Our Perfect Gift to God

It was the best ultrasound I had ever had for one of my children. She jumped and waved and just seemed to be so excited that mommy and daddy could see her! The doctor said everything looks great - healthy baby, healthy mommy makes a doctor happy.

Our memory music box for our little one - Dorema

Four weeks later it was time for another routine check-up. I went by myself since my husband was in seminary and always very busy. He stayed home with the kids and did some homework. The doctor was just going to measure and listen to the heartbeat. Normal check-up.

They couldn’t find the heartbeat. The doctor was not expecting anything wrong. He said at 14 weeks it’s very unlikely I miscarried. I believed him and was calm until my baby came up on the screen and all of a sudden I knew. That sweet beautiful baby we had seen just four weeks prior was no longer bouncing and waving. She was still and nothing was moving. Not even a flutter could be seen. I had seen enough ultrasounds to know that my baby was gone. The doctor muttered something about how he didn’t know what happened and sometimes we don’t know what happened. He left and I wept. I didn’t know I could cry so many tears. . .

To read the rest of our story head on over to Hidden Treasures where I am guest posting for her series about miscarriages. 

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"DAD!!! I REALLY want a boyfriend!!!!"

“Dad!!! I really want a boyfriend!” I sobbed, and I mean SOBBED on my dad’s shoulder. My sister was already planning on marrying her boyfriend and she was YOUNGER than I was by two years! In just three short months I would be graduating from college and then heading back to literally “no-man’s land” at least, no CHRISTIAN man I would ever dream of marrying no-man’s land. My hometown was a mere 500 people and our church was only about 30 people so it truly was a place where I would not meet a man of my dreams.

Therefore, I was devastated by this state of singleness I found myself. My dad then told me those horrible, dreadful words that every fiber of my BEING wanted to throw back at him and make him take back. "Maybe God doesn't WANT you to get married!" HA! That’s ridiculous! My life verse at the time was:

“Delight thyself in the Lord and

He will give you the desires of thine heart.”

Psalm 37:4

The desire of my heart is to be married.  Period. Dad just didn’t understand that! Oh, but he did and as he continued to talk to me I realized that maybe I wasn’t delighting myself in the Lord like I thought I was at all. I had made this demand for a husband and was at that moment throwing a little temper tantrum at my Lord because He wasn’t giving me what I wanted. . .

To read the rest of my story. . .


please head on over to Beautiful Mommy Feet where I am participating in her series And I Knew He Was the One.

A Defining Moment

I will never forget the gray room, the nurse’s hands,
the doctor’s puzzled expression and my tears. 
Oh my tears.


 I was in shock. My baby was gone. 
As soon as they turned on the ultrasound and zoned in on my baby’s little body I knew my little girl was with Jesus and no longer with me. 
The little person who had seemingly jumped for joy the first time my hubbie and I saw her was still. 


So still.

My heart broke.

For the rest of this post you will have to head on over to Beautiful Mommy Feet where I am guest posting for her testimony series throughout the month of November.

In HIS Grip, 
               

Hypocrisy in Our Churches

Churches in the mid-west are usually small and attendance is often irregular. If you ask a person on the street what they think of church, God or even Christianity - the answers often suggest they don't know or care or they feel strongly about not going to church because of the hypocrisy that "lives" there. We just finished Vacation Bible School in our new church and I was amazed and even shocked at how little the kids knew about God or the Bible. One night I taught the Ten Commandments. NONE of the 12 kids had ever heard of them.

So why are these kids completely ignorant of God's Word? Why do their parents have no interest in coming or even bringing their children to church? If you ask people why they don't come to church you will come across this blanket statement. "Church is full of HYPOCRITES." The sad thing is that they may be right. Hypocrisy is rampant in our churches across America - but here in the mid-west, it's casting the church into the shadows. But is it really hypocrisy? Or is the root problem something more basic? Something simpler?

 SIN

Sin - specifically PRIDE, self-pity, and deceitfulness. What happens when we sin? What happens after? 

 We hide.

From the beginning of time, from the beginning of sin's existence on earth we have hidden as a result of the guilt our sin produces. 

"And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:8

Hiding our sin is a product of the terrible sin nature that we were born carrying. You don't have to teach a child how to hide after doing something wrong. It comes NATURALLY! As we grow older and as others exemplify this hiding or covering up our sin, we become more and more of a professional at hiding who we really are.

Recently my husband (I'm married to my pastor!) asked this question in one of our church services: "What do the unsaved expect from true Christians?" There were responses about being good and not sinning, the necessity of having a good testimony. That's what we've been taught. But it's only PARTLY true!

People know if you are a fake. They can sense it. They despise falseness and hypocrisy. And where do they see it the most? In those who claim to follow a holy God. In those who claim to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. They see that we might be following Jesus but they also see us missing a step or two or three. . . and then we try to cover it up and hide that we fail, hide that we fall, hide that we are not as Christlike as we should be.

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. " Matthew 6:1

We know and the unsaved know and GOD knows that we are not perfect. It's still there - that sin nature. But the difference with children of God? It's what we do AFTER we sin. The good testimony that we need to have before unbelievers is GOING to be contaminated by sin because of that sin nature. Sin is allowed by God for HIS GLORY. When others are aware of our sin it provides OPPORTUNITY to bring glory to God.

