On Being a Pastor’s Wife

Eight months ago, I got a new hat. A new, unfamiliar, but really good hat. My new “Pastor’s Wife” hat was added to my closet next to my Mom Hat, Wife Hat, Homeschool Hat, and all the other hats I have.

Of course I have some hats I haven’t worn in a while: the Home Canner Hat, the Artist Hat, and the Blogger Hat which gets inconsistent use these days. I pull them out every now and then, dust them off for a quick use and then put them away again.

I have a lot of hats – figuratively speaking. Literally, I only have about three. My figurative hat shelf is wonderfully full.

I wasn’t sure how this Pastor’s Wife hat was going to feel – would it fit? Would it be simple or frilly or big or small?

And then the most amazing thing happened, and God put us to work in our own current church family as interim pastor and wife last October. On Father’s Day, our church called my husband and I to drop the “interim” and take up the mantle of pastorship in our home church. This has been a blessing because we are already family with these people, and we already love them so much. This particular Pastor’s Wife hat, while new, feels somewhat comfortable and familiar.

And yet, it is still new and unfamiliar. Things alter, almost imperceptibly, once you become Pastor and Wife of your small church flock. Not in a bad way. The change isn’t something you see on the outside or see in the church body, the change I’m referring to is on the inside.

What I’m seeing, is that once you give yourself over to God and say, “Here I am, Lord, mold me and use me here in this church body,” God will take you up on your offer and start to tinker and tweak and work on your heart.

And to be sure, I have a lot to give over to God to be molded and shaped. But I really want God to work on those things in me, and I really want to be the best wife I can be for my husband, the best mom for my kids, and the best pastor’s wife for my church family. So I very well may be dangling myself in front of spiritual warfare right now, or giving myself over to the discomfort of pruning and trimming by the Spirit,. . .but I don’t care. 

I’m sure at this point I don’t even know all the things I’m going to learn over the next months and years. Who knows where and how God will lead us. What I do know is this: I have a new hat. And it’s a little heavy perhaps, but it’s a really, really good hat.

Image Credit: Hat by Anna Langova