End of School

The end of school is here....and with that, a new beginning! We get to learn how to live as a fulltime pastors family :) My husband asked me this morning, "Where am I going to study this summer with 4 kids running around this house?" Well, first of all hunny, Shelby doesn't run around the house much anymore. She's mostly laying on her bed listening to her ipod, playing games on her ipod, or not here. She really wants a summer job, so I doubt we will have much rowdiness coming from her. Wes and Andy....yes. I can see them still running around, yelling, laughing verrry loudly, throwing things....that might be a problem when trying to study. Gracie? Well, she's Gracie. And along with her comes many many distractions. She just has soooo much to tell. So much. I'll try to limit the sugar and caffeine intake for her as much as possible :) And me.....well I guess I'll be cleaning, cooking, doing what I normally do. But you know, Carowinds season passes would probably come in verrrry handy when trying to study. I'm thinking that would empty the house, making it nice and quiet, thus becoming a study sanctuary! I'm glad I thought of that! Excellent idea. I can really think of no better way at this time to make our home a good habitat for a studying preacher. If I think of a better way, I'll let you know! (but I'm convinced that there is NO better way! ;)

Mothers Day

What a wonderful Mothers Day weekend! We started it off with our Mother's Day Banquet on Saturday. We enjoyed good food, a tribute to mothers, and topped it off with the Mother/Daughter game (played like the Dating Game). I encouraged our moms to raise our children in the admonition of the Lord, not to give up even though we live in a society that discourages the molding of our children. Our mothers that helped out in the tribute were Carolyn Padgett, Becky Shugart, Michelle Terry, Angie Rash, and Stephanie Lingerfelt. I appreciate each of you ladies taking the time to research your given decade, dressing the part and sharing with the rest of us ladies! We loved seeing the different styles of the day, and got quite a few laughs as ladies shared with us a day in their life in the 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's!! I was told that some brought back a lot of memories by bringing up things they hadn't thought about in many years! Stephany Harrison kindly volunteered to be our photographer, and did a brilliant job!! Thanks Steph! And also, many thanks to the ladies that helped prepare, decorate, etc. Couldnt do it without you!

Then the preacher brought a wonderful message yesterday morning on the home, and the mothers role in the home. It makes me want to be a better mother. But not even a mother centered message limits who gets spoken to.....a young man came forward for salvation during the invitation! AMEN!!! What could make a mothers day better than that? We thank God for working in our church. He sure is blessing!!

Thanks to each of you for your faithfulness. Please keep praying daily that God keeps His hand on our church, and that your pastor and I can be what He needs for us to be!

My Testimony

Some of you have already heard my testimony, but I'm going to share it again.

Matthew and I married in May of '93. Both of us were saved at early ages.He had grown up in a preachers home, I grew up in a broken home before moving in with my grandparents who then became my parents. I lived an unfruitfully saved life. (yes, I think I just made that word up!!) Our lives were very very different. I knew that he had been called to be a preacher, and he knew that I didn't want to be a preachers wife. So for many years, I stubbornly refused, using the old "microscope life" as an excuse. The fact is, I was just too selfish to completely turn my life over to God. I was busy doing what I wanted to do. I know that this hurt God and my husband. I just didn't care enough to surrender. I did this for about 12 or 13 years of our marriage, which didn't exactly make our marriage a happy one all the time! This was probably the number one source of arguments between us. I had witnessed what other preachers wives went through and I kept thinking "No way would I willingly do this to myself!" It's funny how the Lord works. I hadn't come to a point where I was thinking, "Ok...maybe"... as a matter of fact, I had pretty much stopped thinking about it. Matthew had grown tired of talking to me about it I suppose, because we didn't really even discuss it anymore. But, one day when I was driving home from work, I was listening to the radio, and a caller had called in and was saying something about her husband, who was a preacher, and that's really all I can remember. The next thing I know, I'm riding down the road crying because I had suddenly realized that my husband should be a preacher. I was so disgusted with myself at that moment, knowing that the only reason he wasn't doing what God had called him to do was because I was standing in his way. I never said anything to him that day... but my heart was so burdened over the next couple of weeks. I knew that the Lord was dealing with me and I felt absolutely horrible. Like the worst wife in the world. I had done absolutely everything possible to keep from becoming a preachers wife, and I now realized that despite all of it, that's what the Lord wanted me to be. I'm not sure how long I went on like this before I finally went to Matthew and told him. I think my words went something like, "Ok....if you still want to be a preacher,I'm ready...." Not exactly convincing, huh? However, those were the hardest words I have ever said. It's funny, because he didn't waste a lot of time before springing on me the fact that not only was he called to be a preacher, but that the Lord had been dealing with him about pastoring. Talk about SCARED! But the Lord had already prepared me. I knew it was coming eventually. It happened so fast. He had been preaching meetings in different churches regularly for a little over a year when he got a call from one of the churches to candidate as pastor. Through this time, and even now, I had so much guilt and heartache over the fact that I had kept Matt from this ministry for so long. The Lord has used him so much already in just over a year that I can't help but wonder how much more could have been accomplished had I not fought for so long. I have often said that I don't know why God was so patient with me. But I know He has a plan that we are a part of. He has blessed us with a church that loves and supports us, and He has blessed me with some godly friends that encourage and help me. It's hard, like I knew it would be sometimes. But there's a peace I now have....and that's knowing that I'm in the center of God's will...and that I'm part of a ministry that is making an eternal difference in lives. What could be greater than that? I am so thankful for my husband. He loves the Lord with his whole heart and is the most compassionate person I have EVER met. I truly do not deserve such a wonderful man, but God put us together, and for that I will be forever grateful! My desire now is that I can be the best preachers wife that I can be. That one day, people will be able to look back and say, "She was a godly, caring woman, and such a help to her husband." I want my life to be a legacy of hope. If the Lord can use me with tainted testimony and all, (what a picture of mercy and grace, by the way)then He can use anyone who is willing to say "Lord, here am I. Use me." He will!!!