I’ve been thinking about some of the fun things that I get to do as a pastor. Not everything that a pastor does is fun. Along with countless other vocations, pastoral ministry is challenging and there are things about it that are difficult. So, I thought for the next few days I’d highlight a few things that have noticed about my recent experience of being a pastor that are thoroughly enjoyable.
#5- Encouraging Parents
The obvious: parenting is challenging. I feel that being a parent has the potential to bring out the best and the worst in someone, sometimes in the same 24 hour period. Parents have the potential to carry a lot of condemnation about their parenting. It feels like culture takes a routine opportunity to suggest that many ills in our world are from poor parenting. That may be the case. But, hearing that over and over again takes its toll on the human heart. Parents are acutely aware of times that they have stumbled as a parent; those memories do not fade very easily.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a voice, an other perspective “pick up” these dear ones in our communities?
A Spoken Word artist Listener wrote a song called “Wooden Heart” with the opening line, “We’re all born to broken people on their most honest day of livin’.”
Being a parent has the potential to be a great “eye-opener” to what is important. People who are not parents have similar experiences without kids. But, I imagine under the relatively “normal” circumstances, when a parent welcomes a child into the world, it is indeed a “proud and honest moment.”
Imagine how that proud and honest moment could turn into a constant reminder of struggle, pain, mistakes made, and loss.
Yeah, our parents need to be picked up. They need to have someone grab both of their shoulders and look deep into their souls and confess, “You’re doing a great job. Keep it up.” Much like a coach who wraps his/her arm around a player that has just missed an opportunity in the game, parents need someone to remind them that the game is not over yet, to brush off the dust, to join the huddle, to get back in and to enjoy themselves as they keep playing the game.
Parents, you are doing an awesome job. May God’s grace envelope and comfort you. May you feel the empower presence of Christ as you lead in your homes.
Joe Skillen 