Don’t Call the Preacher’s Wife for Comfort!

This is an excerpt from my "book" that will probably never be published, so I might as well share it with you here.  I wrote this chapter back in our days of ministry, following our move to a new church that had started off rather badly for us. We had moved from the country to the city...and had a lot of adjustments to make in our methods of ministering to our new flock. This little story is true...and was not a great way for me to make my entrance into this rather tightly knit church community. I wish I could say it was my only embarrassing moment.  However, this was only one of many difficult moments for me in this particular congregation.

Once we got over the initial shock of realizing that we were actually suffering from a type of “culture shock” in this new atmosphere, we began to settle down and enjoy our church and new home.  I tried hard to behave and not put my foot in my mouth anymore or do things that would upset the kind people. (I'll share those stories later)  However it seemed as though things just kept happening…

There was a very dear, sweet older couple in our church that had never had any children and had been married for over fifty years.  Mr. "Conrad" (name changed) had been quite ill with cancer and was failing rapidly.  One afternoon I received a call from his neighbor saying that Mr. "Conrad" was unconscious and on his way to the hospital by ambulance, and could my husband please go to the hospital to meet him.  I told the lady that I would contact him and have him go right away as he was currently visiting someone else in another hospital.  She then asked me if I could speak with Mrs. "Conrad", as she was very distraught.  I said certainly, and she put her on the phone.  I don’t remember just what I said to Mrs. "Conrad"  but I tried to reassure her and prayed with her.  She said thank you and good-bye and hung up. 

I finally reached my husband at the other hospital (this was before cell phones) and told him to please hurry to the other hospital as Mr. "Conrad" was on his way in the ambulance.  A little while later John called me and said, “I thought you said Mr. "Conrad" was on his way to the hospital!”   I said, “Yes, that’s what I was told.”  He said, “Well, they just brought in Mrs. "Conrad" by ambulance, and she’s deader than a door nail!”  I said, “Oh my!  I just spoke with her a few minutes ago on the phone, and she was fine!”  John said, “Well, she’s not fine now!”  I told him that he’d better go check in the emergency room, because Mr. "Conrad" was supposed to be there somewhere, and he would certainly need him now!

The same neighbor lady called me back to find out if the Pastor had reached the hospital yet, and I asked her what happened to Mrs. "Conrad".  She said, “Well, as soon as she hung up the phone from talking to you, she just turned around and dropped dead of a heart attack!”  Oh, dear Lord!  You can  imagine how I felt then!  Not only did I feel badly that Mrs. "Conrad" had just passed away, but especially that she had  passed away right after I spoke with her!  I was racking my brain to try and remember exactly what I had said to her that could have upset her so badly!  But I had to stop and realize that it wasn’t what I’d said that killed her…she was already grieving beyond her ability to live without her husband!  The interesting thing is, Mr. "Conrad" did not die until around 11:00 that night! My first thought was, “Can you imagine how surprised Mr. "Conrad" was when he entered Heaven’s Gates and saw Mrs. "Conrad" already there?”  He probably said, “Ella, how did you get here before me?”  And she might have said, “Oh Henry, I thought something awful must have happened when I got here and you weren’t here yet!”  And with that they embraced each other and were welcomed into the arms of Jesus together to live eternally ever after! 

A few days later my husband performed his very first (and last) double funeral for a dear sweet couple who literally could not live without each other!

The story that went around the church after that was, “Don’t call the preacher’s wife when you need comforting! Whatever she said to poor Mrs. "Conrad" sent her straight to her grave!”  (I think this was mostly said in jest and with love...it may have even endeared me to them just a little...at least I'd like to think that way).

I share this with you for several reasons...

So you will know that your Pastor's wife and Pastor are both very human, and may not always have all the right words to say, but they do try very hard to do what is right.

Two very human humans

1. Oftentimes things happen in life beyond our ability to control and or understand, even when we have the best of intentions.
2. If you are a Pastor's wife, or a person in ministry...take heart. Do all things with love for your Lord and your people, and you can't go wrong. There will be times of humbling and times of embarrassment, but when you earnestly seek to do God's will...He will make it turn out okay.
3. Life is full of surprises...and so is death.  Don't let it catch YOU by surprise. Regardless of your age or health...be ready to go when God calls!

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." II Timothy 2:15