Showing posts with label Ministry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ministry. Show all posts

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I Am a Pastor's Wife...

I've been a pastor's wife for all of three years, so my knowledge is limited to say the least. I'm hardly one that's been around long enough to have a whole lot of wisdom for anyone, but since ya'll asked I can at least give you my take on it all ;)
Becoming a pastor was always an option for Ben. It was that, or a veterinarian. I thought the veterinarian option was a good choice, after all, he could still serve in a church...and I could be a normal wife. Deep down, I knew that if God called him to ministry that it meant He called me too. I was positive Ben would make a great pastor, and I was also positive that I had a good chance of ruining it for him...just by being myself.
Looking back, I think I was right. Left to myself, I would totally ruin it.
What I didn't foresee all those years ago, was that God would take me...my personality, my quirks...and He would tweak them to make them useful in ministry. I am talking about a lot of tweaking.
I could be honest without being harsh. Speak truth, covered in love. Be real without jeopardizing privacy. Love a tiny town. Have a burden for people I don't even know. The list goes on and on...all stuff that I never thought possible, because I never considered the fact that if this is what He called me to, then He would go above and beyond equipping me. He knows my faults and weaknesses better than me, of course He knew what He was getting into!

Here's the questions...

What's been the biggest struggle so far as a pastor's wife? Oddly enough my biggest struggle has always been this. Becoming a pastor's wife didn't fix it or magically make it easier, if anything it made it blatantly more obvious to me how absolutely essential it is for me to be in His word. Without it I have no hope of making a positive difference in anyone's life, especially those in my church.


How do you stay connected to women in your church? It's important to me that the women in our church know me. If I'm not sharing my heart with them, then they're likely to make assumptions on my motives and actions. If I can share with them my struggles and my hopes and they can see that I want God to use me and to change me, I think it makes it easier for them to be gracious and give me the benefit of the doubt. For me, I need them to know that I am one of them. I have the same struggles and issues that each of them have.
On the flip side of that, I do sort of have my own personal "hedge" of protection regarding close friendships with ladies in my church. Many of these girlies in my church are wonderful friends of mine and we can share the day to day stuff of life. They are trustworthy friends, however, for their protection and mine I choose to have my closest confidants be outside of our congregation. This way neither of us is put into a position that is going to become complicated. This is a hedge we placed before even beginning our ministry here.

If I could go back, 10 years ago to when Ben started seminary I'd tell myself this...
  • I know you don't feel like you fit the "mold" of a pastor's wife. You're not the only one...turns out there's a lot like you.
  • Be friendlier. Your first church is gonna be in a tiny town and God's gonna change you into a person that learns to reach out to people first, and it turns out, it's not so bad and you're gonna wish you'd allowed Him to change you so much sooner.
  • You're gonna come upon lots of situations that you feel completely inadequate to deal with. And frankly, your ARE inadequate to deal with them, don't be scared of that...it's in those times He will show Himself strongest.
  • Just love people. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Take a good look at the condition of your own heart before you attempt to judge the actions or motives of anyone else. Remember the enormous amount of grace that's been offered to you, and extend that same grace.
  • Smile... a lot. Admit your ignorance. Laugh...at everything. For real. Find the joy.
  • Let Him show you who you are, don't tell Him who you think you are. You're gonna end up doing some ministries that you're pretty sure you don't wanna do...turns out you're wrong.
  • You're gonna be blown away watching your husband shepherd a church. That 17 year old boy you fell in love with is gonna be a great pastor.
  • and you're never gonna get used to people calling him pastor ;) and you're not gonna like being introduced at the pastor's wife, but you'll get over it...sort of ;)
  • Don't believe every ones horror stories of parsonages and bad pastoring experiences. Their stories are probably true, but God is writing your story...go to Him for the details.
  • Believe Him for big things.
Wow, welcome to my longest post ever ;) For those in ministry who might want to read more, you can click on the left side of my blog under the "ministry" label, I've written several things previously about my experience as a pastor's wife.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Little is Much...

Where do I start...

