introducing::Adel Torres

For as long as I can remember, the one thing I always wanted was to be a missionary nurse living in a hut in some far-off land, telling the story of Jesus to people who never heard it before. Most nights during my childhood I drifted off to sleep with images of steamy jungles, headhunters, and thatch-roofed huts like in the bedtime stories Mom read to us. My dad was involved in ministry (though not pastoring) and his work took him across the sea on many great adventures. Each time we watched as his aircraft lifted off the runway, I couldn’t wait until the day I was the one taking off.

On one of those trips my daddy didn’t come home, and one little 8-year-old girl began longing for heaven like a grown woman. More than ever, I wanted the world to know the Good News so we could leave this lonely, painful planet behind and have that long-awaited reunion. In high school I found Jesus in a whole new way, and invited God the Father to be MY Father. I earned my nursing degree and watched many runways slip away behind me as I explored horizons told The Story in the Philippines, Albania, Nepal, India, and a few places in between.



I prepared myself for many things, none of which was being married to a pastor. In the midst of wedding and mission plans, God slipped my husband and I a temporary assignment to a 3-church district in what I have heard called “pretty much the only place in California that is just dead.” Many of our church members here have never been outside of California. Once, while I was preparing to share a mission talk, someone looked in the bulletin and asked me, “What is ‘Nepal’?”

After 3 ½ years of restless yearning for slipping runways, I am still struggling to learn the contentment Paul had in whatever state he found himself. I am less likely to attend a women’s ministries meeting or lead out in the Bible lesson than I was when I first came. But here in this “dead” valley of California, I have experienced the most amazing journey ever with the birth of my son in the Fall of ’09. For me, being a mother to my darling son Tobiyah ("Tobi") and a good wife to Jose, the man I love, are 99% of what being a pastor’s wife is all about. The other 1% is available for the church. And 100% of that must be recommitted every day to this God I am still learning to trust.




(I am natural child-birthing, exclusive breastfeeding, non-vaccinating, vegetarian, home-remedying, nature-loving, gardening, stay-at-home, and do-it-yourself. Incidentally, I DO shave my legs.)

© CLUTCH, 2010 unless otherwise sourced.
Use allowed by express written permission only.
Tweets, trackbacks, and link sharing encouraged.

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introducing a new columnist:: RACHAEL

Since Delina has had to step down, and I'm managing the PW life, a new baby, and CLUTCH all by myself, I've decided to share some of the writing responsibility with other gifted PWs.

So CLUTCH is getting some new columnists.

Columnists commit to writing about a niche subject at least once a month. Their columns will show up as regular blog posts, or you can search your favorite columnists by their name or their column's name, if you'd like to catch up on old posts.  Or you can click on the columns button and see the profiles of all the columnists as we add them.

Rachael is our first new blogger. She'll be writing a column called In Her Shoes::taking a walk in real life ministry. Here's her bio:

 Writing a bio about myself feels so silly! I'm married to an amazing man, musician, leader and mentor. I like to refer to him as Preacher Dude. This year we'll celebrate 8 years of marriage; only by the grace of God.


Preacher Dude and I have three babies, (well they're not all babies but I like to call them that). Madalynne Noelle is 6, Connor Benjamin is 4, and Ellianna Rejoyce is almost 2! I have the privilege of homeschooling them. This year has been a stretch and a challenge and I often plead with the big yellow bus going by to stop and pick them up!


I grew up in Indiana but have lived in several states including Michigan and Louisiana. I went to school to be a nurse, and worked in ICU for a few years. I also got my degree in Urban Church Planting in New Orleans. What an experience that was!


I have been in full time ministry for 9 years and would love to say that it's all been rosy but it hasn't. Preacher Dude and I just spent 5 1/2 years at an amazing church in Michigan. That's when God placed a call on us to go back to my husband's home town and plant a church. We moved here the beginning of November 2009. Our plan is to launch the church on Easter Sunday, 2010.


In my spare time when I'm not helping at the church, homeschooling or being a domestic diva I enjoy being outside, preferably by the ocean. I love shopping, decorating, and book stores with Starbucks. I absolutely love to entertain! I enjoy the cooking and the cleaning and the organization of it all. I love to garden, make crafts and sew. I love candles and herbs and freshly made soaps.

