Today Cathy and I were working on her outlines for the sessions she’ll be teaching ministry spouses this weekend at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. She has amazing content, an unbelievable passion for family/marriage, and a straight forward approach that many ministry spouses need to hear.

One of the things I love hearing Cathy talk about is the changing seasons of ministry and giving spouses “permission” to have down-seasons in ministry. Here’s a Cathy Fields’ quote:

“ ‘Seasons’ is the term I use to describe the different phases of my life and ministry. In 25 years of marriage and ministry I haven’t always been “all-in” with ministry. I’ve had seasons where I did everything in the ministry and I was Doug’s best volunteer. But, there were other seasons, especially when our three kids were little, that I wasn’t as involved in the ministry (actually, I think some people at church wondered if Doug had a wife). These seasons change as family, job, and life changes. And I think one of the best things the ministry spouse can do is to allow the spouse to experience those seasons without inducing guilt.”

For those who are married and in ministry…what do you think? How do you respond to the concept of “seasons”? How easy and/or difficult is it for you to allow your spouse that season that doesn’t help you?