  • Last night was the kickoff of our Bible Club for kids (for this school year) It was beyond fantastic! 42 kids...and in tiny-town in tiny church...WOW...all because of Him. We also had over twice as many adults helping as we've had in previous years and I can't even begin to describe what a huge blessing/encouragement that is to me! There's a theme God has placed on my heart this year...Little is Much When God is in It :)

  • My official ministry roles are wrapped up for the week, and today, I get to just focus in on my family and I love that in a whole different way.

  • I always refer to Noah and Eli as "the boys." Ya know...


Boys...come down and eat



Boys...brush your teeth, eat breakfast, get dressed...on and on



Boys...stop hitting/kicking/punching/provoking each other



Yesterday at Target, Jake said to me, "I need to get treats for my boys...my boys like these."


It was cute.




  • And now...some visuals of what I'll be tackling today...for your viewing pleasure (seriously, it will make you feel better about the condition of your own home)


I give you example 1: "The boys" room...




And another view:

And another:

And then there's Jake...who can't seem to resist the urge to dig into anything gooey, greasy, or sprayable.

His dresser...who knows what that is smeared on there:

And this concoction is wads of toilet paper that he got soaking wet in the bathroom and then "cleaned" his garage thingy with...

Lovely, isn't it?

My boys are especially gifted in the "making disasters out of anything" department...it makes a mother proud. *wink*

Off to clean...

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Details...

There are certain things that you just don't want to hear from your pastor's wife. Things like ...
  1. personal or private details about the pastor ;) and

  2. that she too finds it difficult to spend time in God's Word.
Oh...there are other things you'd rather not know too, but I'll stop myself.

I've had the privilege of being in four different churches (not counting mine now) since becoming a Christian. Each pastor's wife was uniquely gifted for their role, and each showed wisdom...wisdom that only comes from His Word.

I always assumed they spent hours, HOURS daily with God...studying the scriptures, gleaning all they could. Because after all, they're the Pastor's Wife...if they can't do it, what did that mean for me?!?
Funny how life flops you to the other side of the fence sometimes. Let me tell you...the view from the pastor's wife side looks a tad bit different to me now.

I learned that she faces the same excuses that I did...

I'll read it later...gotta get just one more thing done...I'll be ok without it...I've read and studied it before...I know what's in there...

All lies...and all...believable.

Yesterday my running partner and I ran for the first time in a week. I wanted to die. It hurt. I make it so much harder on my body when I don't run consistently. It's something that I need to do regularly...I can't call myself a runner, if I ran in the past, but no longer do...a runner is someone who RUNS.

So it goes spiritually. Getting by on what I read in the past, experienced in the past is not gonna cut it. I make it so much harder on my ENTIRE life when I don't spend time with Him...daily...hourly...minute by minute.

You'd bless me beyond words if you'd life your pastor's wife before Him today :)

On a totally unrelated note...

I've received, what may be the cutest blog award. Ever. Wanna see?

Enthusiastically ElleBee passed along the "I heart your blog" award, and I heart it and I heart her blog too. You should go plop in and say hello!

I'd like to pass it along to some of my newest blog reads/friends that I really love reading.

Rachel at Musings of a Future Pastor's Wife. Her hubby is in seminary (which bring back some memories for me :) and she just survived Gustav...blogged right through it, which totally impresses me, by the way. She's a wise one, and I heart her.

Colored with Memories is another one that I love. You've gotta go read her Tuesday post about mommy competitiveness...cracked me up!

And Cassandra at Tripping Around the Sun. I relate to her and frankly...I adore her and her blog.

I'm also adding these ladies to my blogroll, so you can find them there too.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

My Happy Time...

From now on, Tuesday mornings will be known as "Sarah's Happy Time" just thought you should know.

Me and a friend are swapping kids, so to speak. She is taking Jake for me on Tuesday mornings and I will take hers on Friday afternoons...perfection.

That 2 1/2 hours on Tuesday mornings is now sacred. It's time set apart for me to work on Bible Club (kids ministry) and women's Bible study stuff and just spend time with Him...uninterrupted time. Priceless.

I need this time. Over the past week I've come to realize that I have a tendency to jump into too many things, all at the same time. All good stuff...that eventually drains the life out of me because it's more than I'm meant to do.

