Life in Other Fishbowls: Heather Hooks Part 2

Dun-dun-da-Dun! Introducing Part 2 of Heather Hooks' interview about being a pastor's wife. In case you missed the first part of Heather Hooks interview you can find it here. 

6. How has being a pastor’s family affected your children? 

My children LOVE church but I must be sure to shield them from those late night conversations about difficulties. Because church is the first place my children learn their social skills they are very trusting of everyone they meet. The church has helped me to raise my kids and it is a blessing to be in this busy stage of life.

7. Is it easier or harder to grow in your spiritual walk with God as a pastor’s wife? 

I definitely think it is harder!!! Because your husband is the preacher!  It is hard to respond to an invitation or an alter call. It is also difficult because others in the church come to you with their struggles and it is hard not to get yourself down because they are hurting. When I am counseling someone about an issue in their life I must recognize that I cannot bring those dark feelings home with me which is sometimes hard to do. I have learned to listen to scripture on CD while folding laundry and I also listen to other pastors sermons to learn as well.

8. What is the biggest ongoing challenge/s that you face as a pastor’s wife? 

The biggest challenge I face as a pastor's wife is BITTERNESS. I must always realize that I am serving God and I must rest in Him. As a pastor's wife you are expected to serve and the "thank you's" are sometimes few and far between. Bitterness creeps in when Satan has you dwelling on that small sin that was done against you. I feel that I am regularly attacked emotionally and I MUST stay close to God's Word to be encouraged.

9. What perceptions/standards do you think people have about pastor’s families? 

The biggest perception that I think people have is that we have all the time in the world to accomplish everything at church. As a mother of 3 kids under the age of 6 I am a very busy lady. I love serving God and I do so on a regular basis but I also am a homemaker and need to tend to the needs of my family. Which I am sure all stay-at-home moms know is a busy job. Balancing your church life and home life will always be a struggle but I focus on what will be of eternal value and it helps me to keep my perspective.

10. How do you and your family measure up to the perceptions people have about pastor’s families?

I have always been REAL to my church family and they love me for who I am and I believe that I am harder on myself than they are. They understand that you are a sinner and going through struggles yourself and if you go to a godly woman in your church and ask for help they will fell honored to be a blessing to you. A church family is there to help one another and that even includes the pastor's family.

11. How has your relationship with your husband been affected by ministry?

I believe that ministry has made us grow closer. We are the only ones in our church that "eat, sleep & breathe" church and I know that the decisions made at church fall heavily on my husbands shoulders. I have been there to discuss and give him counsel on different decisions that are occurring in our church. I have been his sounding board. Most of the the time my husband just needs to talk about it out loud and he comes to a very Godly decision and other times he needs my advice or input. The most important thing I have realized about being a pastor's wife is that I must 100% be behind my husband's decisions ALL of the time. He needs that constant encouragement.

12. If you could choose any other job/position to replace being a pastor’s wife what would it be? 

I would not change being a pastor's wife because I have grown so much as a person. God made this position to be difficult but I remind myself of my life verse 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." This verse reminds me that God thinks I can handle being a pastor's wife and this is the best place for me to grow. God uses trials and tests in my life to grow me and teach me and I know that I have grown more in the last 7 years than I would have in a different profession. I love being used by God.

Thank you so much Heather for sharing your Pastor's Wife heart! I'm sure your church family LOVES having you as their pastor's wife and you have been a HUGE blessing to me! If you are a Pastor's wife and would like to submit a guest post or be interviewed like Heather, please contact me! I would LOVE to hear from you! 

Life In Our Fishbowl: Called to be a Pastor's Wife?

It is often debated as to whether or not a pastor's wife is CALLED to the ministry of being a pastor's wife. I've talked to women who are married to the pastor and they say that their husbands were called to the ministry but they were not. They had become bitter to the position that God has placed them in. When my husband was going to seminary I was able to talk to a lot of women who like me, were either anticipating or dreading (or both!) the day their husbands would become pastors. It was amazing to me how differently women viewed becoming a pastor's wife.

