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Heartline May 2007
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HeartLines Newsletter
A Lifeline for Ministry Wives |
May 2007
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In This Issue |
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Dear Nancy, |
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These monthly "HeartLines" are from my heart to your heart as we share a very unique and wonderful life, being a ministry wife. My prayer is that these letters will inspire, inform, or encourage you in some way. PLEASE take this to your wife if you, the minister, are receiving this newsletter! |
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Our "Hold Fast" conference the end of March was anointed and awesome. Mary Southerland and Donna Ritchie were our worship leaders, and we were drawn into the presence of our King under their leadership.
Probably one of my favorite parts of a ministry wives conference is to watch the Holy Spirit free up, lift up, heal, show direction, and encourage the women who come. He outdid Himself this time!
Some of the comments from the attendees were:
"It was great. The liberty to arrange my own schedule to meet my needs for this weekend was great. I slept 'til 8:00 a.m. - wow!"
"I feel that all the women here benefit from the time together, the wisdom of experienced ladies, and the chance for healing."
"God bless you for standing in the gap and touching the tremendous hurts for these women. Thank you for helping them to continue to help others!"
"...to come to this conference has ministered to me and encouraged me greatly. I am not alone. Here I don't have to be perfect, I don't have to make sure everything is done. I just get to stop and be with God and other women in the ministry. This will probably get me through another year in ministry. I love it. Thank you!" | |
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One of my new friends, Ruth Kennedy, is a writer and speaker who also happens to be married to a pastor. She has written a very thought-provoking, inspirational article for us this month entitled The Magnifying Glass. This article describes some of the stresses and pressures that we feel as our lives and our families' lives are put under the scrutiny of an invisible magnifying glass. To read the entire article, please click on the link to our website.
The higher we go in ministry, the more carefully we are examined. People around us, even those close to us, can search for flaws and imperfections. It's as if our lives are put under a magnifying glass. The scrutiny and critique is far beyond what an average church member would ever endure. Many of us feel like fish living in a fish bowl, our lives lived under a microscope. Sometimes church members can examine us closely for any weaknesses, exploit them, judge them, and put them on display for all to see.
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September 28-29, 2007
"Intimacy With God" Bible Conference hosted by Lucerne Baptist Church, 4805 Stone Mountain Hwy., Lilburn, GA 30047.
October 22, 2007
2nd Annual Champions Golf Tournament Fundraiser, Country Club of Gwinnett, Snellville, GA.
February 28 - March 1, 2008
Southeastern Regional Ministry Wives Retreat at Simpsonwood Conference Center, Norcross, GA, featuring Babbie Mason and Beloved. |
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My Resignation
I hereby tender my resignation as an adult. I have decided to accept the responsibilities of an 8- year-old again. I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a 4-star restaurant. I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks. I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them. I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer day. I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset. I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good. I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again. I want to live simply again. I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones. I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.
So....here's my checkbook and my car keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements. I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause,
"Tag! You're it!" |
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I pray you keep your sanity during a very BUSY month!
You are loved and prayed for,
Nancy Burgess
Heart and Soul Connection
phone: 1-888-MIN-WIFE (888-646-9433)
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Forward email
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Heart and Soul Connection | PO Box 31 | Tucker | GA | 30085 | | Written by a pastor's daughter who has been disillusioned by church people and church tradition, this poem gives an honest look at the feelings of our children when they encounter ungodliness in the church. Four basic characteristics of ministers' wives that are common to all women who live this very unique life. Caring for traumatized people can exhaust your physical, emotional, and spiritual resources. Frequently, this depletion leaves you in deep emotional pain because you experience the trauma of others vicariously. This is called compassion fatigue. Anyone who regularly cares for others is suceptible. |
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