I'm learning to stop running ahead of God, because when I do, I mess up His instructions. Generally, I listen to part of the instruction, and then barrel full speed ahead without giving Him a chance to finish His sentence.

Guess what? That doesn't work out so well :)

So I'm s-l-o-w-i-n-g down. Giving Him time to speak to me...waiting for the full instructions before I plunge ahead and make an idiot of myself :)

More on this tomorrow...

Oh, one more thing...if you look to the left, on my sidebar, I added a new Blogger gadget...if you read often, you can click the "follow" button and your cute little picture (or something) will appear...and frankly, it will make my day. Because as of right now, it just says a big fat 0, which is hurting my feelings...just a little bit ;)

Monday, August 4, 2008

Smallness...

I like small.

Small towns, small churches, small cars and believe it or not, I love small houses. I like the intimacy of it. The cuteness...

It's just part of who I am.

It was three years ago this month that my husband accepted the call to pastor his first church. Small town, small church...we couldn't have been more excited. We knew that God had made us small-lovin' people, and we knew He had prepared us for this place...and were praying that He had prepared them for us!

About six months into my role as Pastor's wife, a group of ladies from my church and I went to bigger-town for a Ladies State Meeting (or something like that.) It was held at a rather large church that also runs a Christian school. It was my first "outing" with them as their Pastor's wife and I felt like an idiot to say the least. Not only was I one of the youngest Pastor's wives, (and not wearing panty-hose) I was the newbie. It got even better when they made all the pastor's wives stand up front to introduce ourselves and then have the ladies pray over us.

Before they prayed, the Pastor's wife of the large church said something that struck me that day. She said something to the affect that they were so happy to have each of us there and that no matter how small our church was, our ministry was just as important as the large churches.

And I thought to myself, "hmmm...I had never thought it wasn't until right now."

I've thought a lot about her words over the past few years. I know her intentions were most likely to encourage us smaller pastor's wives that our ministry was significant. What I wonder though...is it the small churches who struggle with their significance or is it the big churches who struggle to see the importance of the small church?

My husband gets a magazine in the mail called Leadership. It's for pastors...but I will pretty much read anything in magazine form :) Yesterday, as I flipped through the latest issue, I found an amazing article.

A man named David Gibbons started a multi-ethnic mega church in California in the early 90's. It is still there, and thriving. In it's bigness though, he found something lacking. This pastor talks about his journey to his new ministry which is planting smaller churches, from 30-300 people each. He talks of the benefits of the smaller church, but admits to now having to help support his family with other outside jobs. He says, "I'm a better pastor because I have other occupations. My jobs change; my calling remains the same."

God used this little article to so encourage and affirm our little ministry yesterday. To think that this man, David Gibbons, had what many see to be the successful church, and yet decided to go make smaller ones...it really blew me away.

All size churches that are preaching the gospel are important...and all sized ministries are equally important. When I look at Jesus, there is no doubt in my mind that He would have gone upon that cross for the sins of just a few...

I am amazed at what God is doing here...in the small things. And I'm praying today, that I never lose sight of that.

Bigger is not always better...for oh-so-many areas. Just reminding myself of that today.

Happy Monday Bloggy friends!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Realizations...

VBS went really, really well last night. In my 3&4 year old class we had 8 boys and 1 little girl...and they were so much fun! Thanks so much for your empathy and encouragement yesterday :)



Last night (after VBS) I had the opportunity to discover something about myself...stuff I've known (I think) but just never really thought about all that much. It has to deal with how I react/cope with life when busyness sets in.



I hate busyness. I do. I am constantly trying to keep life quieted. I like peace. I like routine. I like to have my family just hanging out together at home.



Our daily life is fairly full. I don't mention it much, but my husband also has a full-time job besides being full-time Pastor of our small church. (This is a whole other post in and of itself.) He is a "tent-making pastor" as they call it, and I can't explain it, because when I look at our life from the outside, I think "How on earth does that work? Impossible!" But, it does work...it works really, really well. It works, because it is what God has ordained for now and He supplies in all the areas we are lacking (and they are many, my friends.) Will it change? Hopefully...but if it doesn't, we're content with that too. God has created peacefulness in our home, even with the full schedule.



