“We read to know we are not alone.”
That quote resonates with us, doesn’t it? We want to know we are not alone.
This online community was born out of the hearts of a few women who, like you, serve in the unique place of small-town, rural ministry. Women who, if we’re going to be honest with each other, feel alone much of the time. Sure, there are plenty of personal blogs out there for pastors’ wives, plenty of resources, but most don’t address the unique challenges (and joys) we experience in serving our smaller communities.
We love our fellow pastors’ wives, no matter the context in which we serve, but we’ve found that there is joy, as well as relief, in connecting with other women who “get” what life is like in the small-town, rural environment.
That’s what this space is for. Connecting with women who, like you, understand the necessity of making a shopping list and checking it twice (and maybe once more) – because the nearest Walmart is over 100 miles away. So is the nearest state-of-the-art hospital. So is the nearest pastor’s wife. Or maybe the nearest pastor’s wife lives in the same town, but there is a distance in sharing openly together due to neighborhood dynamics.
Small-town, rural ministry produces a unique juxtaposition of isolation and tight-knit community life for those of us who serve in this context. So, yes, there is joy and relief in connecting with women who “get” it. Women who experience both the delight of close community AND the discouragement of having the church’s Negative Nancy as the next-door-neighbor. Who watch their toddlers playing in the nursery and wonder about their children’s future-best-friends because, right now, they are the only kids in the nursery. As a matter of fact, they are the only kids in church.
You know the isolation. You know the fish-bowl life. You know that your ministry is considered small and insignificant by the world’s standards.
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- So where do you go when you are facing the challenges of a rural or small-town pastor’s wife?
- Where do you find safety in sharing your struggles and fears and hurting heart?
- Who will understand your excitement when two women join you for prayer group, making you a group of three?
- Where do you go to find someone who can truly rejoice – and mourn – with you in ministry?
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We are hoping this little, online space may fulfill a bit of that wish, that craving for connection with other women in the role of small-town, rural pastor’s wife.
Our adversary wants you to feel that you are alone. But you are not.
There are other rural and small-town pastors’ wives out there who understand exactly what you are going through, and they, too, need to know that they are not alone.
Our adversary wants you to feel that your ministry is insignificant. But it is not.
It may be true that your ministry doesn’t bear the world’s earmarks of significant ministry – the bestselling books, the megachurch, the podcast with a million listeners. But that’s okay. God calls some to very visible, public ministries. For us, though, we’re called to something different. We are ready and glad to be about the kingdom’s business in a small place, serving Him by loving people in close community.
We see our neighbors day after day at the local grocery store, at the post office, at the library, at the school’s fundraiser, at the ranch branding – each encounter an opportunity to point them to the wonderful Savior who loved them and died for them. That is significant ministry.
Sister, you do matter to God, and we want to help equip you to serve Him faithfully and joyfully. That’s why we are joining here in this online community. We’re sharing our lives with one another – the good, the hard, the comical – while pointing each other to the goodness, provision and faithfulness of God found in each experience.
We acknowledge that in some ways this is an imperfect and impersonal way to connect. Yet we pray that this community will provide you – will provide us – with connections and support we would not otherwise have.
You matter to our Savior and King, and you matter to us; let’s spur one another on to love and good deeds in our small, but significant place!