For me, I was REALLY excited! I had bought books about being a pastor's wife and devoured them! Every church that my husband went to as a potential candidate caused me to get excited and wonder if this church was the ONE. Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to marry someone in the ministry. I did not care if it was a missionary, pastor, counselor, or create-your-own-ministry guy! I just knew that I wanted to be in the MINISTRY.

Ladies, whether you are a pastor's wife or not - we are ALL called to be what God wants us to be.

1 Corinthians 7:17 says: 

"Only let each person lead the life

 that the Lord has assigned to him, 

and to which God has called him. 

This is my rule in all the churches."

"Each person" is CALLED! We all have different lives and jobs and positions. Mine just happens to be the job of a pastor's wife! But I'm also a mom and a blogger and a housekeeper and MANY other things! In my life, the life God has called me to, I am to PLEASE HIM! He gave me my life for a REASON!

Ephesians 4:1 says

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord,

 urge you to walk in a manner worthy

 of the calling to which you have been called,

So if you've been struggling with the position or life that you are living, remember it is a life that God Himself has assigned to you! He has great plans for you! So are Pastor's wives CALLED to their jobs? If they are a pastor's wife or will be a pastor's wife - YOU BET! But women are also JUST AS CALLED by GOD to be moms and wives and housekeepers and lawyers and doctors and plumbers and . . .

Life In Our Fishbowl: Encouragement

"Be sober-minded; be watchful.

 Your adversary the devil prowls 

around like a roaring lion, 

seeking someone to devour." 

1 Peter 5:8 

Satan hates us. 

Satan cannot stand our ministry.

Satan especially despises my husband. 

Satan wants to see my husband fall and be destroyed.

Satan will use any means necessary to discourage, tear down, frustrate, or depress my husband. 

Our ministry here has been good and even exciting at times! We had Vacation Bible School a few weeks ago and EIGHT kids made a profession of salvation! We have three new visitors attending church faithfully and one has decided to become a member. We've only been here for about four months and God has blessed my husband's ministry greatly! 

When things are going well on the outside, it's inevitable that Satan will notice. It happened just this past week. My husband came home from work with a look on his face that screamed "THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG!" but he denied that there was a problem. Being the ever faithful "helpmeet" I demanded that he tell me what was wrong. He continued to deny any problems so I backed off and just prayed for my man. Within a few minutes he was using words like "failure" and "pointless" in our conversation. I stood there listening completely shocked. Then he told me that he had no leading on what to preach on for next Sunday. When he said that, I was completely baffled because my husband RARELY knows what he is going to preach about until Friday or Saturday. It was Tuesday. It was so EASY for me to see that this was not real. It only SEEMED real to my husband. It is like watching your husband and knowing that there is this presence that is whispering words of discouragement in his ears. 

"But encourage one another day after day, 

as long as it is still called "Today," 

so that none of you will be hardened

 by the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:13

So I am at war for my husband. Now I know that I don't HAVE to do that, I mean, God has it covered and He will take care of my husband. But I feel as though God has placed me in this position of being my husband's wife to help him so I have decided to become the epitome of encouragement. If Satan is going to attack him and attempt to tear him down, then I am going to wage war and encourage my man right and left. I am going to edify, I'm going to love, and I'm going to respect my man. I have a place in my husband's life that no one else has and I am going to take advantage of my role. 

"Therefore encourage one another 

and build one another up,

 just as you are doing." 

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Life In OTHER Fishbowls: Heather Hooks

Introducing a new series! Life in OTHER Fishbowls! Today we are going to hear about the fishbowl of Pastor's wife, Heather Hooks! I love her honesty and passion she has for her church family! 

1. When you discovered that you were going to become a pastor’s wife, what was your response? 

Fear! I thought I would not have any friends but God blessed me with the opportunity to talk with the widowed wife of the pastor of the church we were going to and she said there were two kinds of pastor's wives:

1. The pastor's wife that was afraid to be hurt and she kept everyone at arms length. She was a nice person but she would never get too close to any one person. 

2. The pastor's wife that threw herself into everyone's lives and loved on them and when they hurt you or your husband she would cry for 2 weeks. I decided to be the latter.