Anything extra on top of this full life of ours makes it start to feel busy to me. As I mentioned yesterday, with VBS this week, I find myself re-adjusting to the extra demands, and discovered two things about myself in the process.



1 - When life starts to feel like I can't keep up, I go quiet. Weird, I know. I am generally a friendly, outgoing person. I will talk your ear off...with hand gestures to boot. But when it starts to feel busy, I feel the need to quiet myself. To withdraw some...to hide-out for a little bit...just me and my Jesus. He "fills my cup" back up, just like the old hymn says, and then I can face life again.



2 - When the busyness seems like too much...I begin cleaning. I mean deep cleaning...organizing...and when my family doesn't cooperate with my cleaning agenda...not good, not good at all. It's a weird phenomena. Something very sad, tragic, life changing can happen, and you will most likely find me cleaning out closets and rearranging furniture. I've done this for as long back as I can remember...I've just never thought about WHY I do this...until last night.



Here's what God showed me: When life feels like it's out of my control (which it always is whether I feel it or not) I clean because I can fix it. I can work and see tangible results from my efforts. Control. I am a control freak, my friends. Last night, it's as if God was giving me a "heads up" on this issue. For my own good, He requires a change of heart on my part...the cleaning in and of itself, fine. The cleaning as a knee-jerk reaction for control...not fine. He wants my first reaction to be my knees in prayer, running to Him. Sounds easy...but for a control freak, it's not. Thankfully, I have Him to help me :)



Just some realizations. What about you? How do you deal with the busyness? Are you a freak too!?!? :)



Monday, July 7, 2008

Realness...

Oh friends...a bloggy make-over is coming my way...FINALLY! I can't tell you the details, except that Shauna is working on it and I know I am gonna L-O-V-E it. I will try to stop talking/thinking about it now, but it. is. hard.


On a completely different subject: I do have a little secret that I need to share with you. I hope it won't cause you to look down on this little lowly Pastor's wife (*wink, wink*) but you deserve the truth....straight from the horse's mouth (we say things like that around here.)



It is VBS week, here at our church in tiny town.


The secret: VBS is not my first love. *Gasp* I know. I KNOW! JUST what you want your Pastor's wife to tell you...(now would be a good time to hit your knees and thank Him that I am not your PW...unless I actually am...then you should REALLY hit your knees ;)


VBS is exhausting. And I'm not even the one that organizes it. (God bless our sweet church friends that do...I can't thank them enough...but there is an excessive amount of pleading, on my part, that they never stop doing it. EVER.)


I am teaching the 3 & 4 year olds this year. By the way, I almost just heard you laugh. Since my arrival in tiny-town, I have been avoiding this age group like the plague. Mostly because this was the age group my own children were in...and frankly, I was already worn out from my own, why would I want to teach MORE?!? Last year I even volunteered for crafts, just to avoid them. I am not crafty my friends.


This is where the miracle comes in. This year, I wanted to teach them. Granted, my oldest two are now not in that class anymore...but still! I am actually really looking forward to it. God is seriously amazing! Because that did not happen all by itself!


Because of the flooding, we're not quite sure how many kids will be able to come, but the numbers do not matter...the hearts of the children do. I'm praying that each child that comes through our doors will leave knowing who God is, how much He loves them, and why that matters. Because it SO matters.

*UPDATE* Shauna finished my layout (super fast by the way) and I couldn't love it more!!! YAY! If you're in need of a new do, go check her out (little square on my side-bar.) With just a little info she totally figured out what I wanted...I think she may be a mind reader :) Thank-you Shauna!!!!



Happy Monday Friends!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

A Day in the Life of...

I am amazed at all of the really WONDERFUL Pastor's wives that I have met while blogging. I wish I could explain what a blessing it has been in my life...to describe how it has ministered to me, and "filled my cup" so to speak...but, I would need to come up with some eloquent words (and for those of you who read this blog, ever, you'll know that's not likely to happen) so I'll just leave it at that. Big Blessing.

