the life of a pastor's wife

Today I am linking up with one of the blogs I like to follow Kelly's Corner. She does really interesting link ups for different topics that help people in similar situations to connect. This week it is Ministry Wives. And I am so blessed to fall into this catagory!

My husband Josh has known since the age of 16 that God was callling him into ministry. I have known since I was about 13 that I would marry into a ministry position. I saw the important role that the supportive women in my church (most specifically, my youth group) played in their husband's ministry. My youth minister's wife had a profound impact on my life and I prayed that God would use me in the same way for others.

Josh and I met through ministry. We both were staffers at a christian children/youth camp and retreat center, Camp Longridge. We were friends for a while and then felt God calling us to a dating relationship. After some ups and downs,a long distance relationship, and many lessons- we were married June 12, 2010. At that time, he was a part time youth minister in Georgia while I was a teacher in South Carolina. He felt it was time to leave that ministry and join me in SC to see what else God had in store.

During the first months of our marriage, he applied to churches as he felt called but the job as senior pastor we had been praying for didn't come. So this added more stress on an already crazy time as we were learning to be husband and wife. He took a part time job at Lifeway Christian Bookstore. We got pregnant unexpectedly and then lost our sweet baby at 8 weeks. We had been searching for a church home during the search for a pastor position and came upon Gethsemane Baptist Church. Josh applied for their pastor position and we visited the church one Sunday not long after we lost the baby. We fell in love with the church at that first visit! They were all so loving and welcoming- we felt like family from the first moment. Over time and through the interview process, we continued to feel God calling us to make this church our home. The church felt the same and in June of 2011 Josh was called into a bivocational position as pastor.

Since then, we have been welcomed and cherished as part of the family. Most of our biological family lives 3 hours away- so we have so many adopted parents/grandparents through the church. The congregation is primarily older and we currently have 2 youth and 2 children- so not a very active youth/childrens department. We are praying for God to lead us and grow our church as he sees fit. There are times when I do feel the pressure of being a "pastors wife" and feel the need to be exactly what everyone wants me to be. When I don't meet their expectations- I have to remind myself that I serve an audience of ONE. I take on the burdens and joys with my husband as he serves. I celebrate as he shares his vision for the church and we watch it slowly unfold. I listen and encourage as he shares the challenges and frustrations he faces- and try to help him think/pray through solutions.

One of the questions we were asked in the interview was "How will you handle the challenges of sharing your husband with the church and not take things personally when problems arrive?" All I could say was, I knew before we got married that Josh belonged to God first and foremost. Although I can't say I KNEW what I was in for- I did know that God would not have called me to marry Josh had he not been preparing my heart from young age for the role.

Josh and I claimed a verse as the foundation of our dating relationship and marriage. Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." First above all- we must seek God's guidance to reveal his plan. When we seek him first, his desires (for ourselves, for our family, for the church, ANYTHING) become our desires. Instead of asking God to give me- give me- give me what I want, ask him to make his desires what I desire. We continue to strive to keep this at the forefront of our marriage and as we serve the church.