A few months ago, a young woman gave me a gift in the middle of our lobby that made me tear up. She came up to me after a service and introduced herself. She told me about growing up as a PK and how she understood the challenges that pastors’ families go through. It was great to connect with her.

But here’s her gift.

She said, “I just wanted you to know that I see you. Your contribution to what is happening in our church might go unseen by many. But I want you to know that I see you.”

Yep. If you’ve ever felt like your investments go unnoticed and unappreciated, you get why her words brought tears.Maybe you invest so much in keeping things going on the home-front where others can’t see. Or you might be spending energy lifting your husbands’ arms when he is tired, so that he can stay at the helm. All so that he can shepherd this flock that God has entrusted to him.

We want you to know that we see you and that we TRULY appreciate all the sacrifices you make everyday to stay in ministry and to see God’s Kingdom advance. All of these might not apply to you right now, but I pray there is one that resonates with your heart and that you are reminded of your immeasurable value. This list is for you.

1. Thank you for learning to respond with love and grace to crazy comments that people with no filters say without thinking (like leaving for a missions trip and someone says “Oh, you are headed out on vacation…again).
2. Thank you for having a “hurting people radar” that allows you to see those in your congregation that need a touch, and often much more. You follow the leading of the Spirit as you love them well.
3. Thank you for finding that deep well of hope inside you when your spouse comes home discouraged, feeling like he wants to quit ministry altogether. You remind him of his calling, what God has done through him and the hope that he has in Jesus. That Jesus is making him all that he needs to be. When often, in these moments, you might feel like quitting too.
4. Thank you for listening to God’s reminder that your investment in the kids and keeping the homefront sane is what allows your spouse to invest in more public Kingdom things. When Jesus sees those new believers deciding to follow him or your church crushing out the darkness in some place of pain in your community, He sees your investment in making that happen as EQUAL TO what your husband invests.
5. Thank you for sacrificing to work a job outside of vocational ministry. Maybe it’s because you love your career and you see God’s glory when you use the gifts He’s given you in your job or you work because its part of how you contribute to your “team”, bringing in a paycheck so that your spouse can dedicate his time to being a pastor. Whatever the reason, your sacrifice is paying eternal rewards.
6. Thank you for practicing forgiveness – not always immediately and not always perfectly. You hear more than you’d like to hear. You see more than you’d like to see. But when someone, especially someone close, hurts you – you wrestle with it and surrender that hurt to the only One who can really heal.
7. Thank you for opening your home so that people can experience your love for them – and come to understand Jesus’ love for them. It’s often not convenient and it’s usually a lot of work. It means less time with your family and a crazier schedule than you’d like. But you allow people to get close enough to you to see how you walk with Jesus and learn to walk with Him too.
8. Thank you for walking the tightrope of being the “cheerleader” and the “realist” when it’s REALLY tough. When there might be a nugget of truth in a piece of criticism but you know that your spouse’s capacity to deal with “another complaint” in a season of division and anxiety, is at an all-time low. You allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in those tough moments.
9. Thank you for figuring out how to celebrate. You celebrate your church family “wins”, whether at a wedding, when God moves to heal an illness, or when someone far from God finally comes to Jesus. You find ways to seize the small moments of victory when defeats feel looming. You make those small victories big, so that discouragement doesn’t get to have the final voice.
10. Thank you for loving your husband well. Even when he’s down, ornery, and doesn’t have any energy left. You refuse to disengage. Your coming alongside him models authentic love and “in the trenches” commitment to a world that desperately needs to see it.

Yes, there are bunches more that we could list, but let these serve as a reminder to you of why YOUR investment is so very valuable.