How To Be Nice Church Ladies. Seriously.

“How To Be Nice, Church Ladies… seriously!” Punctuation makes all the difference, doesn’t it?

Long ago I remember being sliced and diced one of my first years serving in church. You’ll never guess who did it: Our children’s pastor’s WIFE.

Yep, I just outed her, didn’t I? She no longer lives in in the USA and left ministry within a few years after this incident. It really makes me sad, honestly. We had been close friends.

You never forget that first time you’re betrayed or hurt in church, do you? #forgiveness is a command.

Overly stressed and extremely exhausted about VBS, she hadn’t slept in days. One Sunday morning at church in front of children’s ministry, including parents and volunteers, she yelled at me, turning heads as quickly as if a firecracker had gone off in the third-grade rooms. I don’t even remember clearly what she was accusing me of or even what she was saying; I just remember she thought I was cutting in on her in some way. 

Um, no.

I was trying my best to be sure that the five young ladies she had placed in my care that summer did their job dancing onstage with excellence. And they did. My little team was (quite literally) rockin’ the stage.

After that humiliating experience (I know I cried in front of people), I wasn’t sure if I would ever come back to church, but after a calming call from our senior pastor’s wife telling me this lady erupted every year during VBS on someone, I thought, hmmm, maybe I’ll stick around past Night One (and I’m glad I did!).

How do we not be THAT girl, but the “One Who Cheers On Others”?

This is my first Leigh Mackenzie vlogpost on YouTube. It’s about 3 minutes. Please watch, share, and subscribe for more. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram ‘cuz we’re going to be putting out more of these little gems in the future…

For more posts like this, Words Matter, Stains&Chains, and My Mission.