Yokemates

Without hesitation or prelude the unexpected pronouncement was declared, and that moment is still etched in my memory. “It’s time for you to take over Vacation Bible School!" she declared. "I’ve done it long enough. It’s time for the younger generation to help out.” That was over 25 years ago, and I can still feel the attack and panic I felt rushing up my spine. There were so many problems with that quick deluge of information that I stood dumbfounded. The problem was, the only qualification that I had for this position – at least the qualification listed by the retreating VBS coordinator – was that I was young. Probably about 26 years old at the time with three girls under 5 years old. While I had attended many Vacation Bible Schools during my childhood, I had never coordinated any event, and I had absolutely no clue where to start. Why did she choose me? I’m assuming I was deemed the best candidate for the position because I was the pastor’s wife. As I l...

It came as a big surprise! She asked me if I was still looking for help in my Sunday School class. I excitedly answered, “Yes!” as I had been running an announcement in the bulletin seeking a ‘helper’ for the Middle School Class. I was hopeful that I might get someone to fill in the gap one Sunday a month. This wasn’t the first time I’d tried to find another volunteer for the class, but it had been awhile. So, when this gal actually asked if I still needed help I was almost in disbelief. (Why do we do that when God answers our prayers?) I have no doubt that she heard the excitement in my response, and we continued a conversation about the class and the kids. Within a couple of minutes, however, I was confused and the conversation seemed a bit awkward. (Were we talking about the need for a class helper, or did this gal want to actually teach the class?) Sensing my confusion, she backed off quickly saying something to the effect that “If I wasn’t ready to give up the class, she d...

Have you ever stopped to consider how many words we share with others in just one day?  What we say. What we write. What we type. What we swipe. What if we had our own personal ‘word count’ button (like in MS Word) that we could click on? Yes, we'd have a literal word count, but it wouldn't include the words that often speak the loudest - the words we communicate with our hands, our tone of voice and our facial expressions. Whether our words are put into print, are spoken or are merely an innuendo understood clearly by the listener, we each have moments when we wish we had a button to erase each misspoken word or rambling sentence. Putting together a short, yet meaningful message, for a birthday card, a voicemail or a text can be very challenging. Too minimal and we run the risk of being cryptic and confusing. Too many words can turn into rambling, and we lose focus of our purpose. Choosing our words wisely takes extra thought, but it is always a worth...

How can that be? I don’t have millions of followers on social media, and I was never even a prom queen. To be famous used to mean that you were “widely known” or “honored for an achievement.” (Webster) Now, being famous means that you have “your own Wikipedia page.” (Urban Dictionary) We live in a society that worships celebrity and tells us that in order to succeed we must have a ‘platform’ to promote ourselves. Ugh! That just isn’t who I am or where I want to be in life, but… The reality is that you and I are famous, or “widely known,” because of who we married. That notoriety may look very different depending on the size of the community or city that we call home. Our personal career path may also greatly influence how many people we know or who may know us. But, at the end of the day, we each are famous simply because we are married to our husband, the pastor. Yep! Those that know us may or may not know our given name, but they do know who we are married to. The Pastor’s...