2. When you first became a pastor’s wife what surprised you the most?

The fact that the people really wanted to know the real me, even the flaws.

3. What do you love about being a pastor’s wife?

Being able to support my husband in every aspect of his ministry especially keeping him encouraged which is sometimes hard to do.

4. What is the hardest thing about being a Pastor’s wife?

Having tough skin. I love my church members but sometimes they don't realize that when they attack your husband they hurt you too. it is difficult not to take things personally but I just remind myself that they don't "eat, sleep, and breath" the church. They have different lives during the week.

5. How has your life changed since being a pastor’s wife? 

My life has grown in many ways. It has shown me that I need to only look to God for my comfort because He is unfailing and as a pastor's wife there are expectations that you accomplish with very little encouragement of a job well done and I have learned in the words of Paul "to be content in all things."

Tell us a little about yourself! 

I was the first person in my family to be saved. I grew up in a home filled with substance and physical abuse but God shielded me from ever becoming a victim. Then He used a friend's family to disciple me to grow and learn more since I had never regularly attended church before that. God led me to attend Faith Baptist Bible College and it was there that I met my husband. We were married after our junior year of college. Right after our college graduation my husband became the pastor of Yarmouth First Baptist Church and we have been there for the last 7 years. I now have 3 children and I love being a pastor's wife.

Thank you Heather for the peek into your fishbowl! 

Life in Our Fishbowl: My Quiet Time

Since God has given me a new passion and desire to serve Him with my blogging, it has become more difficult to manage my time online wisely. So I decided to sell my netbook and purchase an Archos 7o Android Tablet. Problem solved! What? That's what my husband said too!

There are many things that I love about it. My number one thing is I can be anywhere and use it. I can bring it upstairs with me and use my Google reader to catch up on blogs and be right there with my kids making sure they are staying in their beds to take their naps and not galavanting about their bedrooms! I can nurse my baby and one-handedly check email or read from my Kindle app. I call those times "dead times" or times when I am only doing ONE thing! Now I can multi-task in those "dead times" and make them no longer "dead!"

My favorite thing though? I use it as my Bible. Yup, that's right! And I LOVE IT! There are SEVERAL Bible apps that are wonderful. I have ESV Bible app that I like to use but my favorite app is Cadre Bible. It's free unless you want to upgrade it to get different Bibles and resources.

Since my hubbie is a PASTOR, I sit in the pew alone. Ha Ha Ha! I just reread what I wrote! I don't sit in the pew ALONE! I have a 4 year old, a two year old and a 3 month old to keep me company! Now do you see why I feel ALONE? I don't have any help from my husband who is usually lending a helping hand, or lap as it were. So opening my Bible and following along with my pastor-husband is a dream. I am usually holding Emily and wrapping my other arm around my 2 year old to remind him of MOMMY'S AWESOME PRESENCE in his life. Right.

My Archos changed that. All of a sudden I can open my Bible and with one hand scroll through the verses as quickly as if I had my Bible with me. I can READ it! And hold my baby! And wiggle my finger accompanied by my "meanest mommy reminder" look at my son or daughter.

Before I got my Archos, I had daily Bible readings that I picked out emailed to me by www.mybibleplans.com/ and I LOVE it! I especially love it because I can read them while I'm sitting in the bathroom - I didn't say I was the one going!! :0)

Media can make it VERY difficult to focus on time with God but this time for me, it helped me GET my time with God and I'm so thankful!

Oh and by the way! Be watching for my new series about Life in OTHER Fishbowls! And if you are a pastor's wife who would like to be involved in giving us a peek into your fishbowl let me know!

I'm linked up with Courtney at Women Living Well today for her Media Monday series!

Introducing: Life in OTHER Fishbowls!

Now announcing: Life in Other Fishbowls! I am SOOOO excited about this adventure! God has really laid it upon my heart to write about my life as a pastor's wife. But as I have been writing, I've been blessed by other pastor's wives and their comments and emails with stories like mine or very different stories.

