THE PASTOR'S WIFE

She, a pastor’s wife! She doesn’t even like people that much to be cast in the perpetual role of godly hostess the rest of her life. This wasn’t about Patrick, this was about her. Over the past few years, Patrick’s spiritual growth and that of his relationship with God has been a blessing and an amazing thing to witness but a pastor? She had no doubt he could be one and an exceptional one at that but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that; she didn’t want to be that wife who undermined all her husband’s hard and noble work with her attitude. She wasn’t called to the office of pastor’s wife, period!  

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MC: Praise the Lord!

Audience: hallelujah!

MC: It’s now time for the word. Someone, say ‘the word’.

Audience: the word!

MC: oh, I didn’t hear you. Let’s hear you say, ‘the word!’

Audience: the word!

MC: yes, the word. The bible says: ‘man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God’. Pardon me, I still love my old King James version, amen? ‘Proceedeth’, that’s what I’m talking about, hahaha. Amen!

Audience: amen!

 MC: It is now time for our spirits to be fed and watered and we are blessed to have with us; Mrs. Stella Kudjoe to minister to us, what has been given her by the Holy Spirit, tonight. Hallelujah! Without wasting much time, we call on Rev. Mrs. Stella Kudjoe to give us the word. She is the wife and helpmeet of the man of God who couldn’t be with us here today. You might have noticed her in the front seat. Even the Queen of Sheba would be envious of her beauty. Ah, snow white kwraa, is no match for her beauty.

The student body gathered in the auditorium that evening burst into applause as Stella mounted the stage.

Stella: Hahahaha! Thank you, Michael. Hello, everyone! Hahahaha!

Audience: Helloooo!

Stella: What an introduction. Snow White! Oh, my dear Michael! Hahaha! I bring you greetings from Rev. Patrick Kudjoe. He is awfully sorry he couldn’t make it here today. I know how it is; When I was a student, I would have had a strike each against the organizers of this program and the substitute speaker already. After all the hype they gave the guest speaker in their posters and all. I pray you don’t be like I was back then, ameeeen!

Audience: Amen.

Stella: Rev. Kudjoe has his heart set on this institution because it is one of the structures God used to groom him into who he is today. So you guys are special, Amen!

Audience:  Ameeen!!!!!

Stella: This is his alma mater and mine as well. This is where we met, so those of you so bent on the “exters”, “inters” are good too……..praise the Lord!

Audience (mostly male voices): Bor hor bioo, bor hor bioo! 

Stella: shall we pray. Lord, we thank you for the gift of life and for the grace you have made available for us to be able to meet you like this. Minister to each of our hearts as you see fit. Let us leave this auditorium with a testimony that, indeed it was good we were here. In Jesus’ name…….amen!

Audience: amen!

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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.