My Name Is Ruth 2.0: The Story of a Pastor's Wife

ISBN-13: 9781508834649 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 322 str.

Patricia Sutton Burgess

Opis

Forever the private lives of a Pastor's family have eluded many church members who consider their Pastor family to be some sort of saint without the same needs that we have. See the Pastor's family through the eyes of the Pastor's wife. Learn what it is all about. These are real people with real lives, needs, and dreams. This book pulls back the curtain and invites the laity--all church and non-church people--into the life of the Pastor's family. Here you will learn of the romance, the Calling, the preparation, the disappointments, the mountaintops, the churches served, and the heartbreak that life does not withhold from the couple who surrender their lives to ministry. The author is a 35-year veteran of living the life of the Pastor's wife. She tells the story with experiences that evoke tears at times, chuckles at other times, and great joy at unexpected times. See how difficult it is to have best friends, a home of your own, children, and dreams coming true. See how the children react and interact. Meet the children and see how they do and do not find approval within the church family. Lest one forget, there are also politics to consider, power struggles, and the temptations. Be privy to how the couple found one another, how they courted, the wedding, and the surprising honeymoon Then visit them as they complete college and the seminary with the trials and tribulations associated. Learn the difficulties of being married through college and seminary. Take a look at "Poverty Row." Take a visit to each of the eight churches they served during their ministry. Form a mental picture of the church buildings themselves--diverse yet similar. Meet the church members in each church and see how successful or not successful the ministry was. Take a glimpse at some of the church members themselves. Find out what sort of things disappointed this couple who experienced God's call to these places. Then, see what constituted mountain top experiences as well. Become aware of the strong spiritual life of these people despite the demands of a secular world. Meet the women who left lasting impressions on the life of the Pastor's wife. Then, experience the shock that this family incurred regarding bringing children into their union. See how they handled it. Meet the children who shared the experiences of this Pastor's family. Examine the valleys through which they walked in order to do God's work as He led them. Then, with all of these experiences behind you, go into the most major experience that ends the ministry of these two people. See how it was handled. Then, with the full story in your heart, take a look at the NOW--the children and what resulted for each of them. Meet the heroes that lasted. And, finally. Read the personal message to each reader. Then, look at your church family with perhaps a better understanding of the fact that they are after all only human. See how to pray for that wife who collects no salary but labors beside your Pastor. Understand a little better the children of your Pastor. Perhaps you will be left, as the author hopes, with the power of God to take lives and bless them in ways that most of us do not take time to consider. Finally, experience the abiding joy that comes from being where God wants you to be. The author set out to reveal some of what goes on and wound up inspiring those who shared her journey.