real estate license and attended a training that Joni’s company was putting on. When Joni’s company relocated in 2008, Doug suggested she look for work in Lansing. They eventually married in 2015. At the time, Joni’s only exposure to the Catholic Church had been at a Catholic school, which she attended in the fourth grade. Doug had never even been inside of a Catholic Church. Joni grew up Baptist, the daughter of a minister, and Doug was Lutheran. “After Doug and I got married, I’d been having this longing that we need to get back in church; we need to find a church. So we tried Baptist churches, we tried Lutheran churches, and we couldn’t really find anything that we liked.” They started going to a non-denominational church, but never felt that they fit. “We left there one Sunday morning and I was in tears and I told Doug, ‘We’re not going back there, I can’t go back there, it’s just like we’re not even going to church at all. I’m getting nothing out of it.’” “So we were heading home and [Doug] pulled the car over and I said, ‘Why are we stopping?’ And he said, ‘We’re gonna pray.’ And we prayed, and that was Sunday.” Doug and Joni prayed that day for
a home. A community where they felt they could belong and encounter God. The Lord was listening, and had an adventure in store for them. Not long before that Sunday, Joni had been working for a local cemetery and was looking for a change. She saw a job posting for a position at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery. “When I applied the description on the website said that they preferred a practicing Catholic. At that time I was working at another cemetery in the area and I told my husband, ‘You know what? I don’t care, I’m applying anyways, and if that’s where God wants me, that’s where He’ll put me!” After a few interviews, Joni was offered the position and accepted. After crying out to God from their car on that Sunday, Doug and Joni didn’t have to wait long for an answer. They would do plenty of waiting in the future, but not yet. The following Saturday, St. Joseph’s hosted a service for the unborn where Joni met a couple from Resurrection. “We got to talking about churches and she asked me where we attend, and I said, ‘Well, we were going to this church, but we decided we’re not going back there, so I hate to say we’re actually going to be shopping around for a church.’” They invited Joni to come to Mass. She explained that she and Doug weren’t Catholic, but the couple insisted they should just come and see if they like it. “On the whole ride home, I thought: Doug is gonna think I’m totally crazy and tell me, ‘No, we’re not
