Jeff Gerke, A Man Who Loves His Wife

My guest today is Jeff Gerke, author, editor, publisher, and man who loves his wife. Here's Jeff:

"My wife has been my biggest support through all the crazy things I've done during our marriage. She worked full-time as a teacher so I could go to seminary full-time and graduate more quickly. Then when I announced I thought God was leading me not into ministry but to write fiction, she was my first fan.

When I moved her hither and yon across the country--we've now lived in all four time zones in the Continental U.S.--she was there beside me. She was there when I lost the occasional job and when my novels failed to achieve sales success.

And when I launched my own small Christian publishing company, she was not only cheering me on but helping me do it. She took more of the load of raising our children when I was writing my fiction craft book for Writers Digest.

At every step of our journey, she has been my strongest supporter. And all of this is without mentioning the 26 hours of labor she went through to deliver our first child. Or the grief we went through when we suffered a miscarriage. Or the shock we endured upon learning that our son was autistic.

She has suffered physically, as well. She endured a painful injection in her knee so she could walk the Great Wall of China--and the steps of Zhengzhou--to adopt our little girl in 2009. She's got near-herniated discs in her neck and cysts on her thyroid. She's lost both her parents to cancer and has had to move away from all her family and old friends.

And yet she still gets up every morning and fights the good fight. She cares for our toddler and does homework with our son and attends our oldest daughter's marching band competitions in the cold and rain. She cooks, cleans, shops--loves, cares, and perseveres.

She's a strong woman, a heroine in her own right, and I don't know where I'd be without her."--Jeff Gerke

Jeff has also just had his first book by Writers Digest published

Author Thom Lemmons Pays Tribute to His Wife

My guest today is Thom Lemmons, a Christy Award winning author, has taken this opportunity to pay tribute to his wife's creativitiy and excellence in her medium-human lives, futures. Here's Thom:

"My wife thinks she isn't creative; I do my best to convince her that nothing could be farther from the truth.

She has read my books (bless her!) and even likes some of them (bless her even more!). But as a result of observing my literary and other efforts, she sometimes compares herself unfavorably, lamenting her own lack of creativity.

But my wife is an artist of dynamic impact, even though she sometimes doesn't recognize it. Her medium? Human lives. Her format? Teaching. Karla is a professional educator, and she creates masterpieces every single day.

In fact, I tell Karla that she is the Michaelangelo of teaching.

You don't even have to take my word for it. Back in the late 1980s, when she started her teaching career in a tough inner-city school in San Antonio, Karla received the Outstanding New Teacher award for her school system. A couple of years later, when she moved to a school system in a smaller community, she repeated her achievement, winning the Outstanding New Teacher award.

Karla moved on to higher education, where she now inspires college kids to go out and become the type of teacher she was when she was in public schools. Her passion and commitment comes through loud and clear; I can't even count the number of letters and emails Karla has gotten from her students who have gone into classrooms of their own and got back in touch to tell her how much she impacted their desire to teach and their child-centered philosophy of education.

Just a couple of days ago, Karla was notified by the college of education at the university where she now teaches that she was selected by her students as a recipient of the college's Excellence in Teaching award. I'm so proud of her I could burst. And I'm not surprised. As I said, she's a master... a genius... a Michaelangelo.--Thom

Thom, thanks for letting us share this tribute to your wife. I also want to feature your latest book:

--Thom Lemmons is the author of Blameless (2007, WaterBrook), a contemporary retelling of the biblical story of Job.

To learn more about Thom, visit his website.

Author & Medical Missionary Harry Kraus Thanks His Wife

My guest today is the best-selling author of The Six-Liter Club, a man of many talents and one who knows how fortunate he is. Here's Author Harry Kraus about his wife:

"Sisters, imagine your response if your husband came home one day and said, “Let’s move to Africa.”

Would you be scared? Angry at your husband?

Angry at God?

Perhaps my wife was a little of all three, but she prayerfully considered my enthusiasm and then helped sell the dream house (twelve acres on a hilltop in the country), pack up our three sons and moved to Kenya.

I was asked on a TV interview today, as I often am, “How do you do it all? Novelist, surgeon, father, husband, missionary…what gives?”

My answer is always the same: grace. And for me God’s grace has a name: Kris.

I am the visionary, always wanting to rocket off on some new project. My wife has seen many variations of this theme. During my surgical residency, I said, “I want to write a novel.” Later, after years in private practice, I sprang the above news on her: “I think we should serve in Africa.”

But rockets get no where without planning. I may be the rocket, but Kris has her feet planted on terra firma. She is the detail gal, counting the cost, paying the bills, figuring out the ins and outs of mechanics and logistics while I am playing with imaginary characters and reaching out across continents with a hope to bring God’s love to the sick.

My wife has learned flexibility and adaptability. She has laid aside her dreams for her children’s and mine (after being in Kenya for a few months all three of our boys agreed, “We don’t want to go home.”) She agreed, ditched her own ideas for the future and stayed in Africa, filling in, teaching, mothering other boarding students at Rift Valley Academy who needed a little (or a lot!) of extra help.

Now, while we are home from Africa and I am running around promoting my latest novel, The Six-Liter Club (which, by the way is another story of a very brave woman…wonder how I get my inspiration, huh?), she has taken another brave move and started back to school. Approaching fifty, she is old enough to have given birth to many of her fellow students. But she uses her experience to her advantage. She is focused, studies hard, and her grades reflect her diligence and maturity.

Next summer, we will pack up again and return to Africa, yet another transition that will test my wife’s metal.

Do I doubt she can thrive in spite of the change? Not for a minute.

She is my brave woman. Thanks for giving me a chance to tell you about her.

She is a channel of GRACE to me."--Harry Kraus, MD www.harrykraus.com

Author bio: Board-certified general surgeon and best-selling author, Harry Krau laces his fiction with medical realism. He began writing as a surgery resident and has authored twelve novels and three works of non-fiction. His book, "The Six-Liter Club" was just released by Simon and Schuster in April and his next non-fiction release "Domesticated Jesus" is happening next month. He and his family have served as missionaries in Kenya for four years. They are currently on furlough in Virginia.

Thanks, Harry. So happy you have a great wife and know it.