If you are a Pastor's wife...you're so gonna get this post, and if you're not...welcome to a day in the life of...
When it rains it pours. It's the phrase I can best use to describe it. I don't know why it is, but it seems that when people need you....they ALL need you. I can be going along for days, even weeks with not so much as a peep from people. Then, it happens. The days where my phone(s) do not stop ringing.
The first time it happened, I wasn't prepared. I felt like they'd all caught me off guard! How dare they not give me warning that a crisis was approaching?!? I wanted a do-over. I didn't have the right things to say. I didn't feel like I'd really helped anyone. God taught me some huge lessons through that day.
- There is always a calm before the storm. The storm will hit without warning. I can't let the calm lull me into being unprepared when the storm hits. It is in the calm times that I most need to be preparing for the hurricane.
- I need to constantly be filling myself with Him. If I don't, when others need me, I will have nothing to give. Instead of desiring to help them, I will resent them. I need to be filled with Him...constantly.
- Sometimes, all I will do is listen. I may have words, I may have wisdom and practical advice, but they will not always want to hear it. I cannot judge success based on outcome. It's not my job. My job is #1 .
- It is a precious gift to be able to lend an ear, encouragement, prayer, support, whatever it might be. A gift...a high calling.
- Remind myself of this ALL the time, because I will forget too easily if I don't.
I sometimes wish I could fast-forward 20 years, grab the wisdom I will (hopefully) have then, and then come back to the present. I can't. My church, friends, family, everyone I come into contact with is stuck with the current, inexperienced, Sarah. Today, I am praising God for the direction and discernment of His Spirit, for His written word, prayer, endless books & studies, godly counsel, and life lessons learned...He uses them to equip me...not to make me an expert, but to equip me for the work He has planned. Wow.
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I just told my husband last week
ReplyDelete'Who knew ministry would be so much, well ministry!' Only a fellow pastor's wife would get that.
As a PK--and a long-time church-staffer--I can totally identify. I heard this quote yesterday, and thought it completely accurate:
ReplyDelete"Ministry: You must do what you cannot do with what you do not have for the rest of your life." -Dr. Bill Lawrence, Prof. Em. at DTS
I guess that, just like your money comment from yesterday, ministry puts us in a place of big-time dependence, no? And I think in the end, we will be so *grateful* that God put us in that position!
Thanks for being so real again. And for reaching for Christ. It means so much and is so encouraging. :-)
-J
I can totally relate. You are so right...we need to be constantly filling ourselves with Him. Those are some wise words.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how open and raw you are in your posts! It is a blessing and a challenge,
ReplyDeletethanks!
You do such a great job of balancing what you can give with what others may expect from you! You are just you. And people are drawn to that!
You are in for such an amazing and wonderful journey as a pastors wife. You don't wear it as a label, and I hope you never do. You are Sarah and that is all HE wants from you. You will never live up to EVERYTHING people expect from a pastors wife...but you will also suprise them with God working thru you as you are. Why does this make me cry! I just think of the struggles my mother has gone thru. What pressure she felt to be a certain way...to be almost perfect. My daddy really seems nearly perfect.....and that is hard to be married to sometimes . Especially for a perfectionist like my mother. You seem to already refused to have those expectations put on you and just are YOURSELF! THAT will help you sooo much in your journey!
It is so fun to watch you grow in the "role".....you rock as a pastors wife!
love you!
Yep, my church is stuck with "current, inexperienced" Jennifer... Thankfully, they are much more forgiving of my inexperience than I am of my inexperience!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Sounds like you've got lots of great wisdom to me - smiles!
ReplyDeleteSo, so true Sarah. Love this.
ReplyDeleteYou are already wise beyond your years...#2 speaks volumes!
ReplyDeletesometimes the rest of us forget how much you sacrifice, pour out, and simply love on God's people. He has been telling me lately- in your weakness, I become great.
ReplyDeletethank you for who you are and the transparent life you live!