How do you manage the regular rhythms of ministry while caring for your family and starting a new church? In this episode, I chat with church planting wife Joy Ross. She currently serves church planting families, has been married for over twenty years, and is a mom of six. Joy and I dive into the nuances of family life within the first few years of marriage and ministry, specifically in the church planting context. So, if you wrestle with your role in ministry and are facing tough questions like, “Is this normal? Am I weird? Are we even making a difference? Are we messing up our kids?”, I pray that this conversation will bring your concerns into the light and help diffuse their false power over you as we tether our hearts to Jesus and pursue His calling upon our lives in each new season.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

Pastoral Care Line

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With busy schedules in ministry, how do you and your husband make time for each other? Today, I have a conversation with Margie Frank. Margie is a mom of grown kids and is a ministry wife who resides in Tyler, Texas. She teaches and speaks to women’s groups and together with her husband Hixon speaks on marriage and the family. In this episode, we talk about intimacy when you are married to the minister. Yes, my friends. We’re going to talk about emotional and physical intimacy and how easy it is to live like a church volunteer in your marriage. If this lands on your thirsty heart, I pray that our conversation will be an encouragement to you.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• God, Sex, and Your Marriage by Juli Slattery
• Intimate Issues by Linda Dillow and Lorraine Pintus
• Speak Life Podcast: Marriage with Margie and Hixon Frank

CONNECT

Connect with Margie
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What are some practices that you and your husband have established to help you maintain mental wellness? In this episode, Janet Dance, wife to Guidestone’s Director of Pastoral Wellness, Mark Dance, talks specifically about loving your husband through his mental health struggles. So, if you find your minister husband struggling and feel that you have to hold it all together and do so alone, I really hope this conversation will encourage you.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• GuideStone
• “I’m a Pastor—I Was Afraid to Admit My Diagnosis” – Newsweek Article
• Refresh Retreats
• Pastoral Care Line
• Mental Health Resources
• Start to Finish: The Pastor’s Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry

CONNECT

Connect with Amy
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How can we break away from unrealistic expectations in parenting that either others have set for us or we have set for ourselves? In this episode, I talk with Jeannie Cunnion. She is a preacher’s kid and understands what it’s like growing up in a ministry setting. She has five boys and has written some really beautiful grace-filled books about parenting, my favorite of which is Mom Set Free. If you are a mom who feels the “pressure to get it all right,” this conversation will meet you where you are, and I pray it will encourage you. 

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Mom Set Free

CONNECT

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As ministry wives, how can we walk alongside families with disabilities in our church and community? In this episode, Missie Branch talks about special needs families in the church. Missie shares her firsthand experience and their story, which is so impactful for families like theirs and for all ministry wives who serve those families in the church. So, if you are looking to support families with special needs or if you are a ministry wife who feels left out, this episode is for you.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Guided Prayer Journal (For Teen Girls) by Missie Branch
• Stand for Life

CONNECT

Connect with Missie
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How do you navigate healthy rhythms of home life and ministry simultaneously? In this episode, I had the privilege of chatting with Tara Dew. She has loved Jesus for as long as she can remember, growing up in a Christian home and meeting her husband in the church youth group. This is such an encouraging and helpful conversation that gives some practical tips to get started with developing healthy rhythms within your home and ways to engage your kids to participate. So, if you look around your house discontented and see all the clutter and don’t know what to do about it, this episode is for you.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Ministry Training and Equipping – Past Ministry Wives Episode
• Prepare Her

CONNECT

Connect with Tara
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How do you encourage your kids to share Jesus in creative ways that are authentic to them? In this episode, Catherine Renfro, the National Director of Women’s Evangelism at the North American Mission Board, shares creative ways to weave evangelism into your kids’ lives. If you are a ministry wife who talks about Jesus at your church and to your church people but don’t know how to with your kids, we hope you’ll find encouragement in this conversation.

