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Something happened to me this evening that happens every so often when I meet people for the first time that go to our church… I play soccer each week with a group of “soccer moms”. It is a random bunch of women and it is so much fun. I started playing because my neighbor invited me and she knows someone from her son’s school who brought someone from a league, who has a sister who plays soccer, etc., etc.. All that to say, they don’t go to our church and I barely know many of them and they could care less who my husband is and what he does for a living. We just have fun playing soccer because we are women who like it.
So tonight a lady shows up and recognizes my last name and asks if I go to church (I already knew where this was going). I say, “Yes” and of course her next question is- “Is your husband Jeff Maguire?” I say “Yes” (with a nice pastoral-ly wife grin), and go about warming up. Five minutes later she is back around telling me that just this morning when reading her Bible she thought of something Jeff had said once when he spoke in big church. “Oh, so nice…I’ll have to tell him you said that.”, I say. Maybe five more minutes pass, while on the field playing, she runs over to me to tell me she has just downloaded the Bible ap on her iphone. “So great!”, I say. (“Oh brother!” is what I am thinking).
As we continue to play she yells across the field “Do you like KWAVE radio??” (Its a Christian radio station in our area) “HOLY CRAP LADY! I’M TRYING TO PLAY SOCCER MRS. SPIRITUAL QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE!” I say. No, just kidding. I didn’t say that, sure wanted to but I was nice. So again and again church-y comment after church-y comment while on and off the field….Blahhhhh. So frustrating.
I extended grace to her on the outside and was polite, but on the inside I was a little ticked because I felt like I had to live up to what her idea of a pastor’s wife should be like. I mean, I just deleted the Bible ap on my iphone because I never use it, and I don’t like the christian radio station, its pretty cheesy. I am glad that she likes to hear my husband speak in big church, I like him too. Is it bad to hope that she doesn’t come back to my fun place of anonymity? Maybe I am judging her in thinking that she can’t see me for anything else than PASTOR Jeff’s wife who reads the Bible all day singing Christian songs while strumming a guitar and baking cookies for the youth group.
I just like feeling normal at soccer, and for some reason her churchy-ness took that away from me tonight.
Your honesty is so refreshing!! Can’t wait for this weekend!