Over at CJ’s blog you can now meet his new and talented assistant, Tony Reinke. We want to introduce you to his lovely wife, Karalee. Or, I should say, reintroduce you. Girltalk readers met Karalee once before. But that’s another story.
The part of Karalee’s story we want to tell you today is one marked by trust in God and a humble eagerness to follow her husband on a most unusual path. Several years ago, Tony and Karalee (with two small children) left their home and family in Nebraska to join Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They uprooted and moved because of a conviction about the importance of the local church and a belief that God had called them to serve in this particular church. When Tony’s gifts caught the attention of Pastor Rick Gamache and Sovereign Grace Ministries Leadership Team member, Steve Shank, it led to him being asked to come on as CJ’s assistant. And once again Karalee packed up house and family (including an additional child!) and joyfully followed her husband to Gaithersburg, MD. A long way from Nebraska.
Like Sarah in the Bible, Karalee had no idea when she left her home of the twists and turns her journey would take. But she has displayed the same trust in God as that faith-hall-of-fame inductee. She has willingly laid aside her own desires and utilized her gifts (of which she has many) in order to support God’s plan for her husband’s life. She has proved herself to be what Murray J. Harris calls “Christ's movable property...totally available for the Master's use (2 Tim. 2:21)."
Karalee, I am personally grateful to you for making it possible for your husband to so effectively serve mine. You both are a gift to our family, to Sovereign Grace Ministries, and the body of Christ. May you know God’s pleasure and our gratitude!
“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.” I Peter 3:3-6
