Missing Mom at Christmas

Dear DW, 

We have been in ministry for five years.  For five years, my husband has been involved with the Christmas Eve service.  Because of this, we don’t even start our holiday travel to see family until Christmas day.  Everything is a big rush so that we can make it back to church for the next Sunday.  This is the only time of year that I get to see my whole family.  I love our church, but do I have to sacrifice my family every year at Christmas? 

Missing Mom at Christmas

 

Dear Missing Mom, 

In Matthew 10, Jesus talks about loving Him more than we love the members of our own family.  I don’t think this means that we have to sacrifice everything for the annual Christmas Eve service!  You need to draw a line.  It’s ok to occasionally take a real vacation over the holidays.  The congregation can lead more than they think they can.  Give them the opportunity.  If you have other pastors, let them rotate leadership for this one service a year.  I think your congregation will understand.  I bet not many of them have made it to all five of the last five years of Christmas Eve services.  It’s good to retreat as a minister’s family.  Take some time to step away and just be removed. 

You didn’t mention where your husband stands on this issue.  All of this goes for him too.  Sometimes in our pastors’ zeal to serve, they forget to refresh and renew.  When you are new in ministry, especially when you love your church, it’s really hard to step away for even a week to go visit family.  Talk with your husband about your desire for some balance over the holidays.  Even if he doesn’t miss your Mom as much as you do, he needs some Sabbath time as well!

 Love,

DW~

 

Wounded 2 Ways

Dear DW, 

 I just got out of the hospital after having surgery and I will be in recovery for 4-6 weeks.   During my three day hospital stay, not one person from church called to see how I was doing.  My husband is one of the pastors at church.  None of the other staff pastors called either.  We have three kids and don’t live near family.  Soon, we won’t have any help at home.  I’m worried about how my husband and I are going to manage during the recovery.  DW, Why wouldn’t anyone call or offer to help?  Who’s our pastor? 

 Wounded 2 Ways in Texas 

 

Dear Wounded, 

My heart is breaking for you.  I wish I could come over and help!  Who knows why people do what they do but here are some thoughts on what might be going through people’s heads:

“I don’t want to bother her when she is sick.”

“I’m sure her family is there to help and I don’t want to intrude.”

“The pastors will take care of it.”

“What if she had ‘female’ surgery-I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.”

“I’m positive that someone has already organized meals for them.”

“I’ll call once I know she’s out of the hospital….oops, has it been that long!”

 While service, outreach, and sacrifice probably come naturally for your family (you are in ministry), it’s just not the bent of most people to meet someone’s needs unless they are asked to do so.  Should they have known that you needed help…YES!   And I’m boggled by the inaction of your fellow pastors!  I’m hurt and disappointed for you that the pastors at your church did not reach out to your family during this time.  Pastors should be the first ones to respond when someone on their team is hurting and in need.  Unfortunately, ministry families are seen as “able to handle it”.  There is an assumption by other pastors that “they will understand how busy I am”.  In the Good Samaritan story, it was the Priest and Pharisee who walked right past a battered and dying man lying in the road (I wonder if he was a pastor’s spouse).  

 Wounded, you have 2 ways to handle this hurt.  You can carry it around with you and let it fester and infect everything you do in ministry for the rest of your service there OR you can prick it now and let the pain and infection drain out giving you the chance to heal by choosing forgiveness.  We all miss it sometimes.   People and pastors mess up.  You know pastors aren’t perfect-you live with one!  I urge you to choose grace in this situation.  Holding on to this hurt will only lead you to bitterness.

  And, ASK FOR HELP!  Don’t assume that people will know you need it.  You and your husband need to call, pester and do what you have to do to let people know that you need help.  It may surprise you to see who responds and what bonds are formed within the church when the pastor’s family admits that they are human and in need.

 My prayer is that healing in all ways comes quickly.

 Love~

DW

 

WHY!?

Dear DW, 

Why me?  Why this?  Why here? 

Whiny in Washington

 

Dear Whiny, 

I don’t know.  I can’t explain it.  All of us get tired.  The path is long and draining.  Sometimes we don’t see our spouses for long periods of time and even when we do see them, we don’t connect like we should.  The kids are unhappy.  The church is dry.  We seem to be being attacked from all sides.   Questions start to pummel us: When will it be normal again?  How much longer here?  How do I catch the next train out of Crazyville?! 

I used to indulge in these moments and wonder if we made a mistake.  Is this the path you intended for us God?  If so, then why is it so hard?  In the midst of one of those moments, I ran across a little book called Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson.  It revolutionized the way I thought about struggle and questions and God’s work in my life as a pastor’s spouse.  I realized that difficult times aren’t always about taking the wrong path, they can be about patience, endurance, pruning, growing, and becoming all that God wants me to be.  The path of struggle can also be a necessary part of the path towards fruit. 

