Pastors Wives Tell All

In a world that expects near perfection from people in ministry, it is hard to be honest about struggles of being a pastor's wife or a woman in ministry--let alone have a sense of humor about it! In their popular podcast, Pastors' Wives Tell All, Jessica Taylor, Stephanie Gilbert, and Jenna Allen create a safe place for pastors' wives and women in ministry to be their most authentic selves. Now they're bringing their wit and wisdom to women through the written word. Addressing topics such as how to smash stereotypes, deal with marital issues, make friends, and overcome parenting anxiety, they remind pastors' wives (and the people in their congregations) that God doesn't expect them to be superhuman. They show women how to · establish and maintain healthy boundaries · seek wise counsel · confess their sins and shortcomings aloud · shed the persona of perfection · and much more If you're a pastor's wife--by calling, by choice, or by circumstance--you'll find relief, renewal, and refreshment in the pages of this book.

Mama of ten Abbie Halberstadt helps women humbly and gracefully rise to the high calling of motherhood without settling for mediocrity or losing their minds in the process. Motherhood is a challenge. Unfortunately, our worldly culture offers moms little in the way of real help. Mamas only connect to celebrate surviving another day and to share in their misery rather than rejoice in what God has done and to build each other up in hard times. There has a be a better way, a biblical way, for mamas to grow and thrive. As a daughter of Christ, you have been called to be more than an average mama. Attaining excellence doesn’t have to be unsettling but it will take committed focus and a desire to parent well according to God’s grace and for His glory. M is for Mama offers advice, encouragement, and scripturally sound strategies seasoned with a little bit of humor to help you embrace the challenge of biblical motherhood and raise your children with love and wisdom. Mama, you are worthy of the awesome responsibility God has given you. Now it’s time to start believing you can live up to it.

How will a woman know what her life will be like as a pastor's wife? How will she find her place within the congregation and the inner-workings of the church? How will she handle the diverse issues that will come to her door and the many challenges that she will face? Read the advice of many pastors' wives who have told their amazing stories of how they found answers to the many perplexing questions that have come their way. Extensive interviews were conducted with pastors' wives around the United States and Canada, discussing their life experiences as a result of their many years of ministry. These anecdotes are full of wisdom and wit. Some are even unbelievable and heart-wrenching. But all are true and are rich with spiritual lessons which can be applied in church life.

What’s it like when the man you married is already married to God? asks Pastors’ Wives, an often surprising yet always emotionally true first novel set in a world most of us know only from the outside. Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s debut novel Pastors’ Wives follows three women whose lives converge and intertwine at a Southern evangelical megachurch. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a fictional suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage, and in herself. Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her superstar husband. Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. All their roads collide in one chaotic event that exposes their true selves. Inspired by Cullen’s reporting as a staff writer for Time magazine, Pastors’ Wives is a dramatic portrayal of the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the demands of faith, marriage, duty, and love.

Every pastor's wife is a faithful servant and leader in her own right. She has great influence on her church, her community, her family, and her husband, and she finds joy in seeing God move in the lives of others. Yet she also faces unique challenges that too often go unnoticed and unaddressed. At times, a pastor's wife may feel she can't talk about her struggles even with those who are closest to her, which can leave her feeling alone, depleted, and misunderstood. She may settle for this way of living, but that's not God's desire for her. Christine Hoover knows firsthand the unique struggles and opportunities afforded a pastor's wife--she's been filling that role for more than 20 years. Coming alongside as an understanding friend, she offers encouragement and guidance to the struggling pastor's wife, showing her how to make meaningful personal relationships with God, her husband, her children, her church community, and other women--relationships that will sustain her and help her thrive.

Four pastors' wives. All desperate for something. Is it possible that their desperation will lead to hope? Mimi, Lisa, Jennifer, and Felicia all live in the fishbowl of Red River, Ohio. Everyone expects something from them. Gourmet casseroles. Perfect husbands. Well-behaved children. They expect even more of themselves. The constant demands and always-ringing phones are enough to drive any sane woman crazy. Add to all that the condescending Katherine Fleming Katt -- self-promoting pastor's wife of the town's largest church -- who loves to flaunt her superior position. In the midst of such chaos, will each woman find the one thing she longs for? When the unflappable Kitty Katt starts showing up at odd places, the four friends get suspicious. Is Kitty hiding something? What secrets lie behind her "perfect" exterior? But even more significant than unraveling Kitty Katt's secrets is finding answers for themselves.

"Revenge of the Pastors' Wives" By Monolesia Graves Williams Pastor Byron E. Williams, Sr., Co-Author Gail McGregor has been married to a pastor long enough to know all about the foibles and fantasies surrounding the unofficial title of "First Lady." The expectations of being a pastor's wife were too high; the rewards, too low. During her marriage to a pastor, she has experienced tears and tragedies, unfulfilled days and lonely nights, doctors' visits, tranquilizers and even a nervous breakdown. All the problems involved with being married to a "man of God" have driven her to wit's end. Having already sought out every avenue she knows to find understanding, genuine acceptance and love, she now devises her own form of coping--revenge. Having secured a few comrades, she embarks on a vengeful journey that leads to the most unlikely places... She soon discovers that although revenge is "a dish best served cold," true vengeance should be left in much larger Hands than her own. Thanks to contributing writer Blessing Williams, daughter of the authors Monolesia Williams, married to Pastor Byron Williams, has been a pastor's wife for fifteen years. She grew up in Brenham, Texas. Monolesia was pronounced Urban Spotlight International winner by the Gospel Music Association in August 2001 at Estes Park, Colorado. She received an associate's degree from Tulsa Community College and a BA degree in speech communications from Northeastern State University. She serves as music director for First UME Church of Newburgh New York. A native of Longview, Texas, Byron Williams has been in ministry over forty years. He has pastored thirty-five years. He received his BA in religion from East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas, and an MTS from Phillips Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He serves as pastor of Baptist Temple Church of Newburgh, New York.

Ministry is hard. And every ministry wife needs—and deserves—encouragement. A woman marries a man, not his ministry. But all too often her husband's calling complicates their life together. What if ministry life isn't what she bargained for? What happens when her children make mistakes? How does she deal with church gossip, or even slander? As a pastor's wife of almost fifty years, Jani Ortlund addresses these questions, along with many others, as she offers encouragement and guidance to ministry wives. Jani reminds readers that God works out his delightfully good purposes in and through their sacrifices.