True Patriot Love

Canada has lost 4 more of her sons. We thank God for these men and the great sacrifice that has been made while trying to bring stability to Afghanistan.

Private David Byers
Corporal Glen Arnold
Corporal Shane Keating
Corporal Keith Morley

Were all killed Monday, Sept. 18 by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

Since 2002 Canada has lost 36 soldiers in Afghanistan.

Belief-O-Matic

I was visiting Jessica over at her blog and was intrigued by the Belief-O-Matic post she had. So, being home sick and all alone I figured...why not?

This is what it claims:

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing. Warning: Belief-O-Matic™ assumes no legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul.

My Results:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.How did the Belief-O-Matic do?

All I can say is.....at least I scored what I am. Although, there were no questions about tulips on there. Good thing I didn't turn out a Secular Humanist after answering the questions!!

If you want to give it a try, go here.

1. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (100%)

2. Eastern Orthodox (94%)

3. Roman Catholic (94%)

4. Seventh Day Adventist (81%)

5. Orthodox Quaker (73%)

6. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (70%)

7. Orthodox Judaism (67%)

8. Jehovah's Witness (66%)

9. Hinduism (62%)

10. Islam (61%)

11. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (52%)

12. Sikhism (41%)

13. Bahá'í Faith (37%)

14. Jainism (37%)

15. Mahayana Buddhism (30%)

16. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (30%)

17. Theravada Buddhism (29%)

18. Liberal Quakers (28%)

19. Reform Judaism (26%)

20. Scientology (25%)

21. Unitarian Universalism (23%)

22. New Thought (21%)

23. Neo-Pagan (20%)

24. Nontheist (18%)

25. New Age (11%)

26. Secular Humanism (8%)

27. Taoism (6%)

Baptism Praise!!

I have three children and they have all professed faith in Christ. I am so thankful to God for having opened their hearts and drawing them to Himself. What greater joy is there for a parent than to see all of their children embrace Christ as their Saviour and Lord? To see them follow Christ's command to go through the waters of baptism is a glorious experience. The icing on the cake for The Bishop is that he was able to do the baptism himself. What an honour to baptize your very own children!

Our 10 year old son was baptized on July 9 and our 12 year old daughter was baptized yesterday, on September 17. Our other son is going to be going through some baptismal lessons with The Bishop to prepare him. We are waiting until Christmas to baptize him.

Pray that they will continue to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray that God will have mercy on us as parents as we stumble along.
Praise God that He works inspite of us.
Praise God that He uses broken vessels like ourselves.
Praise God for His mercy and grace...He is so good to us!!

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Matthew 28:19,20

The League of Pastor's Wives

How marvelous....we have an entire *league* of Pastor's Wives. I have joined the honourable ranks of The League and now sport a blogroll of sister PWs who share their thoughts and keep their sanity by blogging.

I do not know these ladies and they do not know me. Some of us have seen each other on The Fishbowl, which is a message board for Pastor's Wives....but other than that, we are strangers. Although we are strangers we do have something in common...we are all married to Pastors. We have similar experiences that only sister PWs can truly understand. We each live in a fishbowl in different areas of the world, with different people peering in. We may be from different denominations, hold different doctrinal positions and worship in different ways...but we all can relate to one another because we are *the Pastor's Wife*. We wear the tag and live the life. We are blessed in ways that others do not know, we are lonely in ways that others cannot understand. We give our lives and our families to the service of the Lord as Pastor's Wives...all to the glory and honour of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I send greetings to my sister Pastor's Wives....please leave a comment so I know you have visited!!

Mama Bear

We love our children and want to protect them from anything that will harm them physically or bruise their tender hearts. Children can be cruel little beasts and up until now, we have not really been exposed to that reality.

Our children have always attended Christian school. The expectations were high and the students were expected to display appropriate behaviour. There were little to no issues that ever arose while the children attended the school. Last year, we set off on a new adventure called HomeSchooling. We all really enjoy it, but of course, there are no relational issues with other students beyond one's own siblings. That brings us to this summer, infact, only the past month.

