10 Years of Ministry...The Hardest Thing About Being In the Ministry

Today, my husband and I celebrated ten years of ministry as pastors at Calvary Temple in Cotter, Arkansas.  So much has changed over the last ten years!  When we arrived at this little, rural church, my oldest son was in third grade.  Megan and Aimee were entering kindergarten, and Andrew was starting preschool at the age of three.  This year, that third grader started his first year of college.  My daughters are beautiful young women, and my youngest is a teenager who is taller than me!  Many have asked me what the hardest part of ministry might be.  My answer would be balancing family and ministry.  When you step out into ministry, your children step out also.  They may not sign up for this, but it happens anyway.  You no longer sleep in on a Sunday morning because you have to be the first ones at the church to unlock the doors.  There have been mornings that we had to drag small children out of the house kicking and screaming and half dressed because they didn't want to get up early for church.  This would explain why our youngest has been caught wearing a sweatshirt, shorts, and flip flops in 40 degree weather.  Sometimes, there's not a lot of time for breakfast, so our children had to learn to scavenge through cabinets for stale animal cookies in the nursery.  They were especially happy on Communion Sunday when they could offer to clean the communion cups in exchange for finishing off the left-over grape juice and crackers.  There were long hours at church when we had to counsel people leaving our children to entertain themselves playing hide and seek in the baptistry. There were times when they were starving for lunch but had to wait because we had to lock up the church after everyone left.  There were the holidays they did not get to travel to see their grandparents because we had to perform the holiday services.  Then there were the proud moments when I saw the ministry become their ministry.  These moments when they began to witness to their friends and bring them to church.  Moments when my children would ask me to buy food or clothing for kids in school if they knew they needed them.  A teacher told me that all the kids at school knew that if they needed something, they could go to my children.  This almost made me cry.  I've watched my children grow in compassion and mercy.  So would I say the time we have spent and invested is worth it?  As I watch my children reach out to others, pray for the broken-hearted, and share their faith boldly, I would say, "Absolutely!"  So as a family, we are honored to represent and serve both Christ and our church family in Cotter, Arkansas!  We look forward to many more amazing years!

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!