So here is their chance to share what they feel that God has laid on their hearts to you! Whether you are a ministry wife, or going to be a ministry wife or curious about that woman who is YOUR pastor's wife, you won't want to miss these! There will always be something for ANY woman out there because after all, pastor's wives are just like you! We are all real women with real families with real husbands who have a special God-given purpose!

If YOU are a pastor's wife, I want to hear from YOU! If you were, are, or want to be a pastor's wife, email me your story or stories! If you would like to be interviewed about your life as a pastor's wife, we can do that too! I'm excited to hear from you - the series will officially start THIS week so be watching for the first interview of a young pastor's wife who has quite a passion for her ministry. 

Life In Our Fishbowl: Freedom

Contemplating our freedoms this morning, I realized how thankful I am that my husband is a pastor in the United States. If he was a pastor in a persecuted country it could be very different for him.

In the United States . . .

I don't have to worry about my husband being reported for preaching. 


I don't have to wonder if my husband will make it home from work or not. 


I don't have to be leery of the visitors that come to our church and wonder if they are here for the wrong reasons. 


I don't have to think about visiting my husband in jail because of something he believes. 


I don't have to struggle with the sermon topics that my husband preaches because it breaks the law.


I don't have to hide my Bible on the way to church. 

So today I am very thankful for my country and the rights and privileges that my country provides. But I'm also thankful for the responsibilities that those rights and privileges demand.

In light of these privileges for being a pastor's wife in the United States, 

I should be thankful my husband has the job of being a pastor.


I should support him on Sunday by my presence and encouragement. 


I should never criticize the topics that he preaches. 


I should be proud to be a pastor's wife. 


I should delight when strangers enter our church. 


I should be thankful that my husband is safe and protected by the laws of our country. 

I'm sure there are many more things that pastor's wives in persecuted countries could tell me. But for now, I'm thankful for the United States and while She is not perfect, we are blessed to be a part of this GREAT Nation!

Life In Our Fishbowl: Plastic People

Photo Credit

In the three months since that I have been a pastor's wife something never ceases to amaze me. Women talk to me! It's INCREDIBLE! I LOVE it! Now before you start thinking that nobody liked to talk to me before I was a pastor's wife, let me explain. Women really talk to me and they let me SEE inside. They open up their hearts and they tell me their stories - stories about when they became a Christian, stories of past struggles, stories of grace and forgiveness, stories of pain and loss. It's a beautiful thing to hear these stories and be able to listen and cry and encourage and build up these women. 

My husband and I have often talked about the "Stained Glass Masquerade" that happens in churches everywhere. People hide what is truly in their hearts and in so doing, no one can help them. But at the same time, no one can hurt them more.

How beautiful would it be if everyone could go to church and be themselves completely. How beautiful it would be if you could go to church and everyone would love you and encourage you and help you with your deepest darkest struggles. If church could really truly be the safe house that it is meant to be, how would it change our lives? I think it would be monumental!

So how do we make a change in our churches? How do we help our churches become a place where we can take off the mask and be ourselves? Let people into our lives? When you look at the overall picture, it is impossible. We cannot simply hold a world-wide - "Let's all Take Off Our Mask Sunday!"

It starts with individuals. I may be a pastor's wife that is expected to BE a certain type of Christian, a certain type of mother, and wife. But if I let people in to realize that I am just a woman, a sinful woman struggling with sin in my heart just like ANYONE else out there, it allows for people to have HOPE. The more I share of my insides and how I need to grow and how I have already grown, the more others realize that they too can have that! By being REAL and honest it gives HOPE to others!

Being a pastor's wife creates an environment for women to feel safe to talk to me. I love that because I have a heart for encouraging women. I am so thankful that God has chosen me to have that role. But maybe you are not a pastor's wife and there is someone in your life that you need to talk to, someone that you need to encourage by telling them your story. Someone that is struggling in their life and may not know that you struggled with the same things. Pray about it and see if God wants you to be that person to step in and say "I know how you feel because I've felt it too." Then it won't be just your pastor's wife who that person feels that they can turn to. 

Life In Our Fishbowl: Sunday Holidays and Mondays

I am a newbie pastor's wife and I have yet to master Sunday celebrations. So far we have had Easter, Mother's Day and now Father's Day and it takes a LOT more work than it used to! 

