Being a pastor's wife is kind of like being an art project. People judge the quality of your husband's ministry according to your appearance, behavior, attitude, submission, and degree of voluntary service to the church.
     The unspoken expectation is if you do well in your role, it reflects well on your spouse and his ministry will be a success. If you do poorly, well ... you've disappointed your husband, your church, and your God. 
     Such is the battle faced by the heroine of The Pastor's Wife, which officially releases February 1, 2010 by author Jennifer AlLee,  published by Abingdon Press.
     AlLee, a former church secretary (another of those often maligned and misunderstood ministry positions in the body of Christ) has written a beautiful book that reveals the struggle faced by one pastor's wife to find her own identity, recover a broken relationship with God, and restore her marriage, with a heady undercurrent of the importance of forgiveness throughout.
     Don't assume this story won't appeal to you if you aren't a pastor's wife or in full-time ministry. The Pastor's Wife exposes universal dilemmas, conflicts exacerbated by a call to ministry, but familiar to almost everyone:

• How can we use our individual gifts to express our faith and serve our God without bowing to the expectations of others?
• Can we learn to see through judgmental, controlling behavior to the wounded person underneath and help set them free?
• What does it take to restore a marriage that's been shattered by separation and secrets?

     AlLee successfully weaves her story without being preachy and (to my great joy!) without turning her heroine into a Stepford wife as she navigates her relationships with God, with her husband, and with the church.
     I'm privileged and honored to claim Jen as an Inkie sister over at Inkwell Inspirations, where this week's posts were devoted to the release of The Pastor's Wife. And check out Jen's blog for the blog tour schedule throughout the month of February.
     Thank you Jen, for a wonderful read!