My Real Personality
Remember Veggie Tales? My three boys are teenagers now, so we don’t have Bob the Tomato or Larry the Cucumber singing in our house anymore, but I remember the days of singing vegetables. Remember the tag line that Bob the Tomato said in every video?
“God made you special, and He loves you very much.”
Such a simple concept, and yet, even as adults we sometimes have difficulty grasping it. God made you special. Introvert, extrovert, short, tall, musical, athletic, mathematically gifted, a gifted teacher, detail oriented, a visionary, a great cook, good with kids, good with senior adults, and on and on . . . whatever your gifts and talents are, God put them there!
The pastor’s wife of the church I grew up in was a memorable lady. We called her Sister Becky. She wore a gray beehive hairdo for decades. She always taught the fifth grade Sunday School class. I will never forget her class. One Sunday, she taught us about Communion and we took Communion in class. That lesson still impacts me to this day. Every Sunday afternoon, she and her friend went to visit people in the hospital and pray for them. Sister Becky was a hugger and a kisser. When you saw her, you knew you wouldn’t get away from her without getting one of her famous hugs and kisses on the cheek.
She was such a wonderful pastor’s wife, and yet, now that I think back as an adult, she didn’t do some of the things that some people might think mandatory for a pastor’s wife. She didn’t cook. (She said she didn’t like cooking and brought store-bought items to church dinners.) She didn’t play a musical instrument. She didn’t speak in front of the adults. She didn’t attend every single church function. She didn’t lead the women’s ministry. As I think about it now, I realize that she knew what she was good at and she stuck to that. She was a great fifth grade Sunday School teacher. She was a very affectionate and compassionate person, so her visits to the hospital each week were a wonderful ministry.
God made you special, unique, one-of-a-kind.
Too many ministry wives try to be someone else. Be you.
Figure out what makes you tick. I’ve discovered that I am really an introvert. What I mean by that is that I get re-fueled by spending time alone. Let’s be honest. Even though you may be an introvert, as a ministry wife you still need to be outgoing and friendly. However, I have learned that if I can take time to spend by myself on a Monday, it rejuvenates me and guards against burn out and losing passion.
For years, I tried to lead the women’s ministry at churches we pastored. It just never really worked. I finally admitted to myself that leading the women’s ministry just wasn’t a gifting of mine. I had to step out of the way and allow someone else who did have that gifting to do that.
What are your gifts and talents? What makes you tick? How can you use your gifts and talents for the Lord and how do you need to tailor your schedule and your ministry to your own unique personality?
God made you special. He didn’t craft a “Ministry Wife” mold to mass produce clones who would sit on the first row and silently nod in perfect timing to her husband’s messages. He made your personality. Use it for His purposes!
My Real Personality is Entry Two in our December 2018 blog series, The Real Me. Join us each week throughout this month as we feature four entries from Sanctuary team member, Martha Fouts.
Martha Fouts and her husband, Kevin, of 23 years have three boys, ages 17, 16 and 14. Her primary passion in ministry at Discovery Church (Yukon, OK), where the couple are lead pastors, is to serve wherever she is needed, from women's ministry to hospitality. But her personal passion is to write. With four books to her credit, as well as a blog, Martha has a wide variety of offerings for the female reader. When she manages to find free time between her taxi services to three active boys, Martha loves to go shopping or snuggle up with a good book. Looking for a new book to read? Martha has recently published a new book! You can find her works at Amazon or your favorite e-book retailer.
