Clergy Appreciation Month 4: There is, of course, just one clergy who lived with me for 35 years, gave birth to our two children, and was partner with me in raising them. Lynette was able to sit for an interview with Joe Reiff in the summer of 2017, while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. Her story, with her perspective on it, will be told in Joe’s upcoming book. From my perspective, she experienced all the “hard things” she anticipated about being a clergywoman in Mississippi. She would share her hurt and anger with me, and a few others. What she didn’t do was turn that hurt and anger into hatred or harm to those who were its source. She loved the people to whom she was appointed, even when they didn’t love her back. In her last month, I was amazed at the number of people from past appointments who stepped up to care for her and express the love they didn’t always show when she was their pastor. I may not be as forgiving on her behalf as she was, but she certainly continues to challenge me.