Peter's Wife

Welcome to Peter’s Wife!

Peter’s Wife reaches out to women living and working cross culturally. Living outside our own culture is stressful. Keeping a home, helping our husbands, and raising kids can be very difficult without the usual support systems of home. Peter’s Wife is written by and for those who have given up the comforts and normality of ‘home’ to serve people in a different culture.

Whether you are currently in a cross cultural situation, have friends or co-workers who are, or just want to know what we face, take some time to look at our Archives of previously sent emails.

Changing Gears

Leave a Comment

Some letters are tougher to write than others. For me, this one, though necessary, is hard. Yet it’s not a letter about a personal tragedy, just about a change.

As you have probably noticed, I have not written and sent a Peter’s Wife newsletter in a few months. Over the last year or so it became harder and harder for me to write Peter’s Wife. After much prayer and consideration, I believe it is time for me to put Peter’s Wife, as a newsletter, to bed.

Even harder than changing countries is changing ministry. In laying down the Peter’s Wife Newsletter (not the web site), I’m laying down a ministry that I have loved. I know it hasn’t reached a lot of women, but they have been very special to me. For the handful who have written back, I’ve felt it was worth the time and effort. It was because of Peter’s Wife that I learned to build web sites. It was a monthly reminder that there are women on the field who need a touch from someone who understands their struggles.

I am so comfortable in my adopted country that I feel more at home here than in my passport country. In some ways, I feel very out of touch with the needs and struggles of other women serving abroad. In addition, there are other organizations providing the support Peter’s Wife provided for over 20 years.

I will continue to keep up the website, as it still has great information for those living and working overseas. Links to resources will be updated and added to as they become available. Please share and use anything you want from the site. Peter’s Wife

I love to write, especially when my writing helps other women, young and old, live out the destiny God has for them, the best way they can. So, I invite you to something new:

DianeConstantine.com

It’s still me. I’ll be writing often. The topics will be varied. I’ll share lessons I’m learning and lessons from life. Some of the posts will have roots in the counseling I’ve done over the years. Some will be sparked from current events. And, like always, I would love to answer questions sent by readers.

Though I do not hear from many of you, I hope that Peter’s Wife has helped you. And I do not want to lose you. So please visit DianeConstantine.com. Have a look at my new posts.

I see this change as a way to reach out to more women, not just those who live and work outside their home culture. I want to reach young women who would like to hear from someone who has been where they are. I’d like to reach out to women in the ‘sandwich’ generation between children and aging parents. I’d like to be a voice of reason in an age of unbridled media sound bites. I would love this new endeavor to take off, but even if it only reaches a few, I believe it’s what I’m supposed to do at this time.

Loving Our Kids Through Transition

Leave a Comment

By Lilly at Velvet Ashes?

“Mom, I really miss my friends.” We’d moved to the Middle East a few months before, and my oldest – then 3. 8 years old – was really struggling with leaving our old life behind. Her downcast look made my heart sink.

“Oh sweetheart, I know. I miss my friends so much too…” I wanted her to know she wasn’t alone. But I also wanted to guide her heart to the One who comforts us. ”

Please read the rest of Lilly’s great article on how she helped her girls through many transitions from place to place. She has wonderful ideas of ways to smooth the transition and help her daughters feel a part of the process of moving. Velvet Ashes

Are You Tired?

Leave a Comment

It’s May, time to remember to honor mothers.

When I read this very familiar scripture, I was thinking of moms.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” –Matt. 11:28-30.

Is there any mom with a baby or children who is not tired and burdened? I haven’t met her! So, if you are tired and burdened, there is good news for you.

God knows what you are dealing with right now. He knows the day and night challenges of parenting. He knows you get frustrated with the constant demands. He knows that you worry about whether you are doing the right things for your child.

[Read more…]

Stroll with Me

Leave a Comment

Like many of you, I have seasons in my life when one portion of Scripture seems to come to mind almost daily. I’ve been living in Psalm 16 for the last few months. As familiar as it is (like fried rice to someone living in Asia), it is feeding my soul. Here it is:

A psalm of David.

Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge. (1)

I said to the LORD, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.” (2)

The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them! (3)

Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods. I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood or even speak the names of their gods. (4)

LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.(5)

The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance! (6)

I will bless the LORD who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. (7)

I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. (8)

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. (9)

For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. (10)

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. (11)

Psalm 16 – New Living Translation

Take a little walk with me through some of the verses in this psalm. As we do I’ll share some thoughts about why these words of David can nourish the heart of women like you and me. Why not take some moments to think about what it means to you, too? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. [Read more…]

Treasures and Trash

2 Comments

It’s January, the month of new beginnings. It’s a good time to sort out our treasures and trash. We do it at Christmas, when we carefully pick through the discarded wrapping paper to make sure no treasure is thrown away with the trash. We do it again as we put away our Christmas decorations. Some of the old decorations have become too soiled, some ornaments got broken, and some of the strings of lights became strings of darks. We throw out the trash, but we carefully store the treasures.

It is also a good time to look at our lives. What are the treasures from this last year? Often, they are the moments and experiences made valuable by the grace of God at work in our lives and others. And the trash? That’s those moments, words, or thoughts we recall with embarrassment, disappointment, and sometimes guilt.

It can be hard to tell the difference between trash and treasure. Our minds can play tricks on us. My husband keeps a kind of mental tally of meetings he has conducted: good ones in the plus column, and those he perceived as failures in the minus column. But occasionally someone talks to him, years after a meeting, telling him how much it helped. What he thought was trash, was really treasure.

Even so, most of the time we have a pretty good idea about what to keep and what to toss. So, let’s think about that in a few different parts of life.

Our actions

Many people make resolutions about what they will do, or not do in the coming year. We prayerfully considered the changes we wanted to see in 2017. And we started well. But life got crazy, the urgent clamored for our attention, and we started slipping back into the old patterns.

Take, for example, social media. We determined to silence our phones- to stop being victims of the buzz, the ring, the chirp.

Generally, we know when messages need immediate attention. The trick is being able to curb the impulse to interrupt everything, even very important conversations, to answer the ones that should wait.

Let’s renew our commitment to free our lives of digital bondage and garbage. Let’s create media free times of the day. Let’s not get caught in Facebook when there are real faces that need our attention. At first it may cause some anxiety. “Maybe I’ll miss something!” “She doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” If necessary, inform those around you that you won’t answer your messages right away, but you promise to write back later. Attentiveness is a treasure. Obsession is trash. [Read more…]