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PW Connect (www.pastorswives.com) is the sister blog of Pastors' Wives Thriving in the Fishbowl's website & message board. We support, encourage, and nurture ministry wives. Our contributors have experienced the fishbowl of ministry life firsthand, and we're here to come alongside you in all the joys and tears.

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16 February

The Not-So-Perfect Husband of the Pastor's Wife

Yesterday evening I experienced it yet again. The notion that somehow, because my husband is a pastor, that he can do no wrong.

A silly little exchange took place: At the beginning of the Bible study, a man announced, "I need to sit by my wife so that people don't start wondering about our marriage." He then began to finagle things around so that they could sit together.

With a twinkle in my eye, I quipped jokingly: "I never sit by my husband at Bible study. Do you wonder about our marriage?"

To which he replied, "But that's different, he's a holy man."

"Aaannnndddd.....?" I asked, to the giggles of a few.

Truthfully, I'm flattered. I appreciate the love and respect given to my husband. It surely beats the opposite. Yet, at the same time, I'm a tiny bit troubled.

My husband isn't Jesus. (Pause and think about that!) My earthly husband is not Jesus.

He's a sinner saved by grace, just like the rest of us. He makes mistakes. He forgets things that are important. He's doesn't always have the perfect reply for our children. He still even... (gasp!)... sins!!!!

Ask him! He'll tell you the same thing.

I tried to tell that to a friend I had at a former church. She once told me of her hope that her daughter would marry a pastor. She admired my husband (for better or worse, I guess), and wanted her daughter to marry someone like him.

I tried to tell her that marrying a pastor was not a guarantee of anything, but I didn't really sense that she believed me. I told her I knew plenty of pastors who had lied, cheated, beat their children, or left their wives. But she just had this image in her mind of my husband, and how much better he was than her husband.

Yes, he sins. Do people realize that? Will they become disillusioned if/when they do?

But if I'm honest, sometimes I even forget that my husband is a sinner. Then, I act all surprised when he does exactly that. I get aggravated with God, too, if He doesn't smack him or limit his abilities in sermon-writing or something until he sets everything right with me or whomever.

He's a good guy. Don't get me wrong.

But again, he's not Jesus. And if I can't get that straight at times, I guess it shouldn't surprise me when others struggle with it, too.

-rg-
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13 February

Virtual PW Conference, Giveaway, & Laura Hilton Week on PW Blogs

It's a busy week, so the pw blog round-up will be short and sweet:

Tonight at 8:00 p.m. (central time), Leading & Loving It will continue a series of free online video conferences for pastors' wives. You can find more information here. If you can't tune in this evening, they will be re-airing tomorrow (Feb. 14) at 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. This is the 3rd week of a 4-week virtual conference. They also plan to archive previous conferences on their website.

Sivje is giving away a sewing book and some cute sewing supplies to celebrate her recent blogaversary. But hurry, the deadline to enter is Valentine's Day.


Cindy Loven will be celebrating Laura Hilton week on her book review blog beginning March 5th. There will be "Lots of fun, giveaways, and reviews," according to Cindy, as well as announcement regarding a new series.

I spent a lot of time over the weekend revamping this site into a more professional look. I think I'm finally done. At least for now! Have a great week everyone. :-)

-rg-


08 February

A Pastor's Wife Asks: How Do I Connect With Other Pastors' Wives on Your Site??

From the inbox:
   Q. I'm not really sure what I signed up for, I still feel pretty ignorant about this blogging "dealie" LOL! But I'm up for connecting.

Signed, (a friend on facebook)
Note: If you're a pastor's wife who has a question you'd like answered here, e-mail us (askapw at pastorswivesconnection.com).

Dear PW Friend, 

I'm so glad you asked! I didn't have a question in the mailbox to answer this week. But more importantly, if you're confused, I'm sure many others are confused as well.

The purpose of this blog is to help you connect with other pw bloggers, while also allowing other pastors' wives who may not have a blog to interact with our blogging community. Here's a quick list of how to receive the most benefit from our network.

How to connect with other pastor's wife bloggers

  1. Help another pastor's wife.

    You don't need a blog to participate. Simply look through the Ask a PW section and comment to share your encouragement and expertise. Or submit your own question to the community and check back for replies.
  2. Use our blogroll to find other pastors' wives.

    Click here for a list of all pastors' wives, or peruse the latest updates in the sidebar. Encourage another pastor's wife with your comments, likes, etc. 
  3. Write a guest post.

    Have something on your heart you'd like to share with other pastors' wives? Submit your material to us. (Again, it's not necessary to have a personal blog to participate.) See our contributor guidelines for more information.
  4. Watch for the Weekly PW Blog Round-Up.

    Each week, I highlight recent posts from our pw community that I believe will be of interest to other pastors' wives. It may be a post about women, a neat craft, an insight on a Bible passage, a book/product review, or just a general thought about the life of a pastor's family.
  5. Let me interview you and feature your blog.

    Each week I'll also feature a new pastor's wife we can all get to know. We'll pray for you all week, too, because we're cool like that! (See this post for more details.)
  6. Add your blog to our list.

    Help other pastors' wives find your blog. As our site grows, we'll subdivide as necessary; so please note senior pastor's wife, youth pastor's wife, missionary/missionary's wife, etc. and whether your blog is focused in on a single topic.
  7. Stay in touch!

