I heard three ministers’ wives tell of their experiences just the other day,
They rather opened my eyes with what they had to say,
Made me realize just how big you have to be
To be successful as the first lady of the ministry.
Not big in size, of course, but in faith, in deed, in mind and heart
For in the profession of their husbands they play an important part.
As I listened to them talking these thoughts were going through my mind
How it is ministers pick such lovely wives; so patient, sweet and kind.
Talented, intelligent, thoughtful and understanding of others,
Lovely home-makers, and perfectly wonderful mothers.
I’m sure I could say the same for everyone I’ve had the joy to know;
It must be their close touch with God that really makes them so.
Those women were laughing, not complaining, as they told of the trials they go through,
But those trials would be burdens if they came to me and you.
One of them spoke on the parsonage, said she’d lived in at least a dozen homes,
But never had she had one to call her very own.
Nor had she had the privilege of letting her home express herself,
For the style, the size, and sometimes the furnishings were the choice of someone else.
Sometimes the house would be very large, the next one very small,
The curtains and drapes she’d made for the one wouldn’t fit the other at all.
Sometimes she’d work so hard the appearance of the parsonage to improve
And just about get it finished and find out they were going to move.
Folks often give things to the parsonage, she said but they still claim them as their own.
And would remind that “this is my couch” or “chair” or “table” when they visit in your home.
In one parsonage, she said, there was an awful looking couch
And she and her husband decided they would move it out.
But before very long they discovered that was the wrong thing to do,
For they were told, with a little time and effort they could have made it good as new.
In a minister’s home there is little known of this thing called privacy,
They must always be prepared for unexpected company.
Their clothes should have style, and they should wear a smile, regardless of how they feel.
If their feelings get hurt, for the sake of the church, their feelings they must not reveal.
They must listen to everyone else’s trouble but not breathe a word of their own,
For there is not supposed to be anything like trouble ever reaches a minister’s home.
They must attend all the church functions that may take them out every day in the week,
And they are expected to do all their own housework, and keep their homes clean and neat.
Another spoke on raising a family; there too, they must do their best.
To keep their children a little above the average as examples for the rest.
How often you’ve heard these ugly words when some childish prank is done,
“Isn’t that perfectly awful and to think he’s a minister’s son”.
A minister , to be successful, must practice what he preaches
And raise his family to be examples of just what the Bible teaches.
The President, his wife and his family life are not watched by a nation
As is the minister, his wife, and his family life watched by the congregation.
I don’t feel sorry for the minister; he chose his profession somehow,
But remember, his wife acquired her task through the marriage vow.
And the amazing thing about it is they don’t need our sympathy
The truth is they love their task and do it willingly.
Now another one told us something that most of us do not know,
That’s where money received for wedding fees is supposed to go.
The next time you have a wedding at your church, for your minister please do your best,
For his wife should get that money and it should buy her a new dress.
But in these times, I’m sure they’d find with the awful price of clothes,
The money received for wedding fees would just about buy her hose.
Now if you have been wondering why I’ve been telling this story to you
One reason is to give a little glory where I feel that it is due.
To the first lady of your church who should have your sincere appreciation
For the noble work she does for the congregation.
Though they work very hard, they expect no reward for the precious time they’ve spent,
God has shown them the way and like Paul they would say, “I have learned
in whatsoever state I am therein to be content”.
I had a very inspiring experience while this poem was on its way,
That seemed to come as a living example of just what I was trying to say.
With this rhyme on my mind, I heard my door chime and I went to see who was there.
I was a little bit stunned when I saw there a nun, with a face like a beautiful prayer.
With a voice sweet and mild she said as she smiled, “I’m taking a census, my dear.
Would you be so kind as to tell me if I’d find any Catholics living here”?
My answer was “no”, but as she turned to go, I was wishing she’d stay for a while,
It was inspiring to see such God-given beauty, enhanced by a Christian smile,
My eyes equid not erase, her angelic face, and I thought now wasn’t that odd
That she should come at the time I was writing a rhyme about women who lived close to God.
I hope that makes plain what I’ve been trying to explain that as through this old world we plod,
We can live better lives, be better mothers and wives, If we’ll just keep In close touch with God.
1,11c will lie brighter, our burdens much lighter, and happier homes there will be
If we will not forget, the example that’s set by THE FIRST LADY OF OUR MINISTRY.
