A retired preacher was cleaning out an old dresser one day when he found five eggs and a thousand dollars. He asked his wife about it and she said that had she saved one egg for every bad sermon he had preached. He thought, "Five eggs in all those years. That’s not too bad. But what’s the money for?" "Well," she said, "Every time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them." As someone well said: “Just think, if it weren’t for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.”
A TRIBUTE
A retired preacher was cleaning out an old dresser one day when he found five eggs and a thousand dollars. He asked his wife about it and she said that had she saved one egg for every bad sermon he had preached. He thought, "Five eggs in all those years. That’s not too bad. But what’s the money for?" "Well," she said, "Every time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them." As someone well said: “Just think, if it weren’t for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.”
All joking aside, there is very often a need for the type of correction we receive from our wives. That, of course, is just one of the many very valuable things they do for us. In truth, there is more, so much more that they do to make our lives and ministry successful.
Almost every church has a job profile for their pastor, assistant pastor or C E Director. While most church members have an idea of what a pastor’s wife should be like, I have yet to see a written job profile for the pastor’s wife. Quite frankly I doubt that I ever will. Supposing that there were one, I would like to ask the question: would you be qualified?
Let me say first of all that it’s not an easy position to fill. People’s expectations can be enormous. You may be expected to have the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, the theological knowledge of the apostle Paul, the courage of Queen Esther, the leadership potential of Deborah and the grace and spirituality of Mary.
You will have to be capable of smiling politely when your husband is referred to as someone just short of God, knowing all too well how far off that statement is, and you have to be willing to bite your lip when your husband is compared to…. when you know that’s not true either. You will need to stifle the hurts you feel when negative comments are made, and to always be careful always not to offend.
You will need to be able to cook, sew, and clean house; prepared to exercise hospitality at any moment; never too tired and always ready to give a helping hand or a word of encouragement to those who are in need not the least of which being your husband.
Step outside the church door and look up in the sky. What do you see? A bird? A plane? No, it’s Superwife? Obviously no one could ever meet all those expectations. But I think credit should be given where credit is due. Each week while her husband has been more in the limelight, Karen, in addition to her role as wife and mother, has been working with MOPS, conducting a missionary prayer time, and hosting a small group. She also serves as a deaconess helping especially with the meals. She teaches from time to time in Bible Discovery Zone , has helped with AWANA and helps in the nursery. She has also made many trips with me to Lewiston and Portland for hospital visitation. It should be mentioned also that while the custom in recent years has been to pick and choose your meetings, (you can’t do everything I’m told) you will find her at every public meeting. She does this while working at a preschool four days a week. She has often mentioned that there are other ministries she would love to be involved in, but realizes that her time and energies are pretty well at their limits.
As I think over the work and ministry of our church I am very much aware that there are a number of people who, like Karen, merit special recognition. There is no way we can properly handle that in this article, but I personally am very grateful for the dedication we have seen from so many. I will mention here, though, our paid staff who have been doing an outstanding job. Sandy Kucharski keeps our facilities sparkling clean. Pat Burgess manages our office with outstanding efficiency. It’s impossible to give Debbie all the credit she deserves for the outstanding work she is doing with our Christian Ed and discipleship ministries. The church is truly blessed to have these people working here. I pay special tribute here to all of these people and in particular this time to my wife who has worked so hard to see God glorified in this church.