Ray and Jamie's Story
Ray and Jamie Oehme met at a picnic at the home of a mutual friend on Memorial Day, 1978. Ray had just recently come to know Jesus in an up-close-and-personal way in March of that same year. In a single day Ray had years of drug addiction broken off of him because Jesus not only saves, He heals. He restores. He makes whole. And He gives second chances.
Jamie was the first of three children born to a Lutheran pastor and his wife. She grew up in Nekoosa, Wisconsin living a pretty sheltered existance.
You wouldn't have expected the two of them to become a couple.
This is the first amazing part of their story. They met on Memorial Day, yet they didn't have a conversation together until August. Ray had begun attending the church Jamie's father pastored and he lead the worship with a guitar. This guitar-lead worship eventually became a worship team. One day the lead female singer caught a cold and couldn't make it to sing at a "gig" for the Christian Businessmen's Association meeting. Ray asked Jamie if she could fill in. And that's where it all began.
August 30, 1978 they went on the thing their daughters have come to know as "the walk." It began at 8:00 p.m. and finished at midnight. It was their first opportunity to know anything about each other and at the end of the conversation, Ray asked Jamie to marry him. She did. One hundred and eight days later. They were married December 16, 1978 in a ceremony that was full of worship and praise to God.
At this time Jamie was employed by a paper company and Ray was an apprentice journeyman at a foundry. They worked as part-time volunteers for the youth ministry at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Nekoosa, Wisconsin. They were making plans for a family and building their lives together. But their plans hit a bump.
Here's the second amazing part of their story. After some testing, it was determined Jamie was unable to have children. Holding it together from the doctor's office to the car was tough, but once inside their Volkswagen, the tears just flowed. So, Ray being the romantic husband, drove immediately to the hardware store where they bought paint for the nursery and Sesame Street decorations. They took the paint home, painted the extra bedroom and hung up the decorations. And they prayed for God to grant them the family they had dreamed of having.
God is faithful. Not only did they have Michelle three years later, but then Brooke 51 weeks later, Kymberly 23 months after that and finally, Sara four years after Kymberly.
In the meantime, the foundry Ray was working closed just weeks before the birth of their first child. Unemployed and expecting a family is never where you want to be. God opened the door for Ray to become the youth leader and worship leader at an Evangelical Free Church almost immediately. He began taking classes to become a pastor. Once he had attained his licensing, he eventually served as a co-director for Youth for Christ in Wisconsin, and a youth pastor. They thought they were set for life.
But God had other plans.
Through a series of events, the doors to ministry closed in Wisconsin Rapids and Ray was once again unemployed. You see, in the denomination they served, when a Sr. Pastor resigns, the church staff is automatically resigned with him. And Ray was on staff.
But one phone call changed that. And that leads us to yet another thing that borders on the amazing...
September 5, 1991 Jamie was watching LA Law in the family room and Ray came in and said "How would you like to move to Iowa?" The answer was "Sure." The decision took less than 30 seconds. They checked a map and found the city. Ray candidated for the new church on September 22 and they moved from Wisconsin to Iowa on October 11.
Jamie was able to be a stay-at-home mom which had been a dream of hers since she had her first child. But God was tugging on her heart. Through much study and perseverance, she finished her schooling and obtained her pastor's license on October 17, 1997. It has been a stumbling block in the church's history. There are many who are not happy about women in minstry, including her own father. People have left this church looking for a church with all-male leadership. However, it is where God has called Jamie and she is flourishing as a regular conference speaker and pastor in the church.
Now empty nesters, they are happy to be grandparents to three of the brightest, most beautiful/handsome, and wonderfully talented grandchildren ever to walk the earth. Their joy will be multiplied by one this November when their fourth grandchild joins the family. They are ministering full-time at the Vineyard. Their hearts are leading them to know more than to be known.
Their story isn't finished.... they just don't know what it is yet. There are probably more amazing things to come.
Jamie was the first of three children born to a Lutheran pastor and his wife. She grew up in Nekoosa, Wisconsin living a pretty sheltered existance.
You wouldn't have expected the two of them to become a couple.
This is the first amazing part of their story. They met on Memorial Day, yet they didn't have a conversation together until August. Ray had begun attending the church Jamie's father pastored and he lead the worship with a guitar. This guitar-lead worship eventually became a worship team. One day the lead female singer caught a cold and couldn't make it to sing at a "gig" for the Christian Businessmen's Association meeting. Ray asked Jamie if she could fill in. And that's where it all began.
August 30, 1978 they went on the thing their daughters have come to know as "the walk." It began at 8:00 p.m. and finished at midnight. It was their first opportunity to know anything about each other and at the end of the conversation, Ray asked Jamie to marry him. She did. One hundred and eight days later. They were married December 16, 1978 in a ceremony that was full of worship and praise to God.
At this time Jamie was employed by a paper company and Ray was an apprentice journeyman at a foundry. They worked as part-time volunteers for the youth ministry at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Nekoosa, Wisconsin. They were making plans for a family and building their lives together. But their plans hit a bump.
Here's the second amazing part of their story. After some testing, it was determined Jamie was unable to have children. Holding it together from the doctor's office to the car was tough, but once inside their Volkswagen, the tears just flowed. So, Ray being the romantic husband, drove immediately to the hardware store where they bought paint for the nursery and Sesame Street decorations. They took the paint home, painted the extra bedroom and hung up the decorations. And they prayed for God to grant them the family they had dreamed of having.
God is faithful. Not only did they have Michelle three years later, but then Brooke 51 weeks later, Kymberly 23 months after that and finally, Sara four years after Kymberly.
In the meantime, the foundry Ray was working closed just weeks before the birth of their first child. Unemployed and expecting a family is never where you want to be. God opened the door for Ray to become the youth leader and worship leader at an Evangelical Free Church almost immediately. He began taking classes to become a pastor. Once he had attained his licensing, he eventually served as a co-director for Youth for Christ in Wisconsin, and a youth pastor. They thought they were set for life.
But God had other plans.
Through a series of events, the doors to ministry closed in Wisconsin Rapids and Ray was once again unemployed. You see, in the denomination they served, when a Sr. Pastor resigns, the church staff is automatically resigned with him. And Ray was on staff.
But one phone call changed that. And that leads us to yet another thing that borders on the amazing...
September 5, 1991 Jamie was watching LA Law in the family room and Ray came in and said "How would you like to move to Iowa?" The answer was "Sure." The decision took less than 30 seconds. They checked a map and found the city. Ray candidated for the new church on September 22 and they moved from Wisconsin to Iowa on October 11.
Jamie was able to be a stay-at-home mom which had been a dream of hers since she had her first child. But God was tugging on her heart. Through much study and perseverance, she finished her schooling and obtained her pastor's license on October 17, 1997. It has been a stumbling block in the church's history. There are many who are not happy about women in minstry, including her own father. People have left this church looking for a church with all-male leadership. However, it is where God has called Jamie and she is flourishing as a regular conference speaker and pastor in the church.
Now empty nesters, they are happy to be grandparents to three of the brightest, most beautiful/handsome, and wonderfully talented grandchildren ever to walk the earth. Their joy will be multiplied by one this November when their fourth grandchild joins the family. They are ministering full-time at the Vineyard. Their hearts are leading them to know more than to be known.
Their story isn't finished.... they just don't know what it is yet. There are probably more amazing things to come.
