Bossy Women & The Pen...

Years ago, I had a friend who was a pastor’s wife. I remember her telling me that the thing she hated the most about being a pastor’s wife was how powerful and bossy women in the church would command her husband around and she felt powerless to do anything about it without looking like a *#&@!. (Yes, that’s what she said.) I thought I understood her at the time.

Fast-forward a decade (or two!). I think I finally get it! I haven’t personally experience the thing with bossy women, but I do see my Mark pulled and drawn in many different directions and toward many different people and ministries within the church. I do have a tendency to be a bit protective and perhaps annoyed that I am no longer the only woman of influence in his life besides his mother. God will deal with me on this.

Ministry wives really do need to control both their emotions and their tongues, and in my case -- the pen. A writer at heart, my journals and computer screen have always been somewhat surreptitious spots to reflect, to process and to pray. Up till now, I wrote without rules. As a pastor’s wife, it may be necessary to implement rules. Good grief, someone from the church may actually read my words!! I could be phony and compose sweet harmonious snippets on the splendor of life as a pastor’s wife. (Right!) I won’t be doing that.

My words – as they have always been - are a means to repent, grow and experience God’s presence and grace. Hopefully, reading it will allot the reader a sense of God’s faithfulness and deliverance as prayers are answered and situations are changed over time. More than anything, I write as a way to quiet my heart and become more like Christ. Which – for those who know me well – will be my greatest challenge in ministry. Next on the list will be keeping the pen still concerning all the bossy women.

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Intelligence Test for Voting. . .

Thursday, October 9, 2008

It was October 1992 and I was standing in line with my mother at the Madison County Courthouse in Anderson, Indiana. I don’t remember the exact date, but I had just moved back to Indiana from Minnesota and it was the last day to register to vote in the ’92 Election.

…had no idea the line would be so long. We arrived at about 5:00 p.m., and walked out after dark – probably around 8:30 p.m.

Amazing the number of eager, mature, and intelligent voters wanting to make sure their well-thought-out decision counted in one of the most important privileges we have as American Citizens: Voting.

One conversation we were forced to endure over the three-hour wait went something like this:

18 Year Old #1: They’re asking for Social Security numbers. You know yours?

18 Year Old #2: #@%!.

18 Year Old #1: Don’t worry about it. Just make something up. It should start with a “3.”

18 Year Old #2: Keen, Man.

18 Year Old #1: You got your driver’s license?

18 Year Old #1: #@%!

The balance of the evening was spent listening to similar conversations.

Do I dare say, "This is what put Bill Clinton in the Whitehouse."

The vast majority of people registering to vote that evening had NO CLUE, let alone the intellectual capacity to understand anything outside the realm of how drunk they’d been the night before and what color the ensuing puke on their shirt was. . .

My mother suggested that an intelligence test be given to people who wish to vote.

I agreed.

---------------------------

Fast Forward: October 2008.

This is an excerpt from a Christian woman’s blog [not worthy of the link – Sorry!]:

. . . then "God help America!!" Christian conservatives are so stupid. Don’t even know what they are doing. They are as dumb as pigs. YES THEY ARE!!

Christians today don’t understand that the Bible says we are supposed to punish the rich and discipline those who try to teach false doctrines. Palin is a false teacher. Abstinence and creation in public school, but not her own home? Give me a break.

Obama IS the solution for this country. I don’t care if he does have ties to Islam and Socialism. Putting two people who don’t understand a thing about the role of government in the white house is just wrong, folks! If Jesus were living today, he would vote for Obama. He'd be out campaigning for Obama. Obama stands for everything Jesus taught - caring for the poor and keeping the Pharisees out the little-guys life! This time around the Repbulicans are just wrong. Wrong!

This country needs Obama to get its values right!

Yes. This is a cut and paste from a Christian mom’s blog. A blog that also has an “I Vote Pro-Life” button in the sidebar!

If you are reading "The Heart of a Pastor's Wife" I will assume that I do not need to clarify for you why "Pro-Life Christian Mom-Blogger" needs an Intelligence Test before casting her vote next month -- or tell you that she needs to open her Bible and actually read it!

Intelligence test for voting in America?

Not a bad idea, mom!

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Mortgage Assets

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Conversation with my five-year old:

Selah: "Mom, what's a mortgage asset?"

Five years ago, I would have brought this issue into the Kindergarten echelon.

Today, I know how intelligent the girl is.

Me: "Well. . . an asset is something that could be sold to someone to get real money. Like when we make bread for a bake sale. We get dollars for the bread. Our bread is an asset."

Selah: "But what's a mortgage?"

Me: "Sometimes people have to borrow money to buy a house. Houses are expensive. Our house was over $100,000.00! So when the bank gives us money to help us buy the house, then they own our house with us. That's called a mortgage. Sometimes banks sell their mortgages to another banks. They get money and then a new bank owns our house.

The idea that a bank "owns" people's houses is an asset.

~~~**~~~**Long pause**~~**~~~

Selah: Why would we buy a house if we didn't have the money?

Is this profound.? Or what?!

My five-year-old "gets" what the voting majority of both the House and Senate do not.

What would be so bad if -- in this country -- we all went back to the concept that I (and obviously not too many other Americans) learned in 9th grade economics:

You buy a house with 20% down.

I am [not] sorry if I offend anyone reading this, but kids right out of college do NOT need a $200,000.00 home. People who cannot afford a house, should rent one. Let them work and earn the right to borrow 80% of a home's value. What ever happened to the work ethic and Personal Responsibility?

Personal responsibility build our economy. Lack of it will (has) destroyed it.

Only one of the political parties represented in this election even understands the concept of personal responsibility.

The other party has -- at the top of its ticket -- a man who worked for an organization called ACORN, probably one of the silliest and most destructive left-wing groups in existence. Their primary goal is to abolish the capitalistic foundation of our country and eliminate the entire concept of personal responsibility. Google it! Google ACORN.

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