As a Pastor's family, we are running hard Friday until Sunday night. Then unlike the rest of the world, Monday comes and we breathe a sigh of relief!  Today I read 4 Facebook status updates bemoaning the fact that it was Monday again. For me and for my hubbie (even though he goes to his part-time job Monday thru Wednesday) Monday is a welcomed day in our home! 

So after my hubbie preached a message and after we had the regular talk about the mornings events and comparing notes of who talked to who and whats going on in different peoples hearts and lives, we went out for Chinese so we could quickly come back home and get ready for the evening service! Which last night was a cookout for Father's Day and my house needed cleaned desperately for the company! Father's Day was not really observed in our home yesterday. BUT it will be tonite! Because its Monday and I have the time to honor the wonderful father of my children! Hooray! 

Most pastor's have a "day off." I use the term loosely because there is always a chance that he will have to do something church related on his day off. Several pastors use Monday as a day off. My husband uses Thursday because he holds a part-time job as well. If you don't know what day is your Pastor's day off - ask him! Then help him out by keeping the phone calls, the drop-by-to-talk-to-pastor trips, the planning church events or anything else that could interrupt his day off to another day. 

Our church family has been wonderful this way and I'm thankful for it! Because that day off is so very special to us as his family. We don't even have school on that day! Because its daddy's day off! 

Life In Our Fishbowl: Accepting Help

I like independence. I believe even though I am a wife and mom that I'm still a pretty independent person. I don't necessarily think this is a good or a bad thing. At least for me. I think it's great that I do things on my own and I don't normally ask for help. Well. . . then I became a pastor's wife. Now someone else is mowing our yard, taking care of the flooding in our basement and a teenager in our church was "hired" to be our monthly date night babysitter! Now OBVIOUSLY I'm NOT complaining! This is GREAT! Really! To not have to worry about these things and enjoy these things are not where I struggle. 

It's my PRIDE about my independence that I'm worried about! My husband was gone pretty much all week last week and a sweet older woman in her 80's (!!!!) felt that she should have gone with me to the doctor's office with me to help with my kids. The thing holding her back was that she has a broken arm and has been struggling with dizziness. BLESS. HER. HEART! She's AMAZING!!!! 

I was telling my sister (aka my best friend) about these things and of course what are sisters for but to point out our weaknesses right? My sister seems to think so! But then, what she said struck a nerve and I knew instantly that she was right. She told me that I need to learn to accept help. Because I need it. Because I don't HAVE to do it all on my own. 

So what was the REAL root of my problem? I'll say it again! PRIDE!!!! I seem to think that I am EXPECTED to do it all on my own. Either by my own standards or by that invisible "THEY" that we always seem to care about but no one really KNOWS! We perceive that independence is necessary but when it comes down to it - God doesn't promote independence whatsoever!! I searched the Bible (ESV) for the terms independence and independent and wasn't expecting to find anything but guess what it IS there! 

I Corinthians 11:11 "Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman;"

HEY!!! Talk about knife into my heart! Read the context of the passage and it's even more obvious! But then look through the Bible at the emphasis on fellowship and helping each other. Paul alone was helped in so numerous ways - just look at all of the "thank you" notes he sent! It's a biblical principle to help each other and be helped and to be THANKFUL for the help and not concerned with our own pride! 

Maybe I can do it - but maybe that's not the plan that God has designed for me! Maybe He wants to bless me by using someone to help me. I'll never know that blessing until I admit that I do truly need help!

Do you want to help your pastor's wife (or anyone else for that matter!) but don't know how to do it? Have a heart-to-heart with her and let her know that God has given you a desire to help her and her family and give her your ideas of how you can help her and let her choose which would fit her life the best! Please don't just say "Let me know if you need any help!" because trust me, she probably won't! Provide tangible thought out ideas because that helps her know that you truly DO want to help! 

Life in Our Fishbowl: Perceptions

Perceptions. Our world is THICK with perceptions. My hubbie and I have been talking about this concept for the past few days (that happens when your hubbie preaches about it on Sunday!). My entire life, I always perceived specific things of my pastor's family. And now that I AM the mom in a pastor's family, those ideas are STILL there! It's true! 

