30til30: day 27, sharon h.

for those of you who are following along with me, i know i got behind a day. i'll have day 26 posted for you before i got to bed tonight. thanks for sharing this with me!

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i have 30 days until i celebrate my 30th year of life. i thought i would share with you 30 people, events and situations that have shaped my life and who i want to be. it has been very challenging to come up with 30…i hope it inspires you as it has me. this list is in no particular order.

day 27: sharon h.

when i first moved back to indiana and to purdue university, michael was attending a decent-size presbyterian church with excellent preaching. the music was fabulous. by default, i attended alongside him, never thinking about finding a church of my “own” – i loved this one the moment i first sat on the cushioned pew.

the fall that michael and i were engaged, i began attending a bible study led by sharon, our pastor’s wife, and another woman. here, i got an education in two things: beth moore and all-things motherhood. without knowing it, i had enrolled in a mother’s of preschooler’s bible study. i’m sure i turned five shades of red the day one of the ladies shared a story about pumping. i’m not sure i’d ever heard of such a thing!

through this bible study, our premarital counseling and other avenues, i got to know sharon and we developed a friendship. she is very different than any pastor’s wife i’ve ever known, fun and creative and stays home with her children – things that i wanted to be as a wife and mom. for the first time, i began to think that maybe i could be a pastor’s wife, too.


here michael and i are on our wedding day with sharon and her husband david, who officiated our ceremony.

michael and i had quite an adjustment to marriage: we were both working two jobs, he was still going to school, we were involved in the navigator ministry. in addition to getting to know each other, we were being pulled in a million directions.

sharon spent a lot of time with me that semester, weekly sharing a mug of coffee or hot tea, praying with me and allowing me to share the struggles of being a newlywed. without judging me. loving me all the more. challenging me to know Christ more deeply.

i saw in sharon a heart for women and a passion for Christ that i wanted to emulate. she prays with passion and conviction, unlike anyone else i’ve ever heard. i saw her gently shepherd the women in our church with a heart for them to know Christ more fully. as a young woman, she deeply inspired me.

i wouldn’t be the woman i am today if it weren’t for my friendship with sharon. and, i probably would have been a lot more hesitant about being a pastor's wife!