WHO ARE YOU WATCHING?

We all have people we watch from afar. We follow their lives on television, in books or just sitting in the pew on Sunday morning. I began " watching" Christian women when I was about fifteen. It was at that time that I became involved in a youth ministry. There was something different about the women in that church. They were joyful and excited about their lives! Their difference had an appeal to it. They had something that I knew I needed and wanted. I soon found out that it was a very personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I went away to a Christian college at eighteen and was introduced to many godly women, mostly through books. It opened a new world to me. I enjoyed reading about missionaries and other women who made a difference in this world. I heard missionaries speak in chapel at school and also in church. I sought out books for and about women with a passion to serve Christ. To this day, I feel as if I know them personally.

One woman in particular I seemed to relate to more than others. She is a no-nonsense kind of woman that believes you should just do the right thing! Don't sit around brooding about it, just do it! She was a missionary to Ecuador and her husband was killed there at a young age. You probably know I am referring to E. Elliot. I really like her. I have read many of her books, listened to her on the radio, and read her newsletters when she had one out. Once I went to a women's conference to hear her speak. I wasn't disappointed, that is, until I met her after the service.

Let me explain. We have an idea in our mind of who a person is, or we think they are. Then we meet them or get to know them and we are disappointed because we find out they are a lot like us. She never claimed to be anything other than who she was. It was me that made her to be something above human in my own head. Now when I re-read some of her books, I see her differently. She's like me! She's just a sinner saved by grace. I still like her and look forward to talking with her in heaven.

I have noticed people change toward me after they have gotten to know me. Perhaps they thought I was more than human because I am married to a pastor. I don't want to disappoint anyone, but I have always just been myself with GOD'S grace poured out all over me! Very early in ministry, my goal has been to please God and not people. Don't misunderstand me, I don't try to offend people. I actually do treat people as I would want to be treated.

If you are a ministry wife, may I share with you something that has helped me many times? It was said by one of John Rice's daughters. "Be the best you, filled with the Holy Spirit!" If you know a pastor's wife, pray for her and accept her for the individual that she is. We can all agree that we are works in progress.