Now, I know, that we are normal people. VERY "NORMAL." But it's always at the back of my mind that there are several things that I "need to make sure that my family accomplishes" because its expected. Like my children should sit still in church and NEVER run in the church. And my house should ALWAYS be cleaned in case company pops over. And I should NEVER be in my pajamas after 9:00am. Goes along with the company thing. Yes, I'm still in my pajamas! 

Then there are the perceptions that I think I should DO. Things that I expect out of myself. These are the ones that I put on my own shoulders. Things like taking my kids outside every day the sun shines, or having my son potty trained before he turns 3, or making sure there are amazing meals on the table three times a day, or being a size 8 (yea, so NOT there!) It's EXHAUSTING! 

Well my hubbie switched roles yesterday and became my pastor to me and God used his words mightily in my heart. Who says that I need to be be be be be . . . . ? Who says? It's definitely NOT the Bible. So then it's definitely NOT God. Then who is it? It's ME. It's not even other PEOPLE! Now they might imply things and slip in little comments that were meant to direct you into the "right way that you should go." But it's ME who decides to impose the perception into my life. It's my decision to take responsibility for the perception. 

Now I am NOT saying that we should drop the perceptions and do whatever trips our fancy. There are good reasons for those perceptions. Using the lens of the Bible we need to evaluate our perceptions to see if they match up to GOD'S PERCEPTIONS. Our ideas are meaningless unless they are the same as God's. What does God think of my endeavors to keep a spotless house? What does God think of my endeavors to keep my children sitting like statues in the church services? What does God think of my endeavors to. . . ? 

Now obviously Pastor's families are not the only ones who have perceptions thrown at them every day. Think of the president of the United States or Prince Will and Kate - I felt like they were a WALKING EXAMPLE of a couple trying to fulfill a MULTITUDE of perceptions. But now think of the expectations of moms, dads, children, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers. We all have ideas of what they should be like. But what REALLY matters is what GOD wants us to be. 

So how do we take this and grow from it? We need to examine our heart and our lives and ask God "What do YOU have for me today? What do YOU expect from me today? How can I follow YOUR perceptions for my life today?" God has a plan for each and every one of us and sometimes what we THINK we should be doing is NOT a part of God's plan even though it may be on the to-do list of everyone else out there. Psalm 37 says: 

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [2]
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

We are responsible for following God's path and committing our paths to GOD not to what our culture or our peers or even our own desires seem to be leading and guiding us to do. Trust God and it will all be beautiful. 

And search your own heart to see if maybe you are pushing your own perceptions on someone else. Maybe you are judging someone for something based on your own ideas. And once again, pray for your pastor's family or anyone else who is responsible for others well-being that they will be able to follow God and not man. 

Thanks for peering into our fishbowl today! 

Life in Our Fishbowl: Conversation Life

Our family took a breather yesterday. Or should I say, TRIED to take a breather. I'm truly realizing how difficult it is for a pastor's family to leave work behind! Now, if you're a pastor's wife of several years you're probably chuckling to yourself that I'm figuring this out but that's okay because it probably hit you somewhere along the lines too! 

Memorial Day was something that we had been looking forward to because we were planning on going to the Camp Manitoumi Annual picnic. I had never been there for it but I knew that we could enjoy the day as a family and do some fun things together. Or not. 

It really was a fun day and I'm thankful for the day! But my hubbie and I discovered at the end of the day that we had both (separately) spent the majority of our day and our conversations picking the brains of fellow pastor's families! In other words, it was just another day in the life of a Pastor's family! 

Sometimes I truly feel consumed by our ministry lives. Sometimes I finish a long conversation with my husband and go to bed and realize that once again, we spent the entire evening talking about ministry! My pastor dad once said that it takes about a week before he can relax and leave work behind to truly enjoy a vacation away from ministry. But then the vacation is over!  

