Wednesday's Woman: Marcia Paben Garrett

The first lady of in , Marcia Paben Garrett describes herself as a daughter, wife, mother, business woman and friend. 

"But, what encompasses all of this,” she said, “and puts a big heart around these descriptions is that I’m a child of the King.”

Marcia Garrett is married to Westminster’s senior pastor, Mike Garrett. “Mike helps me to remember that my God does have a sense of humor – I’m a pastor’s wife, a role that I never imagined playing, but a role I can’t imagine not playing."

Noting that she doesn’t feel that she “fits the mold of a pastor’s wife,” Garrett is proud that she and her husband are on their 26th year of ministry. She has accolades for her husband.

“Mike is the most Godly man I know,” she said. “He’s a preacher and a teacher, a loving husband, a phenomenal daddy, and he has a wicked sense of humor.”

She views her husband as a “knight in shining armor,” along with her brother, Will Gurley “who has always been a hero and a champion in my world.”

When Garrett was 11 years old, her parents died tragically, and she was raised by two families.

“I was told by a counselor that I tell my story like a reporter... I realized that I wasn’t taking time to really embrace my own story,” she said. “My story is a midlife story of living and loving and letting go.”

Garrett related that her father murdered her mother and then committed suicide. At the time, she was just a preteen.

“And through that journey of loss and losing everything – self worth, self confidence, and not feeling loved – I came to the Lord and was so fulfilled and met a man who has loved and supported me so completely,” she said.

As she turns 50 this year, Garrett plans to share her life experiences through a blog, called Embracing the Edges. With an ultimate goal of writing a book to tell her story, Garrett also plans to speak to women’s groups.

She explained that “in life, puzzle pieces are given to you – they’re just there – they’re borders, they’re the frame – they can’t be changed. We work and assemble the pieces inside the borders.”

She chose the title word “embrace” because it means to accept, accommodate, and enclose. The antonyms -- disbelief, distress, exclude, reject -- really stuck out to her, she said.

“By not embracing my journey, I’ve lived in fear of not being embraced,” she said.. “It’s time for me to share my story and to begin what I hope will be a wonderful ministry to women."

For the past 12 years, Garrett has worked as a real estate agent and associate broker for Northside Brokers, a family business. She plans to continue “guiding my clients through their real estate journeys, as I look forward to the new journey that God has planned for me."

Garrett views her two children, Tricia and Baxter, as her greatest accomplishments. She said she read recently about someone whose mother “died too young and didn’t leave her with a roadmap,” something that she can relate to.

“My mother was a phenomenal mother and loved children more than anything,” she said. And like her own mom, Garrett said, “I’ve always loved being a mother.”

Her daughter, Tricia, 23, is the person who inspires Garrett. Now in her second year of seminary, her daughter is drawn to issues of juvenile justice and human trafficking.

“She is truly my best friend – we’ve crossed the threshold,” Garrett said. "It astounds me what God is doing in her world."

“She loves me to the core of my soul, she added.

At 19, “Baxter is me,” Garrett said. “He came into this world with a cord wrapped around his neck five times, and he was very blue,” she said, noting that she was also a “blue baby."

From the beginning, she knew God had something special in store for her son.

“Baxter has a heart the size of Texas, and he is such a servant," Garrett said. "He gives of himself so freely and without question, and he plays a mean saxophone. I’m excited to watch what God is going to do in his life and what his journey is going to look like.”

Garrett mentioned that she has another very important member of her family. Her cairn terrier, Murphy, “is my partner in crime,” she said. “He makes me laugh all day long.”

Psalm 30, verse five holds special meaning for Garrett.

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning

“I am so fortunate that truly by the grace of God I have been loved and championed by so many in my life,” she said.