Dear Shepherdess: It was a real pleasure for me to meet so many of you as I accompanied my husband on his camp meeting assignments this summer.
At the Chesapeake camp meeting Jackie Richardson, whose husband pas tors the Baltimore First church, led out in the Shepherdess meetings. She asked volunteers to tell, in a few words, some thing that is usually taken for granted for which she was thankful. Marge Woodruff was thankful for the telephone.
"What!" someone exclaimed. "You're thankful for the telephone that rings incessantly at inopportune times and makes us slaves?" Yes! For years Marge had been in Africa, at a place where there were no phones to communicate with the outside world. Back home now, she appreciates the phone so she can call her parents and her sister, and answer the calls of those who need her.
Another was grateful for the support of the church in times of medical crisis, and for periodic meetings in which one's "batteries are recharged." Another was thankful for the privilege of standing at her husband's side as the congregation left the sanctuary to shake hands and exchange a word of greeting.
Little things? How good God is! In the Shepherdess newsletter from the Washington Conference, Pat Owens writes:
The primary lessons for the past quarter have dealt with different ways to praise God. As I studied these topics to present to the children, I thought, How many adults praise God as they should? Do I give enough praise and thanks to Him?
Do we praise enough? A lovely thought is expressed in the quotation that says, "We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. If the loving-kindness of God called forth more thanksgiving and praise, we would have far more power in prayer. We would abound more and more in the love of God and have more bestowed to praise Him for." —Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 317.
The following letter of appreciation is particularly appropriate as Thanksgiving approaches. With love, Kay.
An Open Letter
by Delores Broome Winget
Dear Pastors:
Being a minister isn't the easiest job in the world! There are situations in which you have to be a diplomat, a philosopher with the wisdom of Solomon, a marriage counselor with solutions to some very sticky problems, and sometimes a psychiatrist without a couch. You often have to bear other people's burdens, with no one to help you bear your own. You're expected to be creative, yet not disagree too much with the old ways; to evangelize, but in a manner pleasing to the church board. Through it all, you must remain the spark plug that moves your church from lethargy to commitment, from indolence to action.
And yet, just as the gardener shapes the scraggly shrub into a thing of beauty, you patiently and tenderly snip and prune the rough edges of your congregation. The trimming isn't appreciated by some and is very painful to others. A few, because they refuse to be pruned, wither and die spiritually. But how many thorny, rebellious lives you touch! How many have blossomed and grown be cause, like the Master Gardener, you care!
We would not forget your wife, who shares with you the loneliness of leader ship. If the pastor is the heart of the church, then surely his wife is the heart beat. She is the gentle soother, the warm, loving maker of your home. When you've had an especially exasperating day, when you feel unappreciated, harried, and overworked, she is the only one with whom you can share your problems in confidence.
Just as the pastor is called to his work, so his wife is called to hers. She, too, is often expected to be the perfect example. Her dresses must not be too short, or too tight, or too low cut, but must be stylish and show good taste. She is expected to smile and be cheerful, though her head may be aching and everyone else is grouchy. She must accept criticism gracefully, and fight back any bitter words she'd like to say. Even her home is not necessarily her sanctuary. She is expected to bake bread, cook nutritious meals, keep a clean house, raise model children, be prepared to entertain company at a moment's notice, and remain cool, calm, and collected through it all. And, though the phone has rung almost off the wall until her eardrums are sore, she must answer each time pleasantly and courteously!
The pastor's children, too, give much to the church. Daddy isn't always home to tuck them in and give them a good night kiss. He doesn't always have time to take them to the zoo or to a birthday party or to read to them when they want him to. Too often, church members expect them to sit solemnly through church services with never a whimper or a wiggle. They are criticized for being loud, boisterous, and just plain normal! They usually have no grandma or grandpa, aunt, uncle, or cousin living close, so miss the joys of all the little "extras" relatives give.
Yes, pastors, the church expects a lot from you and your family. And most of you live up to our expectations.
It's not easy being a gardener. Just when you think you've plucked out all the weeds, they start growing again. In sects and disease are always prevalent. God's garden, the church, has weeds and insects and disease, as well. But it also has the best of gardeners, and because of your concerned, loving care, the church continues to grow it is alive and doing well!
From time to time pastors and their families must move on to new gardens, leaving behind those who have become your "family." Always, there is a little more pruning and shaping you would like to have done, a few more seeds that needed to be planted. Yet, though one pastor leaves, another takes up the task, and because of the vision of each pastor, someday the church will be triumphant, and we will meet again in that beautiful garden of heaven where the thorns and thistles and weeds are forever gone.
Prayers from the Parsonage
by Cherry B. Habenicht
Organ notes resound in the sanctuary, and voices float back from the vestibule where friends linger to chat. Quietly the treasurer slips up front to place the tithes and offerings in his drawstring bags. Deacons move efficiently between the pews, straightening hymnals and collecting leftover bulletins. I think of all the people whose work is taken for granted and wonder when someone last expressed appreciation to them.
Our charming hostess, always early, sees that there are flowers for every visitor. Each week a busy housewife care fully types the church bulletin, and a creative businesswoman plans the floral arrangement for the church.
After the church service, there are husbands who set up tables and chairs for the fellowship dinner, and wives who shake tablecloths and wash dishes after ward. Sons package literature for over seas mailing, and daughters baby-sit during prayer meeting. A shut-in grand mother cuts felts for the cradle roll department, and a retired grandfather builds Sabbath school devices.
How many volunteers cheerfully work behind the scenes, who neither expect or receive praise? Bless them for tackling a job, not for prestige, but because it needs to be done. Often their sole reward is the knowledge that they have done their best.
Surely some become discouraged, feeling that their contribution is insignificant or unnoticed. Make me quick to offer thanks for the unselfish labor that goes into each smooth-running church program. May I not glibly accept others' service.
Fulfill Your promise, Lord. Make those who are faithful in a few things rulers over many.
