So, I was laying awake the other night and musing about this blog and my hopes for a book, and I think I’m going to work around the title of this post, something like The Minister and the Other Woman:  How to Cope When Your Husband Serves the Bride of Christ.  I like the idea of it because the title is eye catching and semi-shocking.  I’d be curious about it.  What was your reaction to the title of this post?

The thing is, I’ve never felt like it’s a big deal to share my husband with the bride of Christ (aka the church).  I stumbled over an old journal entry about that last week, where apparently someone from church had apologized to me for keeping my husband away from me due to a family crisis.  What I wrote then and still believe now is that God has called me to give in that way.  Unlike my husband, who is gifted with helping people and knowing what to say during a crisis, I tend to do a lot of standing around, not knowing what to say, acting generally stupid.  And I also think a lot about myself instead of others when I’m supposed to be helping them.  That’s not helpful.  But the way I can help, and not be self-centered, is by giving up time with my husband willingly.  It’s all God’s time, really, and me putting demands on the situation doesn’t help anyone who needs it.

I came to that place the hard way, after a couple of funerals that were scheduled during “inconvenient” times in my opinion.  I had to learn to get over myself and realize that my husband, the family, and God were not conspiring to keep me from having fun with Travis.  The situation doesn’t appear every day, or even every week or month.  But on the occassion that someone needs him, I am more than willing to gladly share my husband.

That other woman will always be there, on the other end of the phone, at the office, filling my husband’s evenings and working hours.  But I know my husband has eyes only for me, and will never stray.  Because of that, I can share him with the bride of Christ.  She’s already got a husband waiting for her.  My husband is merely the groomsman assisting during the time leading up to the wedding feast of heaven.