the pastor's wife
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turning 40.
Well, I turned 40 last month. Can you believe it? My friends and family made it very special with fun food and gifts. Because you’re just dying to know, here are the books I got: The novel in the bottom center, Peach Blossom Spring, is from Book of the Month Club. My brother and his wife and another friend each gave me a 3-month subscription, which means I get to pick out a new book for 6 months. I’m very excited about this, especially because Book of the Month Club often features brand new writers or books that haven’t been released yet. It’s a very sweet…
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sabbatical.
“Too often we try to avoid the scary place where we love so deep, so much, our hearts could break. But without the bitterness, we would never appreciate the sweetness.” Katie Davis Majors We have four weeks left of a 12-week sabbatical, and even though that seems a long time, in our hearts David and I are already gearing up for our return to church ministry on September 1. I was so determined, when we first embarked on this season — on our first sabbatical — to “get fixed.” I wanted to use the time efficiently, to disconnect well, to rest well, to make new memories with my family…
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anniversary getaway.
David and I celebrated 17 years of marriage back in May, but decided to save a trip for sabbatical. We spent three nights at a lake in Georgia this week, and it was perfect. Well, it ended up perfect. We kicked off the getaway with an argument in the car. Of course! We are still trying to feel out Sunday worship for this season. David wanted us to start our anniversary with a visit to a church in Augusta, and I thought that was a terrible way to begin a romantic anniversary getaway. Not terrible to be worshiping God, but I just crave to step outside the identity of “pastor…
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turning 39.
Hello there, friends! This past weekend, I entered the final year of my 30’s. Want to know how we celebrated? Great! I’ll tell you. First of all, David gave me the best gift imaginable: 24 hours all to myself in our house. He and our friend, Bryan, took the kids to Bryan’s family’s farm outside Charleston to fish, run around with dogs, feed the cows, and do some target practice. They had a blast (pictures forthcoming). And I had a blast too! I scrubbed the fronts of all my kitchen cabinets, oven, and fridge. Why, you ask? Because it’s one of those deep-cleaning projects I can never seem to get…
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a time to heal.
When the quarantine started in the middle of March, I was just as bewildered as the rest of the nation. As I was helping my kids process canceled soccer games, birthday parties, and homeschool co-op activities, I can tell you for sure that I never expected to still be in quarantine nearly eight weeks later. This has been an experience unlike any other, and I have the feeling that it will leave indelible marks on many. As I mentioned several weeks ago, David and I tottered at the edge of burn-out this spring. I typically shy away from that term, because it sounds melodramatic. But if you prefer: we were…
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2019: a year of abundance.
I sit here on a sunshiney Christmas afternoon in the peace of our screened back porch. We had a morning of abundance as four kids tore through the house and piled onto our bed at 6:30 a.m. (the appointed wake-up time), coffee was ground and brewed by bleary-eyed parents, grandparents arrived, gifts opened, lights twinkled, homemade cinnamon rolls devoured, and Christmas toys played with and built and read. The house was filled with laughter this morning. It’s a fitting way to celebrate a whole year of abundance. We’ve had some lean years, some exhausted years, some illness-filled years. And some just plain sad years. All of it makes the abundant…
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october 2019.
What’s hard Exercising regularly Remembering to eat enough food Staying in our budget, after months of getting to spend money on the house Not complaining Being interested in Avengers and Pokemon Puzzles that are more than 100 pieces Finishing a knitting or embroidery project Praising more than I correct Saying I’m sorry What’s easy Going to sleep by 10:00 pm Organizing Making our house feel welcoming and cozy Baking cookies Watching Little House on the Prairie with my kids Reading fast Having deep conversations Meeting people What brings me joy Doing hard things anyway The wonderful friends all four of my kids have Seeing David happy…
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15 years.
Today David and I celebrate fifteen years of marriage. While cleaning out our attic last week I found a box of my old journals, one of which included a list from the winter David and I started dating, when we were 21 years old. Before I share it, remember that we were best friends before we dated and knew each other very well after a year and a half in a small college together: studying, serving, hanging out in the same friend group. From March, 2003, I present to you the “List of things I love about David Gentino”: His heart: passion for the Lord His heart for the lost…
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susie spurgeon, turkey chili, and happiness.
Susannah “Susie” Spurgeon was the wife of Charles Spurgeon, a famous British pastor in the mid 1800’s. I’ve been contemplating her life as a pastor’s wife lately. Susie had a difficult life. As a cultured, newly married young woman who loved travel, art, and literature, she developed a debilitating illness that required major surgery, and left her in pain and mostly house-bound for the rest of her life. The illness may also have caused her to be infertile after the birth of her twin sons. If there was anyone who had an excuse to opt out of ministry, Susie did. Her marriage to Charles was a strong and joyful one,…
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on daily bible reading in 2019.
I’ve been a professing born-again believer for most of my life, and therefore I’ve been reading my Bible for most of my life. I don’t take that for granted, you know. Being raised in a home where spending time learning God’s Word was the norm, something I was encouraged to do almost without thinking. That heritage was a gift given to me by the Lord that I did nothing to deserve. And honestly, I’ve had varying and changeable motivations for reading my Bible (or as I’ve called it “having a quiet time”) over the years, probably the primary one being from my Enneagram One-ness, which, if you’ll remember, is the…
