Welcome to the 5th season of Flowers for the Pastor’s Wife. We exist to serve pastors’ wives in North America who live in rural places and small towns. We hope to encourage, equip, and connect them in their unique calling. Season 4 focused on HOPE, and Season 5 will focus on PATIENCE. We hope you enjoy it as much as we look forward to writing it!
Romans 8:23-25 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Lately I find myself hoping for plenty of things that I cannot see. I’m hoping the new medication I’m taking is working to help my body not to attack itself and therefore will cause less pain in my joints. I’m hoping that my teenagers are showing the love of Christ to their peers as they dig deep into this new school year. I’m hoping that the words and texts I’m sending to parishioners who have not yet returned to church are being met with love and care and not annoyance. I’m even hoping that the fall bulbs I’m preparing to plant in my front flower bed are going to take root and bring more tulips come spring.
These are all things we cannot see. If only there were an xray for me to see how that medication is working or to look down into the soil to see how those bulbs are lying dormant. But I’m hoping that God will continue to work all things together for His glory and that those tulips will glorify Him.
These things, while mundane, speak of a larger longing. We are waiting for Jesus to return, for us to be taken up to heaven to live eternally with our Lord and Savior (Amen!), but here we are. Waiting. Some of us are waiting more patiently than others.
I thought that as I grew older, more mature, that I would be more patient. That becoming a mother, swaying with the changes of life, would make me a little more resilient and kinder. But sometimes I still find myself in the driveway, sighing heavily, waiting for a child or two to find a lost shoe.
I have found though, that I’m a little more patient in the things that matter. I remember witnessing to friends in college and wanting them to understand the Truth of the Gospel right away, but now I find myself focusing more on showing people the love of God and making sure that they know that love comes from a never-ending Source and certainly not from anything I do on my own power. I see myself encouraging people to do their best and finding ways to make things work for their schedule and abilities, rather than focusing on feeling that I am doing everything and everyone else is doing nothing. I’m working on taking a step back and waiting patiently to see if someone else steps into a position instead of cramming it into my schedule to make it fit.
Hope and patience go hand in hand. We can hope for the best things, and we can wait patiently on the Lord to fulfill them. But we also need to be ready to take action when the Lord tells us to.