CONNECT

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How do you manage ministry and your family during busy (or even just normal) seasons of life? In this episode, we chat with Aimee Joseph, a church-planting wife in California and a mom to three sons. She discusses ways to manage chaotic family life in a ministry family. It’s so easy to get swallowed up in the chaos, especially when it seems like life will never slow down. Aimee shares some great practical ways to enjoy the crazy chaos of a “full” life.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• Knowing What Needs are Yours to Meet – Past Ministry Wives Episode
• Demystifying Decision-Making by Aimee Joseph
• You are Secure: Devotions for When Life Feels Uncertain by Aimee Joseph

CONNECT

Connect with Aimee
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How do you discern the fine line between speaking up and remaining quiet with your kids as they are adulting? In this episode, Christine Hoover, the Women’s Ministry Associate at The Austin Stone Community Church’s Northwest congregation in Austin, Texas, shares insights on navigating the delicate balance of sharing information about your family while serving in ministry. Christine shares practical advice from her current season in life, guiding you on how to balance being honest about your struggles as a mom and being wise with how much you share about your kid’s life.

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• You are Not Forgotten by Christine Hoover
• Practical Wisdom for Serving with Brothers in the Church (an interview with Amy Petersen)

CONNECT

Connect with Christine
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In this Season 4 finale episode of the Ministry Wives Podcast, sit down with my husband Kyle Hoover and me for another Q & A episode. We wanted to give you more details following our episode with the Mandrells. We share about how God transformed our marriage during the COVID season, how that time served as a catalyst for my new book, as well as how God has been walking with us during our current trial with one of our children.    

QUOTES

“I would say we did push through, but at the same time I think we gave ourselves permission to not do some of the things that we normally would’ve done, and that’s okay. And, we pushed through with community. We had people who knew what we were going through and knew that we needed prayer and space and encouragement. We didn’t just push through isolated.”

-Christine Hoover

“I think what I enjoyed about the book is that it’s not just a fairytale; it’s a story of trusting the Lord in the midst and believing that God will take care of you and also call upon you to trust him and obey him. I appreciate that it wasn’t just a movie script kind of an ending where it’s ‘they all ended up being happy’. It’s a gritty story of faith and trust.”

-Kyle Hoover

“When I think about the prayers of God’s people for us and the care, it’s like a crowd surfing at a concert. I feel like we in some ways have probably even been protected from more suffering and pain because people have carried us through and lifted us and passed us along. I love that picture because that’s what it feels like. It feels like we’re being carried not just by people, but by the Lord.”

-Christine Hoover

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

You Are Not Forgotten 

How We Love

Crosspoint Ministries 

CONNECT

Connect with Christine

Facebook // Instagram // Books

Visit How to Thrive as a Pastor’s Wife to access Christine’s resources for ministry wives like you!

Connect with NAMB

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Wisely navigating relationships between men and women is a vital but sometimes difficult conversation we need to be having with one another and our husbands. In this follow-up episode, long-time ministry wife and Ministry Wife Ministry Partner Amy Petersen helps walk us through the specifics of wisely cultivating these relationships. She stresses the importance of open communication regarding boundaries and how personality and baggage play into those boundaries. Amy and Christine also discuss the role of spiritual health and how it is critical to employing wisdom and discernment in this area.  

SHOW NOTES

• Create boundaries that both you and your husband are comfortable with.

• Assessing your spiritual health/maturity is critical for navigating these areas wisely. 

• If you do have concerns regarding a relationship, lay them out before the Lord and ask Him for wisdom and then have a conversation with your husband.

QUOTES

“There’s just really no set equation for how it should look. I think that it just needs to be customized based on what you’re comfortable with, as long as you’re healthy. That’s the other piece to this. Am I healthy? Is my husband healthy? Is this other person healthy? Healthiness is huge.”

-Amy Petersen

“I think sometimes in these situations, I might feel some things about somebody, but need to really discern, ‘Is this more of a me issue? Is this something going on with me or is this genuinely something I need to bring to my husband?’ I do think in general, if we have concerns, we should bring it to our husband, but we need to be very clear about what it is that we’re concerned about and what we’re requesting.”

-Christine Hoover

CONNECT

Connect with Amy

Facebook // Instagram // Podcast

Connect with Christine

Facebook // Instagram // Books

Visit How to Thrive as a Pastor’s Wife to access Christine’s resources for ministry wives like you!

Connect with NAMB

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