How It ALL Began...

I have been thinking for awhile about sharing How It ALL Began....How my hubby became a Senior Pastor.  So, when I saw a post on a Preacher's Wife Group asking all to share our stories.  I jumped at the chance to write it out! Here's what I wrote!

My Beloved was a youth minister when we began "dating with the intention to marry".  We were married in 2007

How it ALL Began...We had taken our youth on a mission trip to Nashville, and I met a sweet woman who asked if we knew of a Pastor who was looking for a church. We shook our heads "no". Before we parted ways, I asked that sweet woman to write down her address and any prayer requests I could lift up to the Lord. It wasn't until we got home that I read her request: "Pray that the Lord would send us a Pastor, this would be a good FIRST church for him and his family." We had been married for 11 months, I was pregnant with our first, when we accepted God's calling for my husband to become Senior Pastor of that sweet woman's church. I was 23 years old when I became a Pastor's Wife! TWENTY THREE! I realized then I had a LOT of spiritual growing up to do! I struggled with being so much younger than everyone, feeling inadequate of being the "Pastor's Wife", not knowing what in the world I was doing. Not too mention, out of the first 22 months we were there, I was pregnant 17 of them (had 2 babies there)! I am thankful to God for that time. God taught me some very important truths in my "young age": 1) We are to please God alone (not man and/or woman) Gal. 1:10 2) Commit yourself to only a few things and do them well. Do not stretch yourself to do things because you are asked to. Or because you see a need and no one else will meet it. We are ALL in different seasons of life. Some of us are still raising children. Our first calling is to be a godly wife and a mother. Much suffering has taken place due to over commitments. 3) We are to nourish our relationship with GOD First. Submit and strive to be a godly, loving wife Second. Nurture and Train our children in Lord Third. Be keepers of our home Fourth. And then, add in whatever ministry opportunities time allows. This does not mean we "forsake" our calling as Pastor Wives, but that we have accept God's Will, and seek all opportunities to be an encouragement to our church families. Our lives are on display. And I rather my life depict glorifying God, than my calendar and life be full of stress because I am trying to please someone, have over committed myself, not spending time becoming a student of God's Word, or a helpmate to my husband, and not training/loving my children. It's been almost 3 1/2 years since we left that sweet lady's church, and accepted God's call to another church where we are blessed with a loving church family. We are pregnant with our Third! I am 30 years old now! Still feel too young sometimes, inadequate for the task of this calling. So, I keep my head in my Bible, because I want to be a student of God's Word and know HIM and make HIM known! I keep my knees to the ground, because there is NOTHING good in ME except for Jesus, and I want HIS love to abound more and more in me and through me. And I keep my life focused on Him! Because I would rather be in God's will than anywhere else! God bless you Ladies! From another inadequate, striving to be more like Jesus, Pastor's Wife, Jessica S. ;o)