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.
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 &#2.
  4. It is a precious gift to be able to lend an ear, encouragement, prayer, support, whatever it might be. A gift...a high calling.
  5. 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.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Let it All Out

Just let me say it...I REALLY like Tuesdays. On Tuesdays I do NOT have to get up to run, do not have carpool duty and only have to get one child out the door for school. LOVE Tuesday! Another bonus, is that tonight we have Ladies Bible Study, which I always look forward to.



The lesson we will be discussing in Seeking Him, is on honesty. *Deep breath* A week ago, I posted this, about my journey. Today, I am so happy to say, that because of God's incredible grace and mercy upon me, I stand a little farther up that mountain. I am a long ways from the top (trust me.) The urge to give up and slide back down is still there...but today, the desire to obey Him and do this thing His way, is far greater. Did you hear that!?!? Greater! WOO HOO!



God has shown me that there is being real, and there is being REAL. He requires complete honesty from me. He has shown me that anything less simply will not do. He has also so lovingly brought it to my attention, that His way is not the scary-hard way...my way is. I have realized that I cannot say to Him, " I'll follow you in all these areas Lord, but this one...this one (little area) is mine...I can deal with it...my way." The reason, I've discovered, is that, that one small area that I chose to not hand over to Him, really was not small at all. These past couple of weeks are ones that will stay etched in my mind...what I've learned about mercy and grace and forgiveness is something I can't put into words. Something I don't want to put into words, but rather ponder it in my heart...over and over so that I don't forget it.



It's also made me think about how God gradually and precisely reveals to me the true condition of my heart. He doesn't throw it at me all at once. Most likely because He knows in my humanness, I would not be able to bear it. Instead, he lovingly hands me it, piece by piece, when He knows I am ready, and then shows me what to do with it. Simply amazing.

The whole lesson on honesty really was outstanding. There were a few things though, that just jumped off the pages at me.



  1. "We don't have to be trained to hide or pretend - it comes naturally. Even after we are redeemed in Christ and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, we often battle the urge to deceive. But God cannot bless or revive a heart that refuses to acknowledge the truth." p.45


  2. "If we feel we are innocent and have nothing to be broken about, it is not that these things are not there but that we have not seen them, We have been living in a realm of illusion about ourselves." Roy Hession
I don't want to live in that realm of illusion ever again. This is one of those things where "good enough" will not do.

Father God, "thank you" seems so inadequate...(but you know my vocabulary is small) my heart cannot find words that seem, enough. Help me not to forget these lessons you have taught me, and give me the strength I need to continue on this path you have set me on. I know that on my own I will wander off...almost immediately. Help me not to be self deceived. Give me wisdom and discernment. I pray the same thing for each of the ladies in this study...and my friends in bloggy- land. Draw them close to you, Lord. I ask all of this in His Precious name...

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

It May Be Boring...

Ya'll must have had a s-l-o-w Monday! Know how I know?!? Here's how...I had a record number of visitors AND comments on a post about old, dated wallpaper :) God Bless you all for humoring me and totally making my day! I sure wish I had something really wonderful and spiritual to share with you in return...but...I don't. I'm afraid it's a bullet-point list day...
  • Interesting thing about projects...when you update one thing, then the rest of the stuff all of a sudden looks worse than it did before. Why?!? For example...the gold carpet in the hallway perfectly matched the wallpaper. Back in the day...I'm sure it was wonderful. Then, along comes me, and changes the wall color and behold: now the gold carpet looks like...well...gold carpet :) Let's all begin praying that I now fall head over heels with gold!
  • I have been hearing the sounds of lawnmowers...which is music to my ears. Now, you should know, the grass here is just barely starting to turn green. People in my tiny town are not actually riding their lawnmowers in order to mow...they're just taking them for a cruise around town. When we first moved here, I found this a tad peculiar. But now...its part of me. You can't miss the sound of a riding lawn mower coming down the street...my kids run to the windows to see who it is this time. I haven't actually participated in this yet...but this just might be the summer. Now you know why I love this town...and why I just "fit." Quirky.
  • We have Ladies Bible Study tonight, YAY! This weeks study is on pride...and Nancy Leigh DeMoss has been doing a great job of hurting mine the past two weeks! Whatever it takes for there to be more of Him and LESS of me!!!
  • Today I get to clean the bathroom. Joy. If it weren't for 10 ladies coming to my home every-other week, it may never get done. Hopefully none of them pull back the shower curtain, because I am not responsible for what they may see...it is not on the list today.
  • I'll actually leave you with something worthwhile. In my Bible reading this morning, God brought me to this passage...and I know why.