We need to be walking this walk following CHRIST and the Bible's definition of following Christ - not our culture's perception of following Christ! 

May my testimony be more about HIM and less about me. 




Note: This post was first published as a guest post on Beautiful Mommy Feet

In His Grip, 

Ann 

Who Are YOU Trying to Please?

I’m a pretty self-conscious runner. In fact, I don’t even like saying THAT because I am NOT a runner. Every time I do run, I’m extremely aware of what people are thinking about me. And we all know, that if we’re too busy looking around to see what people are thinking about us while we run, we are sure to trip up every time. But if we are too worried and thinking about what people who are watching us run are thinking, we will fail to run a good race.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, 

but only one receives the prize? 

So run that you may obtain it.” 

1 Corinthians 9:24

Pleasing man has been tripping people up for centuries! The Pharisees were famous for doing it. 

“…for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” John 12:43

Jesus’ disciple Peter did it, Martha did it, Hannah did it, Job did it, and countless others including ourselves do it. When we seek to please men or earn their praise, we trip up and stumble. . .

I'm excited to be guest writing for Homemaker's Challenge today! So if you would like to read the rest of this post - head on over and check it out!

In HIS Grip,

Raising Mighty Arrows Guest Post

Guess what! I am not the ONLY one who emphasizes Pastor's wives on Monday! Heather at Raising Mighty Arrows is a fellow Pastor's wife and she has a heart for those of us serving alongside our Ministry hubbies. She has Minister's Wife Mondays and I wrote a guest post for this series! Here is a little precursor but you will have to hop on over there to read the rest! 

Room At the Cross for You

Room at the Cross for Pastor's Wives

It was Sunday morning worship and the service was drawing to a close. My pastor was giving an invitation asking those who needed to strengthen their relationship with God to come forward and make it public. My heart was heavy and God was speaking to my heart and I knew I must make a change in my life. 

But... going forward? “That’s hard Lord! I can’t do that! Everyone will see me!! It was always hard to go forward before but NOW? I am the PASTOR’S WIFE!!!...

For the rest - head on over to Raising Mighty Arrows! 

In HIS Grip, 
               

Seeking Guest Posts

I have a heart for women in ministry. As a Pastor's wife and a Pastor's kid, I understand the challenges of being a woman in the ministry but I also understand that we are a lot more "normal" than other women might think. We struggle with the same things that other women do - but we often feel as though we cannot share those burdens like other women can. We feel as though everyone is watching and holding us to a higher standard because our husband is the pastor. Maybe they are watching and maybe they aren't. We feel as though we are fish living in a fishbowl and we never know when someone is watching. 

With that in mind, if you are a ministry woman - a pastor's wife, youth pastor's wife, evangelist's wife, music ministry wife, or another kind of ministry wife, I want to hear from YOU! I want to hear about your "fishbowl!" There are two different ways to do this. 

1. Submit a post via email at Ann@StringerMama.com. Posts can be anywhere from 300-600 words. I may or may not chose to publish it but I will let you know!
2. Answer a few of these questions interview style: 
1. When you discovered that you were going to become a ministry wife, what was your response?
2. When you first became a ministry wife what surprised you the most?
3. What do you love about being a ministry wife?
4. What is the hardest thing about being a ministry wife?
5.  How has your life changed since being a ministry wife?
6. How has being a ministry family affected your children?
7. Is it easier or harder to grow in your spiritual walk with God as a ministry wife?
8. What is the biggest challenge that you face as a ministry wife?
9. What perceptions/standards do you think people have about ministry families?
10. How do you and your family measure up to the perceptions people have about ministry families?
11. How has your relationship with your husband been affected by ministry?
12. If you were forced to but could choose any other job/position to replace being a ministry wife what would it be? (Motherhood does not count!)

One of the biggest requirements I have before submitting a guest post is prayer! PLEASE, PLEASE pray about what God would have you write and if you feel as though God has really really laid this on your heart, please let me know! Some of my best posts that I have written have not been from me, but from what God laid on my heart. 

In HIS Grip, 
               

Guest Posting for Beautiful Mommy Feet!

Today I am guest posting for Melissa at Beautiful Mommy Feet! Her blog has been a blessing to me and has truly resonated in my heart! This Pastor's wife has quickly become one of my "bloggy" friends and I've enjoyed getting to know her better! She asked me to write about Cultural Christianity and to be honest, this task stretched me in ways I did not expect when I told her "yes!" I learned a lot and God really led me in writing this - here is a little snippet! For the rest you will have to head on over to Beautiful Mommy Feet!

Churches in the mid-west are usually small and attendance is often irregular. If you ask a person on the street what they think of church, God or even Christianity - the answers often suggest they don't know or care or they feel strongly about not going to church because of the hypocrisy that "lives" there. We just finished Vacation Bible School in our new church and I was amazed and even shocked at how little the kids knew about God or the Bible. One night I taught the Ten Commandments. NONE of the 12 kids had ever heard of them.

So why are these kids completely ignorant of God's Word? Why do their parents have no interest in coming or even bringing their children to church? If you ask people why they don't come to church you will come across this blanket statement...

For the rest of today's post head on over! Thanks for stopping!


In HIS Grip,