Ministers' Wives

Nicolette has just accepted a marriage proposal from the love of her life, Minister Jeremy Jeffers. The sparkle of the ring, the stomach butterflies, and the rat a tat tat of her beating heart infused her with joy. This was the happiest day of her life, at least for an hour, but then Jeremy went home. It was then that worry overwhelmed her and doubt that she could indeed be a minister's wife; after all, ministers' wives had to be perfect, didn't they? She had heard the stories of unfaithful preachers, of the way female congregants threw themselves at the ministers; of how the wives of ministers had to live under microscopes. Could she do this? After much pondering and stressing, Nicolette called a local host church for a ministers' wives conference. Without leaving her name, she obtained information on when and where. Nicolette determined she would go and 'eavesdrop' for an hour or so to get an idea of what to expect for her marriage. She would get a general idea and answers. She had no idea what she would hear would fill her with anxiety, encouragement, fear, discouragement, compassion, confusion, and ultimately the decision she had to make about her potential marriage. Lisa D. Blakely is a Tennessee native. She obtained her bachelor's of social work from MTSU and then ultimately, her license. She worked as a mental health social worker with adults with severe and chronic mental illness, with disabled veterans, and with aggressors of domestic violence for 32 years. She, also, worked with special needs and children at risk for neglect and abuse for 8 years. Lisa has been retired for three years, though she still does some volunteer work with disabled veterans/adults. Lisa, along with her husband, co-facilitates Grief Share groups at her local church. Lisa has one adult daughter and two grandchildren, along with bonus adult children and grandchildren via her marriage. Lisa co-collaborated on a trilogy of books early 2000's (Ordinary Victims, Human Cages, and DeJaVu: Generational Victims) prior to this most recent book, Ministers' Wives. She has also written three short stories: Legacy of a Mother's Love, God Behind the Scenes and Rejection, Resilience and Redirection" a short story about a long journey.