Micah 6:8 "God has told you that He wants, and this is all it is: to be fair and just and merciful, and to walk humbly with your God."

Enjoy your Tuesday!!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Resisting

I am realizing that there are areas in my spiritual walk that I am resisting God. Certain areas that I see Him wanting to change, and feel Him changing, and my gut instinct is to resist Him and flee back to what is comfortable.


I am about a quarter through Breaking Free. I'm usually a speedy reader...but this one I need to really let sink in. When I read a book, I always need my own copy because I like to underline sentences that stick out to me, so that later on I can skim back through and find what I'm looking for (you should see what my Bible looks like) Anyways, needless to say, much of this book is underlined already! It's amazing how well it fits in with the Seeking Him study...maybe too well :)

Here's some of what I'm learning so far...
  • Changing my behavior & thoughts is HARD. And not fun...at all. I want a quick fix. And yet the deeper I get into this study, the more I realize how far I have left to go! I want God to do it for me...I want to just magically love difficult people...instead, God gives me opportunities to follow His instructions and love them. *God has said to me: Too bad little lady...I have a better way, keep on following Me and you'll see it*
  • Pride...it is a problem. It may be at the root of all problems. I sort of had my own definition of pride: Anyone who thinks they're better than someone else, or believes they don't need anyone else. Somewhere along the way, I adopted that definition...probably to convince myself that since I don't see myself as "better" then I obviously do not have an issue with pride. Wrong definition. SO WRONG. Seriously, any person who thinks they don't have an issue with pride is likely the very person with a HUGE pride problem!
  • Pride = Self. That's what I'm learning. At the root of all the areas that need changing, self is the problem. I am learning to humble myself, because I do not want God to do it for me :) On a side note: humbling myself is something I have to do constantly. CONSTANTLY.

There's more...so much more..but for now, the main thing is that I do not want to resist God changing me! And I'm looking ahead, longingly, for the day when changing seems easier...or there is less changing to be done! I know it will be worth it!

- A new blog friend has a wonderful post on longings...it spoke to my heart because it just "fits" with all this stuff I'm learning. She has a great way with words and God's truth!

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Eagerly Anticipating Today...

My 6 year old left me this message on our white board...apparently he's afraid I might forget his birthday...in May. He's already eagerly anticipating the big day. It caused me to think about what I am going to eagerly anticipate today...

  • Tonight is our Ladies Bible Study! It's our first real time of getting together since we've started this Seeking Him study. I can't wait to hear & see what God is doing in their hearts. I'm hoping I'm not the only one who's taken a beating this week :)
  • Also looking forward to the "Catch-A-Man" dip I made for the Bible study. (I made enough so I could eat some for lunch too :) It's a recipe I got from my friend Beth who is originally from the south. Apparently this is what they use to catch themselves a man ;) It's delicious, and even better, it's only 5 ingredients (perfect for me!)
  • Recipe: 16 slices cooked and crumbled bacon (I buy the pre-cooked stuff), 1 lb sharp cheddar cheese: shredded, 1 C sliced almonds, 4 green onions: chopped, and 2 C Hellmann's mayo. Mix together (chill) and serve with crackers or veggies. YUM!
  • I am anticipating my house cleaning itself, because I do not have time.
  • warmer weather...no coats...and Flip Flops, oh how I long to wear flip flops again!

When I am excited about something, I just can't shut-up about it. Can you tell?!? The Bible talks about how what's in a man's heart, will eventually come out of his mouth and actions. (I can't remember where it's at...you Theologian's, help me out!) Right now, God's teaching me so much, I can't stop talking about it. I realized today, that my last several posts are pretty much all the same..there's other stuff going on in there, I'll eventually get to it!




Friday, March 28, 2008

Painful But SO Worth It...

