In the middle of the chaos there is always a good Wednesday afternoon awaiting me. It is the 3-4 hours when I can rest a little more, get some good soup cooking going on, go shopping with just one child, or spend a few quiet moments with my husband while all the kids sleep.
My husband works a lot of evenings as a pastor, so he takes Wednesday afternoons as his "evening off." Then he heads back in for office hours and Bible study, but for those few hours, I get to do what I want, or more realistically, what I need to do.
As life is being married to a pastor, there really are no for sures. Some women say living a "maybe life" is a bit too rough. Us PWs live with husbands who are on-call 24/7. Honestly, sometimes it is exhausting. I can't sugarcoat that part. I would be lying if I said it was easy.
But...
People get sick.
People die.
People get in accidents.
People have to make life and death decisions for their loved ones.
People have broken marriages.
People live in a broken and sickening world.
And who do people need in these moments? They need Christ. Some may say they need their pastor, but he is only the man who stands in His stead. They are right to believe they need this man, because he brings The Man. The pastor's hands hold the Body and Blood of the Man whose hands healed the sick and raised the dead. This is The Man these hurting, sick, and dying people need.
When the phone rings and I hear his voice change...
I see the worry in his eyes.
I notice the sideways glance in my direction that says to me,
"I am so sorry...I really need to go now...even though I promised the boys I would go to the park...even though I know you haven't been out of the house in days...even though we were just about to sit down for family lunch...,"
When I see this, I know that Christ is needed in someone's life.
It may disrupt my day. It may fail my plans to hit up Hobby Lobby. It may ruin my idea of the amazing homecooked meal I had planned. And sometimes, my sinful self may feel jealous or angry. For that, I repent. I repent with no excuses.
My husband stands in the stead of Christ. His hands serve His Body and Blood. His mouth speaks His Word. He brings the Gospel into the Law-filled lives of people.
Surely my Hobby Lobby trip can take its place on the back burner.
