What your minister's wife wants for Christmas

I am blessed to be the wife of a minister.  Don't get me wrong, life doesn't always go the way we plan and of course there are downsides but let me tell you about an upside in my life.  

My church.

We are a part of the most amazing congregation of people.  It's not that they are famous, or rich, or enormous.  We'll leave that to others.  What they are is welcoming, kind, interested, supportive, patient and loving.  What they are is the image of Christ.

Since our earliest days here I have know that I wasn't just the wife of the minister, I was their sister.

But it's not always that way.  Sometimes minister's wives feel excluded, out of place, far from home, and alone.    

I'd like to encourage you today to think about the perfect Christmas gift, something that will let her know that you love here and appreciate all that she does.  Need a suggestion? 

Well glad you asked!  I am guest posting today with Pat and Candy follow the link for some practical suggestions.

The Grinch

One of the awesome things happening in my congregation is a Sunday Night group Bible study.  Each week we take a question asked by a member of our church, study all week, and then work on it as a class.  A few weeks ago we studied the Grinch.

Confused?  The actual topic was bitterness.  And there is no better Christmas season example than the Grinch.  If bitterness is a disease, he has every symptom.

Mediations on Christmas

As you munch one more turkey sandwich, I invite you to turn your mind to Christmas.  

What?

You have been bombarded by EVERYTHING Holiday for the last 6 weeks?  There is still a month till Christmas, there are presents to buy, the tree is not up, gifts need wrapped and no one is allowed to mention the Black Friday hangover?

I understand.

This holiday season on Maidservants of Christ, we will be celebrating a quiet kind of Christmas.  I invite you to join us for a series of meditations.  We’ll work our way slowly through the “nativity" scriptures, savoring carols and pondering prophecies.  

So from now until Christmas, grab a cup of coffee (or an eggnog if that’s your jam) and meditate with us on the story of how God brought a Savior to our world!

Helene

PS I understand that Jesus was not born on December 25th (even in Palestine it’s too cold for shepherds to be sleeping out with their sheep and for Ceasars to be turning out the populace for a census).  I also understand that God gave us no commandment to celebrate Jesus’ birth.  Yet this is the only time of year that the world speaks His name except as a curse.  So I encourage you to take the opportunity with me to share His story while people are listening (if in no other way you can share these mediations on your social media feed!).

Ready for more Christmas posts? Try these!

Revisiting the Nativity

Imaginary Judges

Party Pooper

The DIY disaster

My daughter and I came across this picture.  It was the kind of recipe that inspires dinners, dieters and DIY chefs alike.  A huge piece of cake lay artfully under two scoops of ice cream.  The caption proclaimed it would make its own caramel sauce in the pan.  One look and she proclaimed, "That's what sin looks like."  

The Lie: You are Good Enough

This post, which appeared in a slightly different form some years ago, is part of a list of posts about the lies that sin tells us hosted by Bethany Mcllrath.  I hope you will click over and read more of these articles!

Who would you die for?  Not risk your life for, like heroic police officers, soldiers, and others do.  I mean for whom would you deliberately step forward and offer to die in his/her place?

For me, the answer's easy. I would die for my daughters, my nieces.  I might die for my husband if he didn't beat me to it.  Or perhaps for other adult family members.  But that's it.  Short list.

Why do I ask? 

 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him (Romans 5:7-9).  

Because these verses haunt me. Because left to myself, I know I am neither righteous nor good.

Entertained not Enslaved: Resources for Dealing with Media

On a Facebook group I am a part of, I saw a very intriguing post go by.  A minister's wife  was gathering resources to teach a lesson on how to deal with the media coming into your home.  I was intrigued.  I contacted her to ask to share the completed list and convinced her to guest post for us instead.  Joanne Desmartin is a stay-at-home mom, a minister's wife, a Bible class teacher and an altogether Godly lady.  You can find her and her congregation online. You might find her traveling, enjoying art, or getting ready for the holidays!

While preparing for a recent ladies’ devotional, from Nancy Eichman’s Seasoning Your Words:  God’s Recipe for Controlling Your Tongue, on offensive words, I had the opportunity to compile a list of valuable censorship resources.  The chapter I was covering from Nancy’s book talked about how we have gradually allowed vulgar language to creep into our society and our individual homes.  She encouraged us to avoid this sneaking advance by evading even a hint of foul, vulgar language.