Staff Retreat with spouses....

So our church just had the first staff retreat with spouses so I was lucky enough to be invited since I am married to the Pastor of Student Ministries...and this happens...
We start the retreat off by playing a friendly game of guesstures (similar to Charades but it is electronic) and I'm pretty good at these types of guessing games so I'm pretty excited, that is until I see the word that I have to act out in front of the whole pastoral staff at my church...yeah...everyone else gets cat, dog, blanket...not Heather...she gets LAXATIVE.....that's always a great way to start off a staff retreat!
Day 2 we start off by going over personality tests that we took before the retreat started and wowzers did they get to learn a lot about the inner workings of me...on the hostility score I got a 95% which means only 5% of the people surveyed (about 9,000 females) were more hostile than me! That's great...that is something every Pastor's Wife should strive for! Not only am I hostile but I'm also anxious which makes for a great combination! On the upside I am self-disciplined which is good...I guess!
I think I may be sick when this retreat rolls around next year for fear of what else may be unveiled!

All in all it was actually a great weekend...and now I have plenty of attitude changes to work on!

MissionS Completed

Anyone involved even slightly with youth ministry knows that while summer is relaxing and includes downtime for most people it is quite the opposite for youth ministry. We have just successfully completed another summer of craziness but when the summer is packed with goodness this happens:

Recap on some of the amazing events of the 2008 summer for Project 412:

New Orleans: July 1-8, 18 team members
Gutted a house that had remained untouched since Hurricane Katrina AND managed not to die from mold exposure...so far...
Fed thousands of homeless people on the Fourth of July
Jackson got attacked by fire ants...not necessarily a highlight for him but I had never seen something like that
Met, prayed with, ate with and talked with many people on the streets of the French Quarter
And so much more but to sum it up an altogether amazing trip and a new close group of friends

CIY Conference: July 14-19, Over 100 Project 412 attendees
Got the Freshman connected with the high school group
Confirmed that our group is spectacular
Almost took out Wizard Boy....by whipping him in the legs...
Heard some incredible messages
Students had the opportunity to see they are not alone in their struggles
Slightly damaged a 12 passenger van...no one was injured!
Multiple baptisms in the ocean

Jr. High Increase Summer Camp: July 28-August 1 104 Impact Attendees
Had a record number of 6th graders attend summer camp
May have convinced Mr. Matt Smyles to move to Northern California
Fixed up a kids eyebrow when he cut it open on a counter top...he thought I was a doctor...I faked it well
Heard some awesome messages by the Matts
Managed not to damage the same 12 passenger from CIY
Had 17 Baptisms in Lake Tahoe

Super Mexico: August 6-10 14 Team Member
I didn't attend by they need to be recognized since they
successfully made it across the border into Mexico
Built a house in 3 days
Managed not to die from taco stands...and rotten potato salad
Successfully made it across the border into the U.S.

While summer is crazy it is always the highlight of the year for youth ministry...so many amazing things take place during the trips...just one of the many reasons why being married to a youth pastor is so great..I get to experience all these things first hand....

Some information About Calcutta or Kolkata...

Residents of Kolkata are called Calcuttans. As of 2001, Kolkata city had a population of 4,580,544, while the urban agglomeration had a population of 13,216,546. The sex ratio is 828 females per 1000 males– which is lower than the national average because many working males come from rural areas, where they leave behind their families.

India 08-09

Later this year I will be embarking on a new adventure...traveling to Calcutta, India for two and a half weeks. There are a few things that make this trip an incredibly exciting opportunity:
1. I have never been to India! India is 80% Hindu which just screams "We need to see Christ's love"!
2. I only know one other person going on this trip...the team leader who invited me. The team is based out of Southern California and there is a chance I won't meet anyone until we all gather at the airport in December...
3. We are going to be working with the organization Mother Theresa started, Missionaries of Charity...so awesome!
and...
4. I expect to see things that I have never experienced before being that we are going to be lending a hand in numerous homes for the dying, clinics and orphanages.
Oh and did I mention we may see a live goat sacrifice at a Hindu temple??!!

I'm pretty excited about this trip and I can't wait to see how God is going to work through it! I'll be posting updates leading up to the trip and hopefully during the trip...

The Reason

My original reason for starting a blog was to retaliate, in the most loving way of course, against another blog in which wives of youth pastors come together and complain about their husbands' job. Being a pastors wife myself I find that site to be quite obnoxious and dishonoring to their husbands. Their poor husbands-I hope they never stumble across that site and view what their wives have been posting! Being a pastors wife can be difficult but is such an honor and I pray that the wives of pastors can come together to encourage and support one another in their ministry rather than complain and fire one another up about who has the worse summer because of youth camps and trips.

So, I struggled with names for this blog...morethanapastorswife and marriedtoayouthpastorandlovingit were just way too long andthishappened was already taken and so I settled upon, with the help of my husband and Sharpie, andthishappens...a sort of "sister site" to andthathappened...which you should check out by the way because my studly husband runs it.
So there you have it, the reason for and this happens which consequently is what happens when something frustrates me and gives pastors wives a bad name....