As a Christian, if I truly believe God’s word in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”, then I have to believe that all these “Whys” have a purpose.  The whiny moments leave me with questions now but will ultimately lead me to a better relationship with God in the future.  My only choice, and what I encourage you to do, is to abide in Him.  In Jesus, there is comfort in the confusion, peace in the pandemonium, and a bulwark from the bombardment.  In Him, you can make it through these “Whys”.  Stop whining and start to abide.  He is where you will find your answers.

 Love~

DW

 

Big Mouth Spouse

Dear DW,

 I am a very opinionated person and I’m not afraid to speak my mind.  Can someone be too mouthy to be a pastor’s spouse?

 Big Mouth

Jackson, MS

 

 Dear Big Mouth,

Good News-there’s no mold; God calls all kinds of people to be pastor’s spouses…even the mouthy ones!  I don’t think that you have to go through a personality lobotomy to be a ministry spouse.  God uses all that we are for His glory.

However, having said that, I do think that it is important for ministry spouses to consider that they have a much bigger influence and responsibility than the normal person in church.  As a ministry spouse, your opinions not only represent you but can be mistakenly assumed to be the opinions of your spouse, your spouse’s ministry, and/or the whole church staff! 

Consider your audience when you give your opinion.  Is this something that might influence their spiritual life negatively if I say it?  “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.  Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:5-6 

Use your mouthiness as a vehicle of grace.  It’s an honor and a trust for God to give ministry spouses such a big of a sphere of influence.  Be who you are.  God chose YOU for this role, not some mousy, shy, fading flower.  Trust that He knows what He’s doing. 

Love,

 DW~

Next week, I’ll go naked…

Dear DW,                                    

Last week the church secretary approached me during the worship service and commented on my dress.  She made sure to mention that it had been a long time since I had worn a dress and it was nice to finally see me in one.  The week before, a different lady told me how nice it was that I wear dresses every Sunday because it had become so rare to see that in church.  WHAT?!!!  #1) Why do they care so much what I wear?  #2)Whatever is clean is what gets put on the body that Sunday.  What’s up with the fashion police!?  Next week I think I’ll go naked and see what they have to say.  

Au Naturel in Jacksonville, FL

 

Dear Au Naturel,

Wow!  I guess you didn’t realize that when you became a ministry spouse you instantly turned into Jackie O.  How does that verse go- “Church ladies look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”- something like that (I Samuel 16:7). 

You made me laugh and I think that is the only way to deal with situations like yours.  Of course it is utterly ridiculous that these ladies have expectations of you regarding what you wear to church, but realistically, nothing you say or do is going to change their expectations of how you should clothe yourself for worship.  There are some things as a ministry spouse that we have to be sensitive about when it comes to the congregation and their opinions and feelings about us.  Clothing should not be one of them as long as you are biblical in your expression of it; “ Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;  but let it be the hidden person of the heart…” I Peter 3:3-4.   Be careful not to put too much stock in the ignorance of flippant comments.  Ministry is stressful enough without indulging every single expectation church people have of you.  Be comfortable in your own skin by knowing that you choose to please God first, the “paparazzi” second.  And as for going naked….intriguing… somehow I  think your husband might appreciate that much more than the church ladies!

Love,

DW

 

 

 

Church people SUCK… and then they don’t!

Dear DW,

I am so tired of the people at church.  Sometimes I wish I could just melt into the wall and pretend that I don’t exist.   Their comments rub my raw nerves and leave me crying in the corner.  However, this week I received a note from a lady in my church who told me how much she appreciated my sacrifice of time by allowing my spouse to minister to her family.  I hate it when these church people ruin my negative perception of them!!  I want to be angry and then they go and encourage me.  Church people SUCK…and then they don’t.

 Boggled in CT

Dear Boggled,

Thank you for sharing your raw and honest opinion of church people.  I think that most of us as ministry spouses go through a myriad of emotions when it comes to people in the church.   It’s people like this lady who sent you the note who make it all worth it in the end.  The ones who acknowledge that the lifestyle you lead is not the easiest and then seek to support you.  They keep us going in ministry.  But people of this quality seem to be few and far between.    It seems that our congregants have not read the verse in Hebrews that says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” (Hebrews 13:17 NLV)  That’s why it is so important to cling on to those few beautiful and rare moments when someone blesses you in ways you did not expect.  When church people SUCK, pull out your note and remember the blessing.  When you want to disappear, remember the few people who you would miss if you were gone.  When you want to cry, think of the small appreciations that you have known.  Release yourself to love church people despite what they do and God will surprise you with those rare few who give you the blessing of serving with joy.  Besides, anger is not profitable for producing anything but wrinkles!  🙂   I choose joy!

Love~

DW