It’s funny how I think and process life differently from my husband. He’s very systematic, linear, and one compartment at a time. On the other hand, I am like a plate of spaghetti… this-and-that with everything twisted and connecting.
It sounds like:
I was hungry today so I ate a salad. Remember the last time I had a salad like that we were in Florida, and the weather was so gorgeous. The weather here yesterday was awful, and I had to bundle up in a hoodie. I got this hoodie 7 years ago when we lived in SC…and on and on.
From being hungry…to living in SC. Just. Like. That.
Can you relate? How would you characterize yourself: spaghetti or compartments?
We’ve been talking for a while about what it looks like to be a healthy ministry wife. Which poses this question:
How can we… as ministry wives and often perceived as being the picture of health… own a healthy mindset about the process of health?
Well, consider this:
Healthiness is not a checklist. It would be easy to think healthiness is a linear, check-the-box to-do list:
Spiritual Health: check
Emotional Health: check
…as if we can move progressively down the line towards the finish line of health.
Healthiness is a messy process. Relax, sweet ministry wife. Our health cannot be compartmentalized. Healthiness is a messy process, not a checklist. It’s more like a plate of spaghetti. Everything connects:
- My growing relationship with Jesus (spiritual health) is connected with…
- how I manage my emotions (emotional health) is connected with…
- how I live in my gospel identity (personal health) is connected with…
- how I maintain meaningful relationships (relational health) is connected with…
- serving the Lord in my giftedness (missional health).
It’s all connected and quite messy. For me, I can relax a bit knowing that I can’t achieve health. But prayerfully as we allow Jesus to change us from the inside out, we are progressing forward bit by bit.
Healthiness involves all the things. So as we dive now into talking about personal health, please know that it also involves a mixture of spiritual, emotional, relationship, and missional health. We are a fully functioning, beautifully created system with all the things happening at all times.
My friend, it’s all connected. Don’t feel shame for being confused with yourself. It’s not up to you to figure it out. The more you lean into Jesus the better you will be, and the healthier you will become.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3 NIV
Written by Amy Petersen