We live in a rural location and our property backs onto a forest. We have taken countless family walks through those woods and have discovered some very interesting places. The children are now old enough to explore these woods for themselves. They follow a trail and ride their bikes back to a cleared area that has some small hills. They are able to ride their bikes over some ramp type terrain and have lots of fun.

Our children will bring along a neighbour or two who attend the local public school. They are good little friends to the children and we are glad they have them to play with. Back in the woods though, they have met up with a group of other children. These children know our neighbours from the public school they all attend. However, they are not as nice back there in the woods, as they are when supervised at school by teachers...or at least the neighbours claim.

These *lovely children* have taken to calling names, ridiculing and mocking our children. One of our children is getting called names, in particular, and it really makes me upset. ***Feel the tension rise in the Mama Bear***

I know children can be selfish, wretched, cruel little beasts...it is part of our sinful nature. Children are not as restrained socially as adults usually are. I know all of this but I feel like that Mama Bear wanting to protect her babies. My sinful nature rises up and I want to go back there in the woods and meet these lovely children and give them MY 2 cents....but I won't. I have spent time discussing these episodes with my child. A young, tender heart has been broken...but lessons have been learned. I was asked this question by that child, "Do you think I should minister to them, Mommy?" Praise God!! Even with a broken and bruised heart, the concern was for these lost children.

Mama Bear is behind the bars and the Lion of Judah is doing His work...in that young heart and this old one. How merciful our God is. How wonderful that He teaches us lessons through trials in our everyday lives.

Pastor's Wives are a Curious Breed

We all have expectations of the *Pastor's Wife*. Those expectations vary from church to church and person to person. Some churches expect the Pastor's Wife to be a *Jill of all trades*. She is expected to fill the gap for any and all ministries that are lacking volunteers or leadership. She should definitely be able to play the piano, sing, organize the nursery, lead women's meetings, lead the ladies Bible studies, teach Sunday School, teach Junior Church, have a perfectly kept house so people can drop in anytime and her children never misbehave. Whoa!!! Okay, maybe things are not that bad and the expectations are not that high in some churches. However, I have spoken with enough Pastor's Wives to think that the *Ideal Pastor's Wife* should definitely be able to check a good number off of that list...if she is worth her salt.

Pulpit Search Committe: So, what does your wife do?

Pastoral Candidate: She serves God first, her husband second and her family third. If she has any time beyond that her spiritual gifts are x, y and z and she attempts to use them for the building up of the body of Christ.

Pulpit Search Committee: Does she play the piano?

Pastoral Candidate: No.

Pulpit Search Committee: Does she sing?

Pastoral Candidate: No. Not solos. She is a congregational singer.

Pulpit Committee: So....what does she do again?

Being a Pastor's Wife is a priviledge. Being married to a man called to be a Pastor is a calling for his wife as well. Where he goes, I go. For those who think being married to a Pastor is the same as being married to a plumber/engineer/teacher/professor/dentist/whatever else, it is simply not true. Our lives are bound up in church life in a way that is different from the members. Our husbands are called to serve God, to shepherd a particular flock, to care for them spiritually and he is held accountable to God for them.

As a Pastor's Wife, I am a helpmate to my husband. I don't send him off in the morning with a kiss and welcome him home for dinner with no contact inbetween. The church is our life. It is not a 9 to 5 endeavor. It does not end when he comes home for dinner. It is ongoing and very much a 24/7 experience. Who we befriend, which people we invite to dinner, how many times we entertain in a month, what our children wear or do...all of these decisions are made in light of him being a Pastor.

As Christians, we are all called to live Godly lives that glorify and honour Him. We have a *Christian Code* as it were and none of us are exempt from it...it is called the Bible. However, there is that subtle, underlying code imposed on those families which include a Pastor. Sometimes it is hard to live up to the code, other times we want to throw it to the wind...most of the time we pray that God in His mercy will give us the grace to serve and honour Him in the way we live, inspite of ourselves.

We are sinners. We are all sinners. You are a sinner too.

Remember your Pastoral family and be an encouragement to them. One of the things that I love the most is when we are at Prayer Meeting and people not only pray for my husband, as the Pastor, but they actually pray for the rest of the family too. We are a package deal...pray for the Pastor's Wife and his children. We are in need of prayer support in a very real way.