But you know, I'm not begrudging this change. It IS a change and sometimes its hard to clear our heads enough to find things other than church to talk about! Last night I told my hubbie "Okay! We're done talking about church stuff for a while!" After talking about how fast Emily is growing and how important it is to make sure we make time for family time in our week, we drifted into silence. Then we started talking about ministry again until we went to sleep! Ha ha! It's actually pretty funny when I think about it! 

Ministry has become a HUGE part of our lives as a family. It affects every part! God has called us to this and we're thankful that He chose to use us to serve Him. Even if it's a little more involved than we initially thought! So if you're NOT part of a pastor's family pray for your pastor and their family! They are probably at home praying and caring for you!

Mother Daughter Banquet

Soooo. . . I'm a pastor's wife, right? And pastor's wives are asked to do a variety of things that otherwise they wouldn't be asked to do. I was asked by an area church to speak at their Mother Daughter Banquet last night and I was completely honored to do that. I had done it before but only to ladies that already knew me. I only knew ONE person in this audience. But I have to say, I had a BLAST! It was so much fun to do and I was very excited to do it. But let me tell you, I do not envy my hubby having to get up and speak three sometimes even four times a week. It's exhausting!!!

In the past I've spoken for various ladies events and youth activities and for my Women's Ministry classes in college and I am SOOOO thankful for those classes and the experience that they gave me. BUT I did NOT have three kids to care for during preparation for my devotionals at that time! Soooo what used to take me a couple of hours or so to pull together now takes more like 5 DAYS to do! Thankfully my hubbie kidnapped two of the three kiddos and that helped me prepare a TON! I love doing it but for more than one reason, I'm glad I'm not the one up there every Sunday speaking like my hubbie!

I Need a NAME!!!

I'm trying to come up with a name for our women's ministry group. I want a name that MEANS something. But I also want something catchy and easy to remember. Picture telling someone "I'm off to my ____ Meeting!" I prefer a one word acronym or just a couple of words. Like I said EASY to remember. 

I'm starting this women's ministries group for the purpose of bringing the ladies in our church together for fellowship and growing closer to God together but with the added bonus of providing an outlet for our ladies to invite their friends with no pressure!

Unfortunately the internet isn't helping me and my hubbie keeps coming up with hilarious ideas but not at all what I was looking for! Typical if you know my hubbie AT ALL! So here are some of my ideas . . . 

C.O.N.N.E.C.T - I don't know why I like this one so much - I just haven't figured out what it STANDS for!! It could be an acronym or it could come with a slogan or something. . . CONveying the NEed for Christ Together? hmmm. . . 

S.S.S - Sweet Smelling Savor - I like this too but I'm not sure if it's catchy enough but it's from Ephesians 5:2 which is kinda neat. 

I also like maybe something about HEM referring to the woman who touched the hem of Jesus garment. 

Anyway . . . that's where my brain is today! PUH - LEASE comment if you have ANY ideas at all! My brain is slowly turning to MUSH! ha ha.

Update: One of the ladies in my church came up with this idea! JUMP - Jesus Use Me Please - I really like this one! Haven't decided yet but we'll see! 

Calvary Baptist Church Blog

Soooo . . . I've been a little busy CREATING a BLOG for our church!!! YAY! I'm pretty excited about this and can't help but show it off! You're going to HAVE to check it out! My hubbie and I are both contributing authors for it. I'm so excited about it I'm busting! So go for it and take a peek! 

We are HERE!!

I have SOOOOO much to blog about right now and it WILL be coming but with moving and trying to unpack as much as possible before the baby comes, I can't justify spending much time on my computer! :0/ BUT I do want to let you know that we're all tucked into our beautiful new home and and really really enjoying our new life here in Illinois!

Everyone has been so welcoming both from our church and our new community! We visited a member in the nursing home this morning and now my hubbie is going to be doing a service there occasionally for the residents which will be fantastic! We also visited a pastor in the area that we already knew and had a great time of fellowship with them. Things are happening quickly and it's exciting to see how God has been preparing US to be HERE. And how God has been preparing HERE for US. God likes to show us how He does things like that sometimes and its so AMAZING! 

