THE PASTOR'S WIFE II

 

BEFORE

It didn’t use to be the way things are now. Patrick, the man she dated wasn’t one you would call religious or spiritually astute. He was the guy that sat at the back of the congregation observing the goings on. His whole demeanor seemed to suggest the Pentecostal settings of his church were not really his style and that he would be more comfortable in an orthodox setting, kind of. He was the classic mysterious and brooding guy that happened to be a constant in the fantasies of most girls. It was no wonder Stella fell for him too. To Stella, he was God’s answer to her prayers. He was the last person she would call zealous when it came to church business, which suited her just fine, as long as no breeze of kingdom service touches her hair. It didn’t take a genius to know that his career trajectory was as far removed from the pulpit as possible. In church, he could easily be mistaken for a mute; a mute who suddenly seemed to find his voice once outside the church walls. Then came all the prayers to make him more committed to the things of God than he currently were, just not to the point of stewardship and Stella’s prayers were answered or so it seemed. Patrick himself had categorically stated one day, that he doesn’t know what would even give him the desire to want the responsibility of a pastor. That had been the icing on the cake for Stella.

**********

This morning as she stood in her kitchen with her hands absentmindedly massaging her forehead; one of her numerous nervous gestures, the wheels of her mind were as busy as those of an over speeding Ferrari.

It took every available willpower in her not to bring up the subject at breakfast this morning. She had learned over the course of their marriage to first pray about any heavy topic that had the potential of becoming a big deal before broaching it at all. Patrick may seem like an amiable guy but he has a stubborn streak that Stella honestly believed nobody could tame. His mother certainly couldn’t. As his wife, she had discovered this used to clash frequently with her strong will and it had taken a lot of hard work from both of them to come to some form of an understanding on the issue. By the wisdom of God, they had both agreed to pay more attention to the other’s viewpoint before taking an unshakable stance on any issue. So far, it had worked so well for them.

The issue of whether or not she wanted her husband to become a pastor however is something she so desperately wished wouldn’t come up at all. To her, it seemed like the very foundation of their marriage was threatened with this seemingly non-issue.

Standing in the kitchen, thinking and rethinking the whole business just served to get her more agitated so she got out into the grounds of the house. She decided to take a stroll right inside their compound to clear her head. After a few paces, she decided to do what she knew she must do; take it to the third person in their marriage.

The Prayer:

“What happened? I specifically asked you for something, why does that change now. Am I married to the wrong man? Now that he’s got this idea in his head he won’t let go and you know how he gets.

Can’t we just serve you another way without becoming reverend and missus?

“Are you not going to talk? I probably look like a mad woman, standing here and talking to myself.”

The one sided conversation went on for an hour at least until Stella seemed to have exhausted her list of unfair situations to gripe about. She felt tired and reclined in a garden chair to see if any other complaints would come to mind.

Meanwhile, Patrick spent the hour’s drive to work wondering what had peeved his wife this morning. To the best of his recollection, she was chirpy all through dinner last night, even before bed and he was pretty sure he fell right asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow so he couldn’t put his finger on what he might have done or said to make her moody. He had done what he usually did when he didn’t have all the relevant information upfront. He had decided to postpone dealing with her mood until he assessed every available angle before bringing it up. It had probably upset her more that he didn’t ask her what was wrong but sometimes he thinks the woman expects too much of him. As soon as he got to the company’s premises, Patrick shoved his misgivings in a compartment of his mind till a later time and started planning strategies for all he had to do for the day. Domestic issues could wait; he had to be at his best today!

“Are you done whining?” an inner voice asked. It was so loud it startled her into opening her eyes and looking around. But of course, there was no one around.

Stella: You finally answered!

God: you finally kept quiet long enough to listen.

Stella: whatever! What is all this pastor business Patrick was talking about last night?

God: I don’t remember Patrick saying anything to that effect last night. Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?

Stella: are You kidding me right now? What do you mean by You don’t remember? You are supposed to know everything.

God: yes I actually DO know everything, thank you very much. I just can’t remember something that never happened.

Stella (squinting her eyes in a semblance of a thoughtful action): oh my God! You are in on it.

God: don’t use My name in vain. I’m in on what?

Stella: You want him to be a pastor! He’s talked to you about it, hasn’t he? You are on his side?

God: another accusation which isn’t true. Have you talked to him about this? Have you asked him?

Stella: no, I wanted to talk to You about it first.

God: what you really mean is; you wanted to accuse Me first before you accused Patrick, right? Apparently all we do all day is sit and plan your unhappiness.

Stella: I don’t mean it like that.

God: if there is something like that in the works, you do realize it would be about Patrick becoming a pastor and not about you, right?

Stella: how effective would he be without a supportive wife? It is about me too.

God: you may be right on that score.

Stella: wait oh! Did You say I was dreaming last night? That my memory didn’t happen?

She didn’t get any answer to that particular question.

Stella: see, I have to go take care of some stuff. I have a busy day today, kind of. Talk to You in the evening.

God: talk with you tomorrow.

True to form, she didn’t get back from town till late in the evening. When she got home, Patrick had already taken care of their supper. Her mood that evening seemed an improvement from that of the morning and her husband was relieved. He had planned not to query her about it when he got home and she still hadn’t returned from town. They had a companionable evening and retired early for bed.

It was early morning when Patrick had left for work that Stella realized she hadn’t resumed her conversation with God yesterday. She understood then, what He meant by His parting words.

Something else struck her as peculiar. Patrick brought up the same issue of his pastorship last night at almost the same time as the night before, about 11:30pm. She seemed to remember his words stating his intentions were almost verbatim to the night before. This struck her as odd and she began to think that the whole thing was a dream.

That morning when she said; ‘good morning, Father’, she had an idea of what the whole thing might be about. Two scriptures dropped into her spirit. 1 Samuel chapter 3 and Acts chapter 10. She knew what was in the third chapter of 1^st Samuel because she had read it sometime ago in the previous week. What shook her was the specificity of the scripture of Acts chapter 10. She could explain away the first scripture reference as one from her memory and imagination but she couldn’t do that with the second scripture reference from the book of Acts. She didn’t know that scripture was the one about the Apostle Peter’s vision. It suddenly dawned on her that her memory of Patrick’s pastoral ambitions was an open vision, the first ever in her entire life.

Her new revelation gave her an understanding that it wasn’t just Patrick’s ambition she was dealing with but with God’s intention as well.

Stella: I can’t be a pastor’s wife.

God: says who?

Stella: I have assessed myself and I know my strengths.

God: and you know yourself so well more than I do?

Stella: well…………..well……

That evening at dinner, Patrick mentioned that he ran into an old acquaintance who had turned a pastor.

Patrick: I don’t get people most times. I mean, what does it even mean to get “THE CALL” to be a pastor? When they can’t make it in the business world they tend to think becoming a pastor is their best option.

Stella: hmmm! So I take it if you ever get “THE CALL” to become a pastor you wouldn’t heed it?

Patrick: what call? I hardly think God would ever call me in that capacity. He knows I wouldn’t be good at it.

Stella just couldn’t hold back her mirth. She burst out laughing so hard at the absurdity of the whole situation. You have a lot of work on Your hands, Lord. She thought to herself. Patrick didn’t see the amusement of the conversation.

Patrick: what is so funny?

Stella: oh, nothing. Nothing at all. This should be interesting……………

THE END