The Privilege: Lessons from the Heart of A Shepherdess

The Bedouin woman in Bethlehem reached down and picked up a handful of rocks. A shepherdess will sometimes throw a pebble—gently—when a sheep starts to wander away from the fold. This calls them back to safety. But this woman didn’t throw gently. She wore an angry scowl and threw those rocks with a vengeance. She didn’t want to be in that field tending those sheep. She wanted to be anyplace else in the world. At times, we find ourselves standing in a field we didn’t choose for ourselves, tending to a task we never wanted. But when the call to that field—and the sheep it contains—comes from God Himself, then you’ve just been given a privilege. The Privilege is a loving conversation between friends. Kay Smith has a special place in her heart for pastors’ wives and women in leadership—to any woman who has been asked to nurture and feed others. If you are a pastor’s wife, mother, Sunday school teacher or ministry leader, let Kay’s unique blend of encouragement and exhortation inspire you to take a second look at the opportunity you’ve been given. Whether you’ve been called to nurture sheep or nurture children, the lessons Kay has gleaned over 62 years of ministry will refresh your heart and inspire you to love the ones God has entrusted to you all the more fervently. "He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young." (Isaiah 40:11)