Preacher’s Wife Teaching Life

We voted! I love the anticipation of finding out who will preside over our country! I would imagine being president is one of the hardest jobs on the planet, yet we manage to find one every 4-8 years that is willing to take on the sacrifices of a country leader. I may not always agree with our president, but no matter who it is, I hold a great deal of respect for someone willing to step into that position of authority. It is, after all, essentially the greatest authority we have on Earth as Americans. I can find rest in who America chooses because while he/she is the greatest authority in our country, God still remains the greatest authority over the entire universe. Worrying about things that are out of our control would be like preparing for a test we are never going to have...it's pointless. Faithfully praying, without worry, on the other hand, is certainly recommended in times when big decision are being made that affect many people for years. God has been teaching me t...

Why is it that employees often think they know how to do the boss' job better than the boss does? I always wonder, "is it arrogance? is it perspective? is it just plain stupidity?" No matter the reason, this is an age old problem that plagues people of all ages. Kids think their parents don't know anything. Students think their teachers are stupid. Employees think their bosses are jerks. Wives think husbands are selfish. Husbands think wives are annoying. The list goes on but the problem remains: a lot of people have problems respecting authority. Maybe the lack of respect comes from an abusive experience. Perhaps you think you're justified in your defiance because of the way you were treated. Again, either way, the problem remains: a lot of people have problems respecting authority. Authority can be a tricky thing to recognize, especially when you place yourself above authority in your own mind because they're younger than you, dumber than you, not as exper...

The text message from Jarrod said, “Can you call me?” which usually means something is going on. I immediately called him and asked what was going on. He replied with anxiety that he was in the parking lot of the gym, dressed ready to work out and he couldn't bring himself to get out of the truck. He was freaking out and talking about the dread he felt about working out with a bunch of young, in-the-best-shape-of-their-lives adults. I answered with something to the effect of, “what’s wrong with you? Just get out of the truck and go get our money’s worth.” He continued to flip out and I answered in the only way I know how to deal with anxiety and say, “Jarrod, just say the name.” He waited a few beats, warring with himself over the choice and resolved to run to the only one who can fix this crisis and says, “Jesus.” In that one word, that one name, we both felt the atmosphere change and his countenance switched over to his true self. He thanked me, got off the phone, ran his little...

If you've been following me, you know we just finished studying the book of Joshua. Our church is headed into the book of Ephesians to study the attributes of Christ. Follow along as we read through the chapters and try to find these attributes yourself as I teach about them. The first attribute of Christ is that he is our entrance. Entrance to what? The entrance to a life with meaning and purpose. To a life with joy and thanksgiving. In the unbelieving mind, the highest power in your life is yourself. You never experience true love and everything is hinged on what you can and can't do. These cans and can'ts are decided by strongholds, personal victories, and fear. The life of the unbeliever is defeating and has no real purpose or joy. Your life is driven by addictions, sickness, and an unending attempt to find happiness. Now is the time to read EPHESIANS 1 . I ask before you read it to pray and request God to open your mind and heart to what he wants you to learn. Be p...

My dad and I have been working together for a long time, illustrating his sermons with words and pictures in a way that others may understand. I remember being a little girl and helping my dad at this new found contraption called a computer by using words, shapes, and clip art to articulate what God was telling him. I think its kind of funny that as an adult, I sort of do the same thing for my husband in the form of a blog. He hears from God, I listen through a God filter and try to write, in more simple terms, what his sermon means in the form of a blog post. I add pictures to my posts, not to make my posts more appealing (although it helps), but to help the reader's brain connect what the meaning behind the words is. It might be part of my DNA...it might be a learned habit. We've learned from science that DNA stores biological information and is passed from adults to their offspring. Basically, the average person knows that DNA comes from our parents and it's what makes...

This week we covered Joshua 24 . Basically, Joshua reflects on all that's happened and tells the people to remember God. ( Joshua:14, 15 ) This post is a quick and dry summary of allllll my previous posts (which are linked into the points listed below): 1) God established a leader in Joshua; Moses was a powerful leader and his he passed his mantle to Joshua, like a spiritual inheritance. ---> His first responsibility was to come under authority. ------> Each leader has a leader to come under. Even the highest power on Earth has to submit to someone, namely God. Coming under authority by submitting to their guidance is of utmost importance to your well being. 2) A partnership with the Lord is established. ---> God does his part first and then humans need to do their part. For example, God sent a hail storm in Joshua 10 and the people still had to fight the battle with those remaining. ---> God has an opinion about his dominion and we could do well t...

Jarrod and I like to attend these pastor conferences in the city about once a year. A couple years ago, the pastor of the church felt like his son had a word from God for the people in attendance. His son was in his mid-teens and stood awkwardly at the front with a Bible wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and converse shoes. He timidly relayed the message God gave him and we could all feel the anointing on him but knew he had some growing to do (don’t we all?!). Now let’s fast forward a couple years to this last weekend at the youth conference. This young boy, who so timidly spoke years ago as an emerging pastor, has now come fully into his gifting as an adult. He stood up at the front with a presence of God’s power and a witty, dynamic personality. He held the audience captive for his humorous stories and powerful words from God. It is easy to see he is OWNING his gift. He’s taken possession of what God has given him and is walking fully in it as a confident, Spirit filled speaker. It isn’t ha...

For Joshua 7, we had our youth group leader, Jason, preach and I think it is safe to say that everyone enjoyed it. He did such a good job of laying out the material in a clear way and pulling in his personal journey to make the passage more relatable. It helped this week, for me at least, that Joshua 7 was a little more fun to dissect than Joshua 6. Chapter 6 had some weighty material but was pretty cut and dry as far as the storyline went. In Chapter 7, Joshua and the army were planning on going further into the Promised Land to claim, Ai. Ai was a small community so Joshua sent a small portion of the army (about 3000 people) to take the land. They went with the confidence from their former victory in Jericho and the knowledge that their army was bigger than Ai's. Bolstered with confidence and knowledge, they marched into Ai, fought with all they had, and ran out screaming like little children over their fear and defeat. 36 men died and the takeover was unsuccessful. When Jos...

This is my first attempt at posting a weekly synopsis of the sermon preached at our church(should I submit "praught" to the dictionary as being the past tense of preach?). I'd like to keep current information flowing through my blog instead of posting revelations as they come. We don't have internet at home yet because technology and Internet companies stink sometimes for people who live in the boonies so I will try my very hardest to post weekly based on our visits to town. This week my husband *praught* on Joshua 5. We have been working our way through the book of Joshua and Joshua's journey to the Promised Land. My husband has an unusual connection to Joshua and the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua, so it's been really interesting to listen to him and my dad and Pastor Jim preach their way through this book. (If you want more on this, please email my husband at gfcstephenville@gmail.com) Their knowledge and wisdom of this book and the connect...