It may be a week or so before I get back to my regular blogging - I still have another part to my moving series and I have to show you our before and after pictures of what we are doing in our new home! SOOO excited about those! Not to mention in the not to far away future - as in a week according to my doctor - our already 8 pound baby will make an appearance! YAY!!! I'm totally excited about that one too! Have a great one and hang in there with me on this little blogging lag - I have tons to share when I'm able to! 

Dun Dun Dah Duuuunnnn!!!!

Calvary Baptist Church in Chatsworth, IL. 

WE ARE MOVING!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!! 

Sunday afternoon a wonderful church in Chatsworth, Illinois voted to call my husband as their Senior Pastor. We accepted the call the same day. We are so excited to see how God has worked in bringing us and the church to this point. God definitely knows what He's doing (an obvious point, I know, but when I can see it - it's MIRACULOUS!). 

Which brings me to my next bit of news . . . We are MOVING! Okay I know I said that but we are moving in 10 days. HOORAY!!! Yes, we are a little insane I know but here's the deal. Our baby is due in 4 weeks from today (ANOTHER HOORAY!!!). If we were to wait until after the baby is born it would be MUCH MUCH more stressful on me then doing it before. Truly. 

To be honest, I'm doing pretty well. I'm completely convinced that God is protecting me and preserving me from the stress levels that COULD be happening. If you were to tell me 2 months ago that I would be doing this, I would have curled up in a ball and NOT moved! Okay, probably not THAT bad, but it would cross my mind!

I am really excited! Dreams are coming true. Dreams that my hubbie and I have had since BEFORE we were married. When we got married, our dreams became a joint goal and now those goals have become reality. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be in ministry alongside my husband. For a while, I thought those dreams would have to be satisfied by being single and serving God. Once I became completely at peace with that plan for my life, God brought my amazing husband into my life and BOOM! That dream came true. Now another dream has come true by becoming a pastor's wife. I was an assistant pastor's wife and that was AMAZING and incredible but God ended that journey and brought us to seminary instead so once again that dream was put on the shelf. 

I am scared too! I am suddenly a pastor's wife! Yes, that's what I've always wanted but it's scary and intimidating! I am so blessed and thankful that I do not have to do this alone. God is right there alongside me and guiding me and the only time I really need to worry is when I let go and try to do it on my own. So I'm in this and totally relying on God to sustain me and lift me up as only a Heavenly, Perfect Father can do. 

Our new home - isn't it pretty? I love it! 

If you don't mind I do have some prayer requests I would like to ask you to pray about for us. 

-- Pastor Sam for obvious reasons! He has much more on his plate than I do right now! 

-- My children - They are both so excited about going to "the white house" in "Chapsworth" but I'm completely aware that this will be a HUGE change for them piled on other changes. 

-- Cody - He is my shy one and VERY attached to mommy. I'm concerned about him facing a new house, church, and missing mommy when and after the baby comes. Tough times are ahead of my baby. 

-- Aimee - She is going through a stage called "I need ATTENTION!" Unfortunately the attention she has been getting has been primarily when she is naughty - I'm working on this with her and trying to give her good attention but with everything going on. . . 

-- My unborn little one. I feel as though this baby is getting a back seat! Usually I am chomping at the bit to give birth to my baby at this time but right now I am PRAYING that I can hold my baby after I'm unpacked and READY for him/her. 

-- My pregnancy. Yup still pregnant and miserable and swelling and high blood pressure and the meds are NOT fun and . . . 

-- Our new church family - we are already in love with them and their concerns are suddenly our concerns. We are praying for the transitions that they are going through too. They already have been AMAZING in their efforts to do whatever they can for us and it is SOOO wonderful! 

-- Our church family here in Bussey - we are going to MISS THEM!!! They are so much a part of our lives and our ministry that they will be greatly missed. I wish we could just pack them up and bring them too! :0) 

Well there you go! Thanks so much for your prayers in advance. We are so thankful for them! Stay tuned because I'm hoping to bring a blog series about moving tips and tricks that I've picked along the way. This move will be my 25th move in my life. I am a PROFESSIONAL! And I'm hoping it's my LAST! Wow - that's a new thought!