    We have several options, and I recommend choosing more than one so you don't miss out on any new features. Also important! Word on the web is that google friend connect is being phased out. At the very least, it is being discontinued for all non-blogger blogs beginning March 1st, 2012. While "follow" is an easy way to keep up with a blog, it appears that google may be transitioning this service to google plus, so we're already there, even though it's quite lonely over there at the moment!
  8. Ask!

    Have I missed anything? Still confused? Ask away, and I'll do my best to answer.


Love,
    Ramona



06 February

Purpose, Time, & The Positives of Ministry Top Weekly PW Blogs (Plus Poll Update)

We all balance our busy church life with the family at home, but so far only one pastor's wife in our group works to ensure that her church runs "as smooth as Southern-churned butter." Good to know! ;-)

real reality of pastors wives survey results at pastorswivesconnection.com

TLC's upcoming show about preacher wives tops our recent news. Beth is blogging about the reality (?) of it and others have indicated they will, too.

You can view preliminary results from our riveting, "highly-scientific" poll on the real reality of pastors' wives here.

On to the other blogs...

Encouragement
Topping the list of words that spoke to me last week, I really enjoyed Cyndi's take on Bonds or Bondage. She reflects on Paul's imprisonment and how he used unpleasant circumstances to fulfill his calling in life.

Time Management
Terilynne just finished up a great series on time management. I couldn't pick only one. My two favorites were 24 Hours Is Never Enough, in which she challenges us to examine the root of our problem with time; and 4 Truths about Time, where she wraps it up with some great insights.

About Ministry
Think the life of a pastor's wife is destined to be a negative experience? Take a look at Pam Terrell's post about all the good things that happen in ministry. Pam thinks she's an outlier, but I'm not so sure. I think sometimes we hear too much about the unusual challenges of a pastor's family and it overwhelms us. We need to be reminded of the blessings, too.

About Women
Not necessarily about ministry, but Pam also has a great post about being a woman that I think all moms of girls will appreciate. Read about the positive things her parents did to help her develop a healthy view of herself. She also found a great cartoon illustrating a girl's world as viewed by the Disney princesses.

Critiques
Topping the reviews this past week, Nikki takes a look at Kinderbach online piano lessons for children, and two pw's examine The Jerk Magnet, by Melody Carlson. Read Cindy's review here and Suzanne's review here.

Other Neat Things
Each Saturday evening, Deidra at jumping tandem hosts a new Sunday post. Several people join her each week in posting a beautiful picture and a simple word of scripture to meditate upon. What a great way to encourage each other as we're preparing to worship!

And finally, pwnmom (PW and Mom) uses her blog to post about crafty and creative things that she either makes or finds online.Today I found an oldie but a goodie on her blog featuring a great idea for little children and church. Visit pwnmom to find out more about this cute little mini coloring tote:
original source: {lbg studio}

-rg-



03 February

TLC Reality Show: Preacher Wives. What is Your Gut Reaction? Updated -- Poll & Link-Up

From The Huffington Post
TLC is taking audiences into the holy world of Atlanta's "Preacher Wives." The new reality series...will follow the "outspoken ladies who work to ensure that their churches run as smooth as Southern-churned butter." (Click here for full article)
(Additional information can be found in this short article from the Atlanta Journal Consitution.)

So, what do you think?


Initially, I cringed; as I generally do when I see a pastor's wife portrayed publicly. So many stereotypes abound that are so far from the truth.

At the same time, I think it could possibly portray the women in a positive light. I certainly hope so.

-rg-


Update -- Poll & Linky
Though I still cringe at what will be portrayed, I looked through the descriptions given for the show in the media, and would say there's some truth to it at least. I personally know pastors' wives who are co-pastors or who do preach in their church occasionally. I myself would say that I am at work in my congregation and help people.

How many of these describe you? Are you going to blog about the show? Speak out in our poll, and/or link up below this poll to your blog post on the subject:

As a Pastor's Wife, Are You/Do You (check all that apply)



Are You Blogging About the Upcoming TLC Preacher Wives Reality Show? Link Up!

01 February

Beth Moore Livestream, Another Blogging Site For Pastors' Wives & a Parsonage Question

Beth Moore Livestream at 10:30 a.m. CST
Okay, so Beth Moore is not technically a pastor's wife, but she occasional does a conference just for pastors' wives. Many of us have probably given her honorary pastor's wife status. I'll be tuning in this morning to her livestream. She'll be talking about some of our biggest cares right now. Here's the info if you'd like to join in, too. Updated to add: If you missed it, go here and look in the archive under "Live Stream Devotional: What's your biggest concern?" -- and be patient, the audio gets better quickly.)


Other PW's Blogging Together:
Before I started this blog, I looked around to see if anyone else was doing something similar. I didn't want to seem like I was competing with them. The only other pw blogroll I knew of hadn't had activity in quite some time. But I didn't look closely enough, because I've now discovered there is another group of pastors' wives with a community blog as well. So, I wanted to let you know about A Pastor's Wife Garden. They're not linked up with us, but certainly are welcome to.

I don't add people to our list without their permission, because I don't want to misrepresent them as being part of our community when they're not. But, I wanted to let you know about their site, in case you'd like to subscribe to them as well. It looks like they're posting every Monday. I look forward to reading what they write. I don't think it's possible to encourage pastors' wives too much!

Parsonage Stories: Blessing or Cursing?
And finally, Beth, a new member to our community, but a pastor's wife I've known for a long time, is talking about life in the parsonage this week. Do you have any stories to share with her? Good ones? Any horrific ones? She's writing about it here.

-rg-



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