Who is She?
There are minister's wives out there who have never been honored for their faithful service throughout the years. They are called of God to do the work He has for them. They are faithful servants. In this column we would love for you to submit the name of a minister's wife to be honored for her faithful service. Please click on the link below and email us her name and a few honoring sentences for her work in ministry.
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 From one Minister's Wife to Another
Well, We are back. There has been much going on with trying to keep the site going and the email devotions coming. I recently sent and then received a private message on our forum for Contagiousjoy4him.com. The private message exchange was from a woman that I have never met but that I have grown to have a great deal of respect and admiration. She has been a faithful minister's wife for many years. She is an incredible woman of God and loves His Word. As I shared with her the challenges for trying to get this site running I asked her if she thought I should share with you, the members of the site and forum, just what has been taking place behind the scenes. Her words to me were ....."Sharing your story would be the most powerful thing you could do. That is giving your witness to us. We all need to see other pw's in their real role as women who struggle daily and fail and get sick and have major disappointments."
And so, I am going to give you a little history about the vision and the conception of contagiousjoy4him.com. I serve on a board with a group of Minister's Wives who have had a desire to minister to other minister's wives for years. We have worked together to host a Monday Morning Minister's Wives session during the the Pastor's Conference at the SBC Convention for the last 4 years. God has been gracious in this and with each year we have experienced His presence as hundreds of minister's wives across the nation have come together and have worshiped and been challenged and ministered to by this session. Each year we meet after the conference to look at the next year and to begin planning for the next session . I have said that we need to have a website to join us all together. The vision that I kept getting was a website designed for SBC minister's wives that would allow the woman to have an opportunity to network with other minister's wives. The vision went further to provide the minister's wife with a safe place where she could "take the veil" off and share her heart with out fear of exposure, without condemnation and with anonymity. Finally, I put feet to the vision and God opened the doors for the initial steps in programming for the site. God is slowly adding women to this team but I want you to see my journey below to help you understand that we need each other as minister's wives. We need to pray for one another and we need to challenge one another.
In the last three years, my family has been impacted by major changes and challenges in our lives. We left the senior pastorate after 20 plus years and moved to New Orleans, three weeks before Hurricane Katrina . We lost every daily living thing in the flood and then moved to Atlanta for ten months. I contracted Meningitis and almost died in April 2006 . We moved in July 2006 back to the New Orleans area and started life again. My children started school and my husband continued to teach at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I tried to keep us going but struggles with the after affects of the meningitis with short term memory loss and the reality of starting your life over after 20 years of marriage and 2 kids ages now 13 and 10 were difficult. This summer my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. I have traveled a fourteen hour drive more than once and life just keeps going on. A highlight is that we celebrated 25 years of marriage in August. The latest is that we have evacuated from Gustav and survived another hurricane season. I don't want sympathy. Many of you could tell stories far worse than this. I know minister's wives who have lost their spouses and children this year. I tell you all of this to paint a picture that we need each other. I have had two very close minister's wives that have held my hand and prayed me through all of the afore mentioned.
There are stresses and trials and pains and hurts that no one in your congregation or sphere of influence are aware that you are going through. Contagiousjoy4him.com is a place where you can share openly. It is a safe place for you to ask for prayer. It is a safe place to talk about joys and sorrows. It is a safe place that you and I as minister's wives can get real. Let's be honest - sometimes we cannot afford to get completely "real" where we live and serve.
We need some help with this site. If you are gifted in administration, counseling, or fundraising please contact me via the contact form on the main site. We need $1,200 per year or $100 per month to pay for the site. If you are interested in becoming a moderator - please contact me on the contact form on the site. If you are interested in helping pray for other minister's wives we need you.
We are not going away - We are going to get better. We have been linked to www.lifeway.com/women since late summer. Everyday other minister's wives join us. Most are not posting on the forums yet. I think for some we are so busy and for others it is a matter of waiting to see if this site is really safe. Please join us and pray for us and post on the forums. Let's start talking and praying with one another. We really do need each other.
Praying for you,
Diane Nix
John 16:33, Galatians 2:20 |
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 Tragedy With Purpose
Jeremiah 29:1-14
By Anita Wood
Conversations are all abuzz with descriptions of life's purpose - - finding "my" purpose, living "with" purpose, passionate purpose! What is purpose, really? Everyone wants to discover purpose! Well, purpose is a word that speaks of "an idea or ideal" one keeps always in the forefront of the mind-an ideal or idea with an intended conclusion or action or design. How like our God: to give us life full of purpose! The definition of the word purpose includes "a fixed determination and a clear exercise of the will" - and I believe this is a determination of our will to be fixed, or focused, on God's plan. Our purpose is to plunge right into the middle of God's plan for eternity. That's exactly where the prophet Jeremiah found himself! Read Jeremiah 29:1-14, which refers to a specific letter God placed on Jeremiah's heart TO the cream-of-the-crop of Israel, currently living in captivity in Babylon.
Read more on "Tragedy with Purpose" by clicking here www.contagiousjoy4him.com |
| Check out our Book Review
Review by Kristi W. Cook
Wife of Dr. Jay Cook, pastor, First Baptist Church, Pascagoula, MS
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 Calling All Minister's Wives
Has God been speaking to you lately in a very real way? Has He showed up and showed off? Or are you walking in the deepest valley that you have every known and our Father who knows our hearts is speaking to you like He never has before? You might have been in the desert and now when you are on the back side of it you are ready to share with others that are in the middle of their deserts an encouraging word.
Or maybe you just have a funny or embarassing story that has happened to you that God has used to keep you laughing and communicate a message. We know that "laughter does good like a medicine."
We are looking for some minister's wives to share what God has taught them through submitting devotionals, a good book to read, quotes or funny stories. Click on the picture or the link below and submit your story, a devotional word, a book review or a quote. We will prayerfully consider when it would be the right time to use your submission and give the proper acknowledgement. Please include your name and where we might contact you. Remember this is not about you building your own ministry or about you sharing our contact information but is about us supporting one another in the "high call" God has called us to. Thanks and we look forward to you making an eternal investment into your site: www.contagiousjoy4him.com. |
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