"But the fruit of the Spirit is..."PEACE"

The third fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians is...Peace. And I have to say the writer of today's fruit was the 1st person that came to my mind when I was dreaming up this idea of including others to write for my blog. I am privileged, blessed, and so thankful to call her my friend. Curious yet??? It is with much excitement to introduce to you Pat Merold.

I really have my husband to thank for ever meeting Pat. Years ago, my husband Matt, was an intern under Ben Merold (Pat's husband) at Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, Missouri. Matt and I were just dating at the time. Since my hometown wasn't too far from there, I would frequently visit Matt during the summer. Matt stayed with a family from that church, but I was lucky enough to stay at the Merolds when I came into town. It was so neat for me to watch how Ben and Pat interacted with each other...always showing love, always showing respect, and always always laughing together. When it was time for me to head to bed myself, I could hear the two of them just giggling in the next room. It made me smile seeing that kind of love in the two of them. If you know Ben, you will quite often see him "patting" his bride on the backside...yes, even at church in front of lots of people. This must be where my husband learned it from, because Matt does the same thing to me. :)

I was also a student at Ozark Christian College at the time, so ministry was a huge passion for me. I LOVED asking questions and picking Pat's brain over the many aspects of ministry. We talked a lot about expectations from others...from the church, from our husband (remember I was just dating at the time), and expectations we place on ourselves as well. We talked about different Bible studies (Pat has written much of her own and challenged me that the best Bible study we could ever do is...from the Bible itself). We talked about service...finding the area or areas of service and passion that God wants us to take part in and do it. We talked about being ok with the many hours it takes a minister away from family, and how to maturely deal with that. We talked a lot about always showing respect towards whoever God chooses for us to marry. One thing that has stuck with me to this day is when Pat told me that when I marry, that I am a wife first, then a preacher's wife. I think at the time, I had that backwards in my head. So in the almost 13 years of full time ministry that Matt and I have been involved in now, I have gone back to that comment again and again. I think I've truly gotten a hold of it now...and this has happened only within the past year to two. I am a Christ follower, I am a wife to Matt, I am a mom to my girls, and I am the wife of a preacher.

There have been some hardships along the way in ministry in which I have called Pat up to just seek her advice and Godly wisdom. It's nice to have someone to talk to that "has been there" before that doesn't live here. I really do feel like she knows my heart well enough that if I'm going to ask her a question, she's going to give it to me straight. And let me add, that Pat has also prayed with me on the phone many times before. A woman of the Word, and a woman of prayer. She doesn't mess around with having to hear all the details...she just takes it to God. A lesson I need to learn better. And I have to also mention her sense of humor. Pat Merold is one of the funniest people that I know! I have called her up just to hear her laugh before. She is so full of joy. She is one funny lady!

Matt and I consider Ben and Pat very good friends of ours. We both have enjoyed getting to know them, and are also extremely thankful to have wiser mentors in the ministry that we can turn to. I have asked Pat many times before when she is going to write a book to all wives in the ministry...I would LOVE it if she did!

Thanks, Pat, for being my Titus 2:4-5 woman. From the 1st day I met you, you had no problem taking me under your wing and teaching me...and on some days, helping me get back up and fly again. Every young woman either considering ministry, or that are in ministry now serving and supporting their husbands, need a Pat Merold in their life. I know I've got mine...


Name: Pat Merold
Hometown: (Pat didn't mention this in her bio, but I'm gonna take a stab at it and say Pennsylvania. Am I right Pat???)
Married to: Ben Merold. Married at age 18 and will celebrate 61 years in August.
Family: 3 sons. 2 are deceased...our youngest was murdered at age 30, and our oldest, Mike, died 2 years ago this month from a heart attack.
We have partially raised several foster children along with our own. I feel there is no greater ministry than investing your life in the lives of young people. We have 4 natural grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren, but many from our foster kids. They are all the very best and the little ones are darling. Not that I would want to boast. :)
Current Living: St. Charles, MO
Hobbies: teaching is one. Taught High School, college, young marrieds and adults. "Of course those classes and my Bible studies which I taught for 40 years, were my 1st love when it came to ministry opportunities."

More about Pat that you may not know: Pat founded and administrated the Step-Up ministry which ministered to victims of domestic violence from 1992 until Ben retired in 2008. Pat has held dozens of retreats, spoken for numerous conferences, the North American Christian Convention (she even asked me to be a part of one of her classes one year for the NACC, which I really enjoyed doing with her), and many special occasions and state conventions. She has served on the Continuation Committee for the NACC as well. She has also organized the childrens word twice and served for the National Missionary Convention's pre-school department. Pat also wrote questions for the very first Bible Bowl competition. Their years of service/ministry include:
Illinois-7 years
Indiana-over 13 years
California-nearly 23 years
Missouri (Harvester Christian Church)-18 years


And now, words from Pat...

"Hi. Jennifer invited me to share my thoughts on PEACE in her blog. So here I am, writing for her blog and I have never had one of my own or read anyone else's. That tells you something about me that I wish you didn't know. I'm behind the times. I tell myself I'm too busy.

PEACE - one of the grapes on the cluster we know of as the "fruit of the Spirit".

Every time I have a period of introspection and self-examination, I evaluate myself by looking inward to see whether or not I demonstrate and/or experience being "possessed of His Spirit" I look at this list in Gal. 5:22&23 and ask myself the hard questions.

Most often I have to pause when I come to "Peace". I am by nature a tense, hurried person. I find it difficult to relax and be what most would see being at "peace". Yet, in my heart, I do feel at peace which I define as being in right relationship and harmony with God, facing life with the confidence that I can handle it because He
has given me countless promises which give me assurance, and living well with my fellow-man because he has
poured His love (agape) into me.

Let me take these one at a time. I am at peace with God because I have fully accepted that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son, that Jesus died to atone for my sins, was resurrected to sit at the right hand of God, and is now my advocate before Him. I don't have to fret over my eternal destiny. I can confess my daily sins and
know that if I truly repent, He forgives. How freeing these truths are! Life is so much simpler when you are fully persuaded that all His promises are going to be fulfilled.

However, when it comes to being at peace in all of life's difficult circumstances, I must confess, I have had to pray my way to "peace" many times. At these times peace comes as I ask God to:
1. help me actually give my problem to Him. I most often try solving it myself, become impatient while
waiting for his help in a way I recognize, or, keep snatching them back and having to give them to
him all over again.
2. fully trust that He will handle my problem in a way that is most valuable for my spiritual well-being. No
matter how impatient or confused I may be.

I know the value of having studied the Scripture over the years so that I am very familiar with all His promises. I see that storing God's Word in your heart prepares you for real life. I believe all these promises and know that He always keeps His word. It isn't all bad, this getting old (I'm 79). As we age we have a whole life-time over which to reflect and see that His grace really is sufficient for all our needs. We can see what the trials, tests, and experiences have accomplished much. He truly has been at work in me to will and to do His good pleasure. He gives the "peace that passes all understanding".

The third idea in my definition has to do with living well with other people. We all have some folks in our circle of friends and acquaintances who require our being careful in that relationship. These relationships are not as easy and as free as we would like. But Paul says that God has poured His love (the kind of love He has) into us. Therefore, I have concluded that if God loves them, so can I. The love I have from His Spirit enables me to express agape love toward all. I tell myself that God loves them enough that He died for them, so then, I can
learn to love them too. I believe if I truly desire and pray for that kind of love He will grant that request.

May God help us all to live in His spirit."