Dorothy

I went on my first hospital visits a pastor’s wife today. Her name is Dorothy and she wins the award for oldest member of our church at 93 years young. She is an amazing lady who I never would have guessed was nearing 100 if she hadn’t told me. Unfortunately, her body is starting to remember how old she is.

As she and others were telling us about what the doctors have said and talking about what she would do when she came back to Spring Creek, I started to wonder. I primarily started to wonder where I would be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually if this was me and how similarly she saw the situation. And you know what? I have a confession to make. I would be praying for God to take me home. I don’t know if this is where she is or if that is even a prayer that is okay to pray, but she is in a lot of pain and is probably reaching the end of her life. As much as we would miss her, it is highly likely that the time is not far off.

In any case,I ask that you would pray for Dorothy. Pray for her health as well as the friends around her in this time.

Surprise!

If there is one thing I have learned about being a pastor’s wife, its that you never know what you are going to run into when you walk into church on Sunday morning.  My first one this morning was that I was the sole accompanist for worship today.  Another lady usually plays the organ in addition to my piano playing, but she was on vacation.

Now, let’s get this straight.  I can sort of play the piano.  I have gotten a lot better in the past year, but no one would want to listen to any piano concert I were to give at this point.  Hymns are singable…most of the time.  Really I just try to make it through the song.  I think they just appreciate not having to sing a capella whenever the other lady isn’t there. I’m learning that this is just kind of how things work in a small rural church. We are learning how to cope with these surprises and, although occasionally challenging, have provided a wealth of learning experiences about ministry and about ourselves and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

The Old Church Ladies

Aaron and I went to church tonight at First Waco and sat at a table with some older ladies for dinner and pray meeting. Before too long, the ladies and I got talking about Vacation Bible School and Sunday School curriculum. My four years of experience was dwarfed by the 120 years of combined experience between the three ladies. They said that the ultimate mark that you are getting old is when you start teaching your former students’ grandchildren.

Megan, the girl who was my maid of honor in my wedding, and I joke about how someday we are going to be the old church ladies talking about days gone by. We laugh about it, but I wonder if this is actually something to aspire to. Yes, we picture this group of ladies as the people throwing bridal showers, catching up on church gossip, and organizing meals to take to families. But, I think these ladies have done more than that. Can you imagine how many lives they have touched as the teacher of three generations of a family? How many stories do they have of Gods’s continuing faithfulness as they were faithful to him?

So, although I’m sure they all will admit that they love putting together things like bridal showers, I think we need to work on not taking for granted the work that this generation had taken part in through teaching our kids about their Savior.

Friends

I’ve had a lot of people comment on how Aaron and I handle friends and being in large groups together in the last few months.  I like to say that we don’t have separation anxiety, but really I think it is more than that.  Aaron is out this evening seeing a friend in town and attending a college guys Bible study.  Honestly, part of me is enjoying the quiet apartment.  I’m being a nerd and catching up on my Greek in between working on this blog and tidying up the apartment.  I think the fact that we can be apart is a choice – a choice to be confident in each other’s love and commitment and a choice to remain able to operate and have fun without having the other attached at the hip.

I have to admit that I don’t know how accurate this is; we’ve only been married for two months.  Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with him.  I’ve found, however, that we have a lot of fun catching up after the fact, even when the separation was just during work when we were in the same building with different people.  Older couples have told us that this is healthy, but it is definitely something I am learning to balance.  The line between able to operate independently and have our own friends and neglecting each other is not one I have been able to draw yet.  I guess that is something we have the next fifty years to figure out. 

Starting Out

Well, here is my first post!  I have to admit that this is my first time blogging, so it might be a little rough here at the beginning.  

Yes, I am sitting here working on a blog on a Saturday night.  That has been one thing I did not think about beforehand.  Saturday nights are work night.  My husband Aaron is sitting on the couch finishing the final touches on his sermon for tomorrow morning as I mess around here.  It doesn’t bother me as much as I originally thought it would, although it does bring a different rhythm to our weekends.  Trips don’t get to go until Sunday night when he has to preach Sunday morning.  We are learning to make the most of it though.  At least he pretty much sets his own schedule during the week, right?  I guess there are pluses and minuses to every job.