Ministry Life
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From Despair to Joy: An Unexpected Journey (Part Two)
Road trips have always been a part of my life. Changing scenery, picnic lunches, and stretch breaks generate mostly happy memories. Each trip usually involved a good measure of planning, the most important being where and when the day’s travel would end. Having that final stopping place chosen ahead of time helped everyone cope with the long hours in the car. Have you have found that true in life as well? Although I know of a few “free-spirits” who relish the spur-of-the-moment adventures, most need to plan. We need to know the plans for the holidays: where we’re going, and who’s cooking what. Yet, if Covid taught us anything, it’s…
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From Despair to Joy: An Unexpected Journey (Part One)
Driving home recently through an unfamiliar area, I realized my GPS could not pick up a signal. Knowing I was headed in the correct direction, I searched for something recognizable. There should be a turn coming. But where? I sure missed that familiar voice telling me, “In four miles, turn right.” I don’t know about you, but I like those little nudges. It reminded me of a time when God whispered in my spirit that a change was coming. My journal entries from that season attest to the promptings of God, through prayer and Bible reading, which led me to understand about an upcoming “turn in the road.” This doesn’t…
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Beating Burnout – Four Possible Steps
Tired. Weary. Exhausted. Sometimes we’re just having a busy day. At other times, we experience seasons of hard work and long hours. Unfortunately, not all labor produces obvious fruit and we can feel like we’re spinning our wheels, a common feeling in ministry. Obviously, if our path is leading to burnout, something has to give. It’s time to take a step, even if we’re dead on our feet. Sometimes we just need to take a STEP BACK – a break, a hiatus, or a vacation. How many people really take a day off or a true Sabbath rest? I know I’m guilty of dragging work home with me on…
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Why I Stopped Playing Church
When I was a little girl, our family lived in a parsonage (a home owned by the church in which the pastor’s family resided.) Ours was an old 5-bedroom house, built in the early 1900’s. An enclosed porch graced the front our home and was big enough for a small table and chairs, a couch, and a podium. I don’t know why or how this wooden stand came to rest in the veranda, but there it was inviting this playful girl to turn the porch into a church and hold services. Being blissfully unaware of my denominations’ feelings about women pastors, I held marriage ceremonies for my stuffed animals and…
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So You Want to Be A Pastor’s Wife – Part Two
Years ago I discovered an old book, written in 1956, called “How to be a Preacher’s Wife and Like It”1 written by Lora Lee Parrott. The book begins, “To marry a successful preacher has been the secret ambition of many fine Christian young ladies.” Ha! I snickered, “Not me!” In fact, when I first met my husband-to-be, I knew he was studying to be a pastor, so I told him plainly, “I’ll NEVER be a pastor’s wife!” We were married two years later. Why was I so resistant? Maybe it was because of the pressure that used to be placed upon the wife of the pastor. Listen to what else…
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So You Want to Be a Pastor’s Wife – Part One
There’s been a buzz on my Facebook news feed recently, the excitement of new beginnings as friends and family graduate from high school, college and other schools of higher learning. Twenty-five years ago, we felt the same thrill as my husband wrapped up his last year of Seminary and we were sent off to the West to begin a life in ministry! Mingling emotions of RELIEF (completing school), EXCITEMENT (our first assignment!), and WONDER (are we ready?) filled our being. My brand-new husband, well aware of my reluctance to be a pastor’s wife (we’ll save that for another blog), assured me, “Honey, it may not always be easy, but I promise, we’re…
