The Joy of the Lord is my Strength. What wonderful words to live by. This has been my mantra since our last Pastor's Wives Retreat in April. Last fall, I started ripping out the word "joy" from magazines, greeting cards, junk mail to make a "Joy" collage. This word makes me smile and my heart sing. Years ago, a young child taught me that Joy stands for Jesus, others, yourself. The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.
For 14 years , I have been a Pastor's wife at the same church in Mechanicsville, VA. It has brought many joys to my life to be a part of this ministry here at St. Paul Lutheran. I used to wonder what kind of Pastor's wife I would be since I didn't sing in the choir, play the organ, or teach Sunday School at the time. About 8 years ago, our church relocated from Richmond to Mechanicsville. It moved next door to a Brunswick Stew factory that was a well known landmark in the area. The business has since been sold. But this new location of our church was the start of many conversations I would have. I work at a public library and my prayer as I am driving to work is asking the Holy Spirit to put someone in my path to tell "my story" to. Just about every conversation I have involves why we live in Mechanicsville and I would tell them my husband is a pastor at the new church next to Mrs. Fearnow's Brunswick Stew. This leads to all kinds of questions about faith, heaven, Jesus, prayer.
Isn't it amazing how the Holy Spirit works? Not only does He orchestrate these conversations, but he also puts people in my path to encourage me and to tell me that they are praying for me. That is very powerful. The Joy of the Lord is my Strength.
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