They're cute...I know. I wore them for Easter, I don't mean just church. I wore them all day long. I did take them off for just a bit, while we went out and hunted for eggs. Rumor has it, that my husbands grandma, who's in her 80's gave them a try! She couldn't resist...I know the feeling. They are my latest love in the shoe world. So...guess what these lovely shoes and....

this wonderful Bible study have in common? PAIN!!!! They have both caused me much pain and suffering this week.

Seeking Him Small Group StudyThe shoes...kill. After church, I had to wrap my big toes, very meticulously, so that the pain from the rubbing would stop, and yet I could not have it showing through the cute peep toe (that was the cause of the pain in the first place!) A little pain has not stopped me before...I have three children to prove that :) These shoes are certainly worth it...and so far, so are my kids. HA!

The Seeking Him study; *OUCH!* Nancy, (we're on a first name basis, she however, does not know this) has been stepping on my toes and pushing me out of my comfort zone all week long! I was going along, totally agreeing with her, and then I got to pages 12-15 "Making It Personal." Yeah...fun times. Hard "Do I?" questions. I found that I had to answer no or I wish for many of the questions. Revival hurts....but is so necessary and worth it...kinda like the shoes :) Okay, okay, more than the shoes!

On a side note...I'm very honored to be mentioned over at www.allthatnaz.blogspot.com go check her out, and I've been reading her other blog (which you'll find after you go to her site) and it's so wonderfully thought provoking and well written. Makes me think I need to take some online grammar/writing classes! Thank you new bloggy friends!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Invasion From Heaven

Seeking Him Small Group Study There are so many times in my life, that I look back on the order of events that have occurred, and just stand in amazement.

Our ladies Bible study has just started this book, Seeking Him- Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival by Nancy Leigh DeMoss & Tim Grissom. This workbook has been hanging around our house way before we ever started this study. You see, it takes us ladies a quite a while to get through a study :) Lot's of talking and sharing....it's one of the best parts of being together! Each time we near the end of a study I begin the dreaded search process. This usually involves lots of pleading with God for direction, while I'm scouring the Christian Book Store and various other means in hopes of finding the perfect study. In the past, during this process, this Seeking Him book always crossed my path...and I always dismissed it. Oh, I had lots of good reasons...the main one being that I thought it was just "too deep" for where our group was at. Isn't that funny. What God has revealed to me now...is that it was "too deep" for me. I had wanted to believe that it was our group of Ladies that was not ready for it....but God said to my heart, "Sarah, you were not ready to lead it." *ouch* And, He was right.

When Seeking Him crossed my path this time, I was ready! God had begun to work a real revival in my own heart...and now I'm ready. As I look back, it makes me smile to see how God was gently pursuing me...never giving up...knowing that the revival was coming, all the while I was totally oblivious. I am so excited to continue this journey, to see what God has in store. Let me leave you with this quote from the study...love it!

"Revival is not some emotion or worked-up excitement; it is rather an invasion from heaven which brings to man a conscious awareness of God." - Stephen Olford

...invasion from heaven...I'm ready for that!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

They May Kill Me...

They might just kill me for posting this picture...most of them didn't even want to pose for it in the first place! If I'd had a blog at the time it was taken, they probably wouldn't have let me do it at all! But, I'm going to take the risk, and pray God grants me favor with each of them :) I have to post the picture...you have to see them. These are the ladies (the core group)that I meet with every other Tues. night for Bible study. They are truly amazing...each one. They have blessed me in so, so many ways.
I never really wanted to be a pastor's wife...seemed like a pain in the butt to me :) I also thought it must be a pretty lonely profession...after all, who can really be themselves around the pastor and his wife!?! Seriously! And, I was positive that as the wife, if I were myself...I'd probably scare them all away! And then...God proved me wrong (which He always does.) He totally went above and beyond what I ever could have imagined. Instead of the loneliness I had anticipated, God has surrounded me with friends. Not just women who are nice to me, but genuine friends. There are no pretenses in this group...no pretending. We are who we are. Each of us are at a unique place in our walk with God...and He uses that to help us learn from one another. I am one of them. Not the pastor's wife. Just Sarah. I don't want to take for granted, this amazing blessing in my life. So...guess what I've learned...being a pastor's wife really isn't a pain in the butt...and, you really can be just yourself around your pastor and his wife! WHO KNEW!?!?
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