Respite HouseA place of respite, laughs and encouragement for pastors' wives.

I’m not a great journal keeper.  That sounds strange for someone writing a blog but it’s true.  Over the years I HAVE written in them and have always WANTED to be consistent with it.  In fact, I’ve told my husband jokingly (or maybe not!) that if anything happens to me he should destroy the things before anyone finds them!

Journals have a purpose though.  And yesterday I took some out to remind myself of the journey God took us through to get us here, in this church.  I also looked at the personal journey he took me on to find lasting friendship.  I am SO thankful I wrote things down.  My memory isn’t always clear but in the journals I can see His faithfulness displayed over and over.  Seeing the path of prayer and how they were answered was just the reminder and encouragement I needed to keep going. 

Are you a journal keeper?

I was sitting at my daughter’s judo class the other day trying to hide in my book (yes, yes…I should have been looking for opportunities to get to know people…yada yada) when I could sense the lady next to me staring at me off and on.  Finally, I looked up and smiled.  She asked me which kid was mine and then, proceeded with a long monologue…er…dialogue which somehow got around to churches.  She was sharing what she and her husband were looking for in a church.  I started to think, “well, I’ll invite her to ours” when she started to wax eloquently about how she liked one church because of its live orchestra, 2 choirs and awesome music.  Oops…not us…  Besides, I was seeing a very, distinct, PICKY trend of the all too common issue “Where can I find that meets MY standards and expectations (me, me, me, me).”  She then mentioned where she had been attending.  She finally paused in her monologue and asked where I attended.  I told her and mentioned my husband was the pastor.

“Oh,” she paused, “well, I guess you don’t want to hear all this since we are the competition.” 

Huh?????

Seriously, that’s one of the things wrong today.  The mindset of “my church is right/has it perfect/is THE place to go and everyone else is a sorry excuse.” 

This is NOT a competition.  The enemy wants us to think so and get all caught up in that.  Because, maybe then we will forget to actually share the love of Christ and the gospel.

After agonizing waiting and worrying and notifications of bowel obstructions and exploratory surgery…the verdict is the appendix. The pain was on the “wrong side” and they had suspected salmonella but now we know.

Thank you for your prayers. The patient is resting now…and so is my heart.

There will, however, be a future blog about how HARD the miles are when you are in ministry!!!!

I’m taking the liberty on my own blog to ask you to pray for my nephew. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday after a weekend of throwing up that could not be stopped. His sodium levels were found to be at dangerous levels. They can NOT find the cause of this but have pumped him with fluids and are running tests. He had salmonella poisoning at about 5 or 6 years old and this is so scarily familiar. He is now 15. This morning they are running a ct scan (?) to try to get an idea about what is happening. Despite all meds, he started getting sick in the hospital again last night. So, if you read this today…please pray for Matthew.

First of all, excuse the silly title but I am neck deep in rehearsals of “Wizard of Oz” (my daughter is Tin Man and I am helping to prompt lines) so the songs and lyrics seep out of my pores at the moment.  BUT, I just saw an article from the New York Times (of all places) that really surprised me…or maybe it didn’t. 

Here is the quote:

“Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.”

So click HERE for the entire article.

Read it when you have a chance and let me know what you think.  I think I’m glad my husband exercises and that our church gives him plenty of vacation!

As I sat in church this morning before the service began, I opened up my bulletin.  I was thrilled to see an announcement about a get together planned for the women in the church at the end of this month.  Why was I thrilled?  Because I had NOTHING to do with it!  I never knew it was even in the planning stages or that this was coming around the bend.  No one had asked my opinion, permission (I use that term sarcastically) or ANYthing!  I LOVE that.  People stepping into their roles, gifts, etc. and the Pastor’s Wife just gets to attend.  WOW.  To me, that’s a good sign.