She knows your servant’s weakest point
And knows his greatest power
She has heard him speak in simple tones
In his greatest triumph hour.

She has heard him groaning in his soul
When bitten raged the strife,

As, hand in his, she knelt with him –
For she’s the elder’s wife.

The church has seen him in his strength,
As he drew his armor’s sword,
As underneath God’s banner folds
He faced the Devils’ horde.

But she knows deep with her heart
That scarce an hour before
She helped him pray for strength from God
Behind a closet door.

You tell your tales of workers brave,
Who over streets have trod,
And changed the lives of people
By the lovely words of God.

And I will tell you back of them
Some women lived their lives;
Who wept with them and smiled with them
They were the elder’s wives.

– Anon

[this poem was at the end of the sermon “What Price Leadership?” preached by beloved Roy D. Baker]