I love praise and worship music, and enjoy sipping sweet tea on a front porch. Oh, and vacations (who doesn't like them?)! I enjoy old-time movies like Anne of Green Gables. And I'm a reality TV junkie (yes, I know that's horrible). I enjoy local eateries and don't frequent them enough.


One of my real passions is women - the women in ministry. Yup. There are many who are hurting and have no where to go. I have suffered thru post-partum depression twice, and had a marriage on the rocks because of ministry woes. I am now whole by the grace of God and I want to give to others what others have given to me.

© CLUTCH, 2010 unless otherwise sourced.
Use allowed by express written permission only.
Tweets, trackbacks, and link sharing encouraged.

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introducing::delina

Ladies!

I don't know how to express to you how excited I am about this blog and the possibilities of networking with other pastor's wives in my generation. I'm looking forward to being blessed by this experience.

A little bit about me:

I'm 31, was born in Costa Rica, lived in Mexico for a bit and then grew up mostly in Texas. In the last 10 years, I've lived in Texas, Washington DC, Texas again, Michigan and now California. I have a degree in journalism and I still love to write, edit and create, though I hardly ever do it for pay these days (more on that in a bit).


A lot of times I have an insatiable need to know. It's probably why I liked interviewing and reporting and why today I thrive off getting the inside stories on politics and newsmakers. I live for a good documentary. Besides prowling the internet for information, I love to entertain friends and soon-to-be friends, plan parties, read books and dabble in photography. There is really not enough time in the day to explore my interests and meet my goals. But that in itself keeps me going.

My husband, Ben, is an associate pastor. His passion is young adult ministry. We're constantly lamenting the fact that, as a whole, we're not investing time in helping young adults acquire a passion for the Word and for God. Clutch Talk is a result of that passion, because our generation of pastor's wives and our unique struggles are overlooked.

Together Ben and I share a one-year-old son, Maxton. He's the absolute love of our lives. We enjoy him so much. I dedicate my days to caring for him and raising him up to be a strong man of God. I believe with every cell in my body that God gave him life for a special and unique purpose. I can't wait to witness what God has in store for him. I totally don't deserve him. So, Maxton is the main reason I don't work for pay, but really, he saved me from having to look for work when we moved to L.A. I never really thrived as an employee. There seemed to be no time to live life!

This way of life suits me a whole lot better and I sincerely feel that it's just a bit more full because I get to embark on this PW conversation with you! I look forward to reading your insights and building this community.

Welcome to CLUTCH!

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introducing::sarah

Hi girls!

I'm Sarah, married to Marius and living in the metro Atlanta area. We've been married almost 7 years.

Marius is the Senior Pastor of two churches in the Greater Atlanta Area. He's passionate about community projects, international mission trips and small groups, in addition to baptismal studies, counseling, and lately - lots of weddings! He's full of life and keeps my sometimes-workaholic self balanced with spontaneity and enthusiasm. (You can't tell, can you?)
 
I absolutely LOVE to travel, it's a bug I caught as a missionary kid living in Russia. Since then, visiting 30 countries, short-term mission trips to a dozen places, graduate study abroad and 4 summers in youth mission programs have given me lots of opportunities to learn about other cultures.

I have an undergraduate degree in English Writing, and a master's in International Development and Non-profit Administration. For the past four years, I've worked in full-time ministry as the associate director of an international research center. We developed resources and training materials for non-traditional evangelism and small group ministries in today's postmodern society. My work included marketing, writing, media production and lots of international travel. (Watch some of the video clips my team did here.)

When our first child made his debut, I decided to break from the travel and spend some time at home. I still work on odd projects, like engagements & baby photography, recording and transcribing my dad's memoirs, and doing PR consulting here and there. And I'm always open to jobs that pay, too!

As a minister's wife, I have a personal passion for mentoring and connecting with women of all ages. I think that Paul was really onto something when he told Timothy to have women mentor each other into the arts of homemaking, husband-loving, and godly identity.

I was blessed to have a wise and godly mother who served as a mentor for me - but not every young pastor's wife has the luxury of a great Christian mom with decades of ministry experience. And most of us don't know have know where to get some godly wisdom and a listening ear when we need it.

CLUTCH is one of the ways I stay connected with the outside world, and with serving other women. I think it's a great place to mentor each other in the journey toward fulfilling service as the wives of ministers around the world.

Y'all ready to start a conversation?

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