By Kelly Carmack

In the harshest season of the year we find wonder, deep rest, peace, time to savor. These gifts wouldn’t exist without the harsh elements of the season, and our winters in ministry are no different. Perhaps those gifts in ministry are not as visible as the glittering white landscape you see out your window on a snowy winter’s day.

By Cara Croft

It is not just a sting of fire burning away sin, but it is also the warmth and comfort of His Spirit blazing within. Beloved children, God has started a new work in your hearts, let us rejoice and have hope that in this world not all is death. Even in the fall there is life and it is abundant.

Ministry wives, as we wrap up a month that sometimes makes us painfully aware of our shortcomings and perceived failures in ministry, we encourage you to look for the gifts. If you’re really struggling right now, consider making an actual list of the gifts God has given you in your ministry. Dig deep. Think of ways God has sprinkled in spots of joy into your ministry, even on the toughest days. Thank Him for sustaining you thus far, and pray for Him to keep upholding you as you serve Him by serving your church. He loves you, He sees you, and your ministry matters to Him.

By Cara Croft

As a child, I remember watching my pastor’s wife. For some reason I was fascinated with all she did. She was a woman who played the piano on Sunday mornings, she taught classes on various crafts that she enjoyed, she organized women’s social events and she sat on the front pew at every service. Yet for all of my watching her, I did not “see” her.

By Kellye Carmack

God’s love is greater than any person or church can show you. Even the most meaningful human gifts pale in comparison to what He has for you. Let me encourage you to take a few moments to rest in His love for you. Meditate on who He is as your Father and Creator. Ask Him to show you how much He loves you.

By Glenna Marshall

From where I sit, most of my ministry as a pastor’s wife has been unseen. If you asked church members what it is that I actually do, they’d likely reply with the things that are visible: I play the piano every Sunday, I volunteer at our weekly outreach program to kids in our community, I get the bulletins ready each week. Simple, visible stuff.

By Gillian Marchenko

I’ve battled mental illness for the tenure of my husband’s ministry career. I support him in his endeavors and participate in various ministries at church. I facilitate Bible studies, greet people on Sunday mornings, assist with children’s church, and am involved in discipleship relationships. Except when I’m depressed. Then I’m suddenly absent.

By Kellye Carmack

How will you get up on Sunday morning and serve your church when you are hurting? God is a rescuer, He wants to rescue you. Before you decide to give up, call out to Him for help. He can give you strength and endurance to faithfully serve in the hardest of places.

By Glenna Marshall

There is a certain extent to which you can be sure that ministry will be lonely. And yet, I think most of us in ministry don’t necessarily want to quit because of that loneliness. I truly don’t want my husband to step away from ministry; I love that we get to serve the Lord in the local church. The joys of ministry outweigh the wounds. But the wounds do hurt. So, how do we serve Christ when we feel that persistent ache for friendship? Here are some things I’ve learned in my own ministry as well as from other, more experienced pastors’ wives.

By Glenna Marshall

Throughout my seventeen years as a ministry wife, I’ve handled my discouragement in some unhelpful ways. At times, I’ve withdrawn from my church, ranted inwardly, and succumbed to bitterness. None of those actions have served to rouse my affections for Christ or His Bride, so I’ve had to reexamine what it really means to cast my cares on the Lord.

By Brian Croft

Abide with Me was written by 19th century Anglican Minister, Henry Francis Lyte. Apparently, Lyte wrote this moving hymn just weeks before his death and it was first sung at his funeral. This hymn became a sweet balm to my soul in those very difficult, uncertain early years of ministry. It so beautifully reminds us of two important, timeless truths about God.

By Cara Croft

My prayer for you, dear reader, is that this hymn [It is Well] can be a source of comfort, encouragement and a prayer for us all.

By Kellye Carmack

The hymns we sing in our childhood — and the ones you teach your children— plant a seed that can produce fruit throughout our lives. “Great is Thy Faithfulness” has helped me bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, and faithfulness even when the season I’m in feels barren and dry. Singing hymns can spur us on in perseverance as they draw our wandering minds back in the direction of trusting and following God.

By Glenna Marshall

I remember the first time I heard the song, “He Will Hold Me Fast.” I remember because I wasn’t playing the piano that Sunday morning at church, which was unusual. I’ve played the piano nearly every Sunday morning for fifteen years at the church my husband pastors.

By Cara Croft

Silence. That is my answer. I am afraid of silence. Not my own silence, but silence from God. What if I get alone, I sit quiet all day, and when the time is up I find God has been silent too? What if I go into solitude hoping to find God in a deeper way and do not find Him at all? What if all the things I fear about God is what I experience?

By Kellye Carmack

A friend recently shared with me that she had grown complacent in her prayer life. Where she once felt a passion and excitement for prayer she now felt tired and unmotivated. Knowing that prayer is pivotal for her ministry and personal growth she was desperate to get out of what she called a “prayerless rut”. “What do you do,” she asked, “when you don’t feel like praying?”

By Glenna Marshall

Our church ministry was tough from day one. We had no idea what we were doing, and we had walked into quite a difficult situation. What followed were a dozen broken years. It seemed that everything we touched failed, that every hope for the church was met with resistance and criticism, and I struggled with chronic loneliness.

By DeAnna Gibson

I remember ministry before Autism. Mostly well-curated, carefully unveiled at my own discretion, I hid most flaws and inconsistencies better left unseen. It would take a few years beyond my son’s diagnosis to begin relinquishing my need to be seen in a certain light as a mom and ministry wife, and to willingly be on display for Jesus and His purposes in me and my son.

By Cara Croft

The teenage years are messy. They are messy physically and emotionally. Teenagers want to have their own style, their own friends, and their own opinions. It is a time where they are gravitating towards friends and away from us. It is a time when they are trying to figure out who they are and what they believe apart from us. It is a time filled with fear, anxiety, and turmoil for all of us. This is why it is messy.

By Glenna Marshall

What we get, in parenting, are human children who struggle with sinfulness and obedience just like we do. It’s humbling to be the mom in the grocery store whose kid is wailing with all his might while demanding the Spiderman toy you refused to buy. You can feel every eye on you as you try to diffuse the situation without melting into the floor. Even worse if it’s a church sanctuary instead of a grocery store!