Why blogging?

So speak encouraging words to one another.

Build up hope so you'll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind.'

-1 Thessalonians 5:11 (The Message)

Yesterday as my husband Chuck & I were reading & discussing some of the comments made about my first blog entry, he challenged me to dig deeper into what I feel that God is calling me to do through writing.

When I first became a “reluctant pastor’s wife”, I felt a little like a fish out of water. While Chuck had been to seminary, I had not. I felt like I needed a few classes… Maybe some obscure college offered online courses like, “Pastor’s Wives 101”, “What do you do if you don’t play piano?” or “How to Avoid Public Speaking”. Although, I grew up in the home of a pastor, I hadn’t planned on being a pastor’s wife, so I hadn’t been paying real close attention to how the whole thing worked. So I did the only thing I could do, I ordered the few books I could find on the subject & began to surf the internet for sites that might offer further encouragement. Unfortunately, I came away from each experience a little disappointed. Much of the published material I found to read offered wonderful tips on how to send thank you notes, create a menu for entertaining large groups & choosing an appropriate wardrobe. The web-sites I visited discouraged me even further. It felt to me that the resources, forums & chat rooms I found for pastor’s wives were nothing more than organized gripe sessions about the churches & people that their husbands were ministering to. I remember specifically a poem I read on one of these sites… it chronicled the difficulties a pastor’s wife endured: the expectations to be a perfect wife, have perfect children, the loneliness & longing to have a trustworthy friend & the pain of being betrayed by those her husband pours his life into. While I do admit that I have felt some of those things over the years, I did not want to this to become my focus or attitude about ministry. Instead, my heart’s desire became to find the positive in God’s work & to have my life be a reflection of the crazy, beautiful things that God can do in & through those that love Him.

Last week, I had the pleasure of driving to Minneapolis with a college friend of my son Joshua's, to watch Crown play football in the MetroDome. She is engaged to a wonderful young man who is studying to be a pastor. As I listened to the excitement & passion in her voice as she shared what God is calling them to do as a couple, I have to admit, I saw some of my younger self in her & was convicted to be a source of encouragement to her as she begins her journey as a wife of a pastor.

Through this blog, it is my hope to be able to take this conviction a step further. To use this type of forum to offer positive insights, resources & encouragement to all women. I know there may be times that what I feel God prompting me to write may not be heart-warming. I am finding that following God's plan for me is challenging the way I communicate... sometimes it means speaking the truth about my pain & failures, living my life with integrity & authenticity even when it's not so pretty & to glorify Him by being the encourager He has called me to be...'