Meet the Wives

Well, many of you asked for it, and we were happy to provide it. On this edition of The God Journey we invite Wayne's wife, Sara, and Brad's wife, Kelly, to join us in the studio and share 'the rest of the story'. From their unique perspectives we get a different look into how life in the system as 'pastor's wives' affected them, and more importantly how God has sorted out these things in their lives in the journey since. We hope you enjoy meeting these two incredible women and are encouraged by what Father is doing in them.

Below you'll find Kelly Cummings with daughter Taylor on the left and Sara Jacobsen with granddaughter Aimee on the right. And if you're dying to see Chipper, and God only knows why that would be true, you can click here.

7 Comments

  1. Please pass this along to Sara and Kelly…

    I just finished listening to the latest podcast. I was one of the ones who REALLY wanted to hear what this “god journey” has been like for you, the wives. Thank You, Sara and Kelly, for being willing to go “on air” and share your stories. Your honesty came through loud and clear and I appreciated that so much. It was great hearing you two, and I do hope that in the future we will get to hear even more.

    Thanks Wayne & Brad – thegodjourney is a godsend.

    Oh, and thanks for posting the picture of Chipper! I love to hear the Chipper stories!

  2. Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed meeting your wives! I can related with both of them as they shared their joys and struggles coming out of the “Box”. My husband and I were both in a type of church similar to the Cummings’ with all of its expectations. The thing was I was caught in it, big time and it was my husband who was seeing the error in it. However, like Sarah, I didn’t feel as though I had any worth, I didn’t know who I was, so being busy in all these expectations seemed to validate who I was (in a warped sense). Needless to say, none of this really brought me any closer in relationship with my Father, rather it brought me deeper and deeper into the web of deception that I was more “spiritual”. Praise God, my hubby was the one hearing from God and through many painful things we have disentangled ourselves from that web and are beginning our walk in closer relationship with our Father, and with each other.
    Thanks again for sharing your lives with us, Sarah and Kelly, look forward to hearing more from you both!
    Diane

  3. thankyou Kellly and Sarah for sharing, I too wrote and asked the guys if we could hear from you. I think women really need to hear the truth from one another. We are probably better at being religious than our menfolk are, and I know that from where I came, women used to conform and make others conform to religious expectations in a way that caused their own identities to disappear. So the whole issue of not knowing who you are is true of a lot of christian women I think.

    I could relate to Sarahs story of those dramatic years of looking after her parents. You truly are a strong and capable woman, reminding me of the proverbs 31 wife. Our crisis of ending relationship with organised religion was similar. In a 12-18 month period, we discovered our eldest son(14) had aspergers syndrome (a form of autism) our second son was dyslexic, my husband had cancer, my father was dying, and the elders at our church were involved in some really bad (in fact criminal) activities, and we were forced to leave over questionning them. We had no support from anyone, we were cut off and shunned as we left and had to deal with all of this literallly on our own. How God has shone through in this for us. But yes there has been anger, bitterness, more anger, cries of I don’t want to be a christian anymore God if you allow this sort of thing to happen and so on. It is so good to hear another voice (sarah) being unrelentingly honest about their own disillusionment, but also speaking in humility. After reading the book on the Jake Colsen website, and hearing your podcasts, finally understanding that the God we served wasn’t actually God at all, was such a relief. We weren’t actually angry at the Father at all, we were angry at a false god who was always angry at us and demanding perfection where we could not give it.

    We have so much to be thankful for now. Cancer cured, sons doing well, Mum coping ok with Dads death etc. We have a new life in a new city. Still looking for fellowship and needing to make a whole heap of new friends, but we know God is making a way in the wilderness. So thanks again for the podcasts, they have been a great encouragement.

    Meg

    PS. Wayne is obviously a dog person, hence the sarcasm about the chipper photo? Since we are equal opportunity pet owners (dog, 2 cats, parrot) we appreciate the obvious devotion to their cat which Brad and Kelly feel to share!

  4. I too enjoyed hearing from Kelly and Sara.

    Regarding what Sara shared about not having an identity of her own – I think most people, if they’re honest, can relate to that. I grew up with such little confidence as well and always looked to others for my identity. Then one day, after following Jesus for a while, you realize that the identity you sought had been and is being transformed into Another. The confidence I so sought after for myself was finally discovered not in me but in Christ alone.

    There will always remain a void, a hole in our hearts without “Christ in us” becoming our reality.

    As a dear Canadian brother and friend likes to remind me, “In Him we move and have our being.”

    Continue on with this wonderful podcasting. Hearts are being reached, challenged, and changed. God wants to create a revolution in each our hearts.

    Much love to my two brothers on the left coast.

    Dave

    ps- I think I speak for everyone on this… we would like a program featuring Chipper where he can share his own perspective of the journey. I can hear Wayne hacking up a hair ball now.

  5. Oh, Chipper! What a handsome boy you are!!!

    But cats still suck, overall, it has to be said.

  6. Where’s the dogs? Let’s have their pix on too! Just kidding. Cats make my eyes swell shut, so it’s hard to feel friendly toward them. Chipper needs to share the limelight now with his canine friends, don’t you think? I’m tempted to show you my dog Rusty, a true and loyal friend.

    Seriously, Kelly and Sara, thank you so much for sharing. I love what the guys have to say but it’s not the same as hearing from women. Kelly, I distinctly remember thinking that there was something wrong with the system because (among other reasons) I couldn’t bear to leave my son in Sunday School and Kids Church for 2.5 hours because I had spent the whole week working and away from him. I felt so torn between my duty to be a good churchgoing lady and a good mom. I have seen the faces of young pastor’s wives and I see pain. Kudos to you for having the guts to get out of that particularly guilt-inducing rat race.

    Sara, I am a middle-aged single woman, my only child just went out on his own, and I need to hear from other women who have lived through issues that we must face in our 40’s & 50’s like aging parents. I was “pushed out” of the church and my leadership positions there when my ex invited me to leave our home and not come back. Sadly, the people in leadership and our cell group were the most judgmental and the least likely to admit the truth, even though some of them had counseled us and knew exactly what was wrong. I had some non-believing friends who came alongside me in the practical tangible things and Christian family members who carried me through my Job experience with prayer — I guess all Christians go through at least one of those in their journey.

    But yes, I’ve grown immeasurably as a result of all that happened. I enjoy knowing who my true friends are and I am SOOOO FREEEEE from the religiosity that bound me. What a joy to worship Him instead of trying continuously to earn or deserve His love. So thanks for sharing–there’s no one around here I’ve found yet who’s doing this journey this way so the “fellowship” you guys provide is very encouraging.

    Blessings for this year!

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