Staying Behind

Most of you who read my blog know that my husband, Josh, is a pastor. Currently, he is the only pastor on staff at a church with around 150 people. Obviously, we aren't at a huge church, but one pastor for 150 people keeps him busy. On average, he preaches 3 times a week and has many different meetings to attend and to deal with the "business" of the church. This month is an especially busy month as we are getting ready for a new church year.

Right after we got married, Josh was pastoring a church in Indiana of about 20 people - yes, it was really small! While we were there, I was able to do everything with Josh. If someone was sick, I went with him to visit. If there was a wedding or a funeral, I was able to go. Of course, there wasn't nearly the amount of work to do for a congregation of 20 as there is for a congregation of 150. But even still, I was able to go because I had no other responsibilities than to serve with my husband.

Things are a lot different today than they were 3 years ago. We have two beautiful baby boys who require most of my time and attention. They need their mama and I cherish the time I can love on them and share the gospel with them. However, by caring for them I'm not as available to minister alongside of Josh. I am realizing that my role is different now. I have the primary responsibility of taking care of our children and home. The biggest role I have in Josh's day-to-day ministry now is prayer. And over the last few weeks, I have realized that prayer is more important than all the other things I could be doing.

I won't lie and say it is easy "staying behind." I love my husband and want to be with him. But I can't go to all the funerals or weddings or special services or to visit the sick. The hardest time for me was a few weeks ago when Josh was on his mission trip. I wanted to be there with him, but the Lord has placed me in the home with our children. I am trying to remember that our children will grow up all too quickly and one day, I will have more time to be "hands on."

Every season of life has its positives and negatives. Even though I can't participate in ministry as much right now, I can diligently serve my husband by fervently praying for him and by training up our children in godliness. What an awesome responsibility!

A Woman After God's Own Heart

The title for this blog is the title of the book we are studying in our women's bible study. Last night was the first meeting and it went great! There are 22 women signed up and last night we had 15 (some of them I knew where they were...the rest I have to track down). Also, our ages range from 81 to 25 - Titus 2 is taking place! Since the ladies didn't receive the book until Wednesday night or last night, we just had an intro and getting to know you time.

I began by giving a brief testimony of how I came to know the Lord and my passion for teaching women the Word. This has been my heart's longing for sometime now and I'm so thrilled that so many other women wanted to participate. I really didn't expect for the other women to give a brief testimony, but most of them did. It was wonderful to hear a room full of women testify to the Lord's goodness in the midst of their trials, as well as how the Lord had brought them to Himself.

We are planning on meeting for 12 weeks and reading two chapters a week. The agenda is to discuss the chapters and the Scripture for 45 mins and then to break into groups of two or three for accountability and to share personal prayer needs. My hope is that we will hold each other accountable for reading the Word daily, as well as spur one another on to godliness.

The women who were there last night have a hunger to learn more of the Word and to know God more. This book is all about pursuing God and I think it will give us encouragement to follow diligently after our Savior. I'll leave you with the best quote of the night by an older lady, "I just began studying God's Word a few months ago and I realized I was missing so much and now I want more of it." Praise The Lord and may it be true for all of us!

Titus 2

When it comes to ministry, I have two huge passions. The first is missions. When I read Scripture, it is clear to me that the whole world needs to hear the gospel. How can they believe if they haven't heard (Romans 10:14)? I have had the privilege to go to a closed country to share the gospel with those who have never heard, as well as serving in San Antonio, TX, for a summer in college. At this time in my life, I'm not able to go, but I am able to give and mobilize others to give. Our church has sent care packages to missionaries recently and I have had the privilege of sharing with our ladies the work that missionaries are doing all over the world. It is a joy for women at our church to grasp the importance of missions and to see their willingness to give.

This leads me to my second passion in ministry: women's ministry and specifically biblical womanhood. I long to see women love God's Word and obey the Word. Our church has not had a biblical women's ministry in a long time, and I'm excited that we are moving in that direction. Josh & I met with a group of ladies this summer to examine God's plan for women's ministry as we read Women's Ministry in The Local Church by J. Ligon Duncan & Susan Hunt. The outcome of those meetings was a desire for our women's ministry to follow the model for women's ministry given to us in Scripture - Titus 2:3-5.

We know that the only way women will embrace a change from the traditional SBC model of women's ministry to the biblical model is by teaching the Word. Therefore, I have been given the task of teaching the ladies in our church about biblical womanhood and specifically what a Titus 2 ministry looks like. Right now I'm looking through books and praying about how to begin this task. Lord willing, this teaching will begin in January.

There are 18 ladies, including myself, who are going to the True Woman conference in Chicago next month. For many ladies, this will be the first time they have heard teaching on biblical womanhood. I'm so excited for how the Lord will use this conference in these ladies' lives and for the impact it will have on our church. Please be in prayer for us as we go and hear God's Word taught and for the next few months as I prepare to teach.