NYMC 1

Tired. But invigorated! This conference is so wonderful. It's so amazing to meet a bunch of other ladies (well, families, including their youth pastor hubbies) involved in the same ministry/lifestyle as I am. If you are a member of a church, I encourage you to go to your staff members and tell them how much you appreciate them. Pastors (and their wives) need to hear it. This weekend, in one of the "learning tracks" I attended asked the question, "What is one thing you wish you knew before going into ministry?" My reply - "realizing that it wouldn't be just my husband's job, but our life." Being in the ministry does not mean that my husband can leave his work, come home and night and not think about work until he goes in the next morning. Aside from being sort of "on call" around the clock, he can't turn off his brain. The students are our students. We fight their fights, we hurt with their hurts. But it also means that we have the incredible privilege to see first hand how God moves in the lives of students. We get to be the encouragers, the shepherds, to help cultivate the desire to be used by God and then see the fruit of that desire. It's a lifestyle, if you will, but one that I don't take lightly and do praise God for (most of the time) ;)