Monday, October 1, 2012

Sometimes they're true (stereotypes, that is)

Ryan asked me the other day why I blog...good question.

Since I have already established that I have no real niche - food?  crafts?  homeschool?  mom? wife? smart aleck?  - I decided that it is mostly an outlet for me to write and to analyze myself, the world, and everything (and everyone) in it.  Another reason, as per my blog title, is to hopefully set up a more realistic picture of what a pastor's wife may or may not look like.  

The bottom line is, in my real life ups and downs, moderate disfunctions and humanity, I hope to show that pastor's wives are pretty normal and will never live up to the stereotypes that we set for them.  

 But, sometimes, they're true.  

(And honestly, that feels like a confession of sorts, because being a messed-up wise-cracking pastor's wife seems so much cooler than being an iced tea drinking, Sunday-school teaching pastor's wife.)

I may not be called "sweet" by too many of my friends, but I have been called "loyal, thoughtful, and authentic."  I may write grocery lists sometimes on the church bulletin, but more often than not, I write out real notes and have been deeply convicted by things spoken from the pulpit.  

I don't go to every church potluck...but when I do, I really love to cook and will happily taste every dish in attendance and discuss recipes with the best of them.  

I crack jokes, I roll my eyes, I laugh at myself, I sit in the back row sometimes.  But I am a follower of Jesus and I happen to believe that the institution of  church and the community it provides is necessary to live out what God calls us to live out and I take that seriously.  

Sometimes I skip my bible study or cram the night before.  But I don't swear and I don't jay-walk, and I would probably self-combust if I thought I was breaking the law in any way (this was me BEFORE I was a pastor's wife or a Christian for that matter).  

I own a jean skirt.  And wear it.  (often at the moment since it is one of the things I can squeeze into).

I fight with my kids and my husband, I read books out of the young adults section of the library and Oprah picks, I listen to all genres of music (I like rap and RnB).  I hang out with people of different faiths and play hookie from church. I have an addictive personality and will chain-watch shows on netflix till 2 in the morning.   As stated in the blog title, I don't have big hair and I don't sing or play piano.  A break from stereotype.

But I drive a minivan, have fun doing crafts with my kids, am attempting to learn to make jam, wear an apron from 4pm-7pm pretty much every day (ok it's like a bib for clutzy and messy adults), go to bible study with the gals and love it, and trust that in everything I do, whether stereotypical "good Christian girl/pastor's wife" or not so much, that God is in it and He is working.  

So, whether jam-making, or home-schooling, diet-attempting, or running, church - attending or church-skipping, introspecting or others-analyzing, my purpose in blogging is to chronicle real life - and sometimes I will sound and look the way people think I should, and sometimes, I won't.  But it will always be (mostly) true and it will always be (mostly) real. And there are thousands of real bloggers out there and most are probably better than me, but maybe my real will connect with someone else's real which may end up helping us both.