Know to show?

A lot of people believe that they need to "show (off)" what they know - especially in church. I find that some people just go on and on speaking "Christian-ese" with so much ease or are just full of spiritual principles without supporting practice. I'm always saddened and amused but sometimes can't say how I feel about it since it could sound "judgmental" coming from Mrs Pastor.

How salty is your church?

How tasty is your world?

Talking to every Christian, Jesus said: “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” (Matt 5:13 - The Message)

These questions (i.e. the topic) dropped in my heart when I listened to Bishop David Oyedepo a few months ago. He said that

"We're the salt of the earth,

not the salt of the church."

Therefore, in my opinion, those who remain salt in the church and only in and to the church make the church too "salty." I'll explain...

Who are your two-thirds?

Chatting with my Prayer Partner (PP) brought this interesting topic up. After you read this, I pray you are prompted to do exactly what we did after our discussion - pray for your husband...

Marriage matters

As Mrs. Pastor, one thing I am constantly reminded of is that my marriage matters and whether or not you want to accept it, it is expected (and has to be) an example to others. I found a few quotes that got me thinking differently...

Zig Ziglar said "I have no way of knowing whether or not you married the wrong person, but I do know that many people have a lot of wrong ideas about marriage and what it takes to make that marriage happy and successful. I'll be the first to admit that it's possible that you did marry the wrong person. However, if you treat the wrong person like the right person, you could well end up having married the right person after all. On the other hand, if you marry the right person, and treat that person wrong, you certainly will have ended up marrying the wrong person. I also know that it is far more important to be the right kind of person than it is to marry the right person. In short, whether you married the right or wrong person is primarily up to you."

In marriage, each partner is to be an encourager rather than a critic, a forgiver rather than a collector of hurts, an enabler rather than a reformer. ~ H. Norman Wright and Gary J. Oliver

The more you invest  in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes. ~ Amy Grant

Motto for the bride and groom: We are a work in progress with a lifetime contract.

~ Phyllis Koss

Whatever comes your way, remember to connect, communicate and celebrate with each other constantly. Can you imagine what our churches would be like if our "husband" Christ never connected, communicated or celebrated us and vice versa? Let's learn from the Lord and have exemplary marriages. May God continue to bless your marriage - and mine too. AMEN!

To host or not to host?

Before you wonder how I could ask such a question let's be clear that the Bible tells us we should be hospitable* - it's even a requirement for church leaders.**

I remember a friend who teased me about getting ready to cook and host sometime after my husband started pastoring. I smiled & wondered with a "Hmmm?" - in my mind of course. I've noticed that a number of "hosts" and "hostesses" - Mrs. Pastors included - miss the point of hospitality and hosting which is why this question "To host or not host?" popped in my heart.

Which type of MUG are you?

You may not be like me or some women I know who have different shapes and sizes of mugs with varying sentimental values. Personally, there are some mugs that I use just because they have not been used in a while. There are some which I only, or mostly, use when I need to host many people. BTW, each family member has a favourite mug - or 2.
 

The bottom line is: "

Every mug I have is useful but not every mug gets used."

You can make a cuppa in one of your mugs as you continue reading...

Be(come) a Handy-woman

Do you know how to use a hammer? A lot of us believe that it's not a woman's place to know how to use some of those tools and/or to fix things (around the house). I used to think a bit like that although I know how to use basic tools. I started rethinking that stand after reading 2 scriptures - one has to be taken figuratively and the other literally.

Fathering Pastor or Pastoring Father

I've been praying and wondering what to say to our husbands this Father's Day. Last week, my husband and I were talking about how interesting that in the past there used to be an unwritten rule about only allowing those who were married, and in some cases family men, to become pastors. It sure has some scriptural basis (see 1 Tim 1:1-7 and Tit 1: 6-8) however, we agreed that it is not enough to "qualify" a man to become a pastor. In fact we went further to say that not every man who has fathered children has "credibility" to talk about being a father.

The Willing Wife...

...is the Winning Wife.

That sounds like a mouthful and I'm wondering what I'm getting myself into.

This topic occurred to me when I was writing my piece titled: "The Gift."*
I then decided to wait till I was in the right frame of mind not to mention right "heart-space" before writing this. Being willing is not something that happens willingly - pun intended - at least that's how it is for me sometimes.

Vunerable...

is valuable.

"It's good to be strong and able to bless others, yes. But we learned the value of being vunerable enough to let others be strong for us, to let others bless us. That, it turned out, was a blessing to them as well."

When I read these words on page 153 of "Heaven is for Real" - a book my colleague lent to me unsolicited, there was no way I'd leave the words on that page. By the way, if you haven't read that book, it's one I recommend for "Family Reading." I had barely read 3 chapters of the book before I bought one for my family - our children are going to read it first.

Let me stop there before I go off the point...