Tale Of Two Families...Maybe Three.

Don't you just love your teen years?  Tons of great memories w/ some awesome friends...tons of drama too.

Like most Youth Pastors, mine when I 16, was relatively newly married, and hadn't started his own family yet...but helping, directing, teaching, mentoring and leading young people.  What a daunting task!!

Fast forward to 2015, and our Youth Pastor added to his young family...he and his wife bringing #5 into the world, just a few days ago. He joked about naming the baby "Omega", symbolizing that they were done. Our Senior Pastor joked about selling the family one of the church's 15-passenger vans!!  (maybe their not so done...ha ha)

At any rate, Youth Pastors hold a special place in ministry, as do Children Pastors; for it is always difficult to balance church responsibilities w/ family responsibilities and so often, the family gets jolted too quickly in the wrong direction. But to manage your own children, then a couple times a week, plus any one-on-one interaction that goes in, add all the church kids into the mix...plus whatever friends they invite to a service or event???  If that weren't enough, our church's Youth Pastor also happens to coach basketball for a local charter school in our community.  By comparison, handling my two kids should feel like an afternoon nap!

Pray for a "double-anointing" on Pastors whose ministry emphasis is on college/youth/kids groups. Pray God grant them wisdom and strength in managing and raising their personal families, while effectively providing spiritual guidance, teaching & mentor-ship to church families. Pray a special touch on their marriage,s as they handle conflict, disciplinary and household responsibilities, not to mention the scheduling issues that probably arise more than one would want to know, or pastors to admit. Pray for a redeeming of time, that neither their kids at home, nor kids at church would feel abandoned or neglected b/c of the delicate balance in trying to be a Godly Parent as well as an effective Pastor...

Even as I'm typing this out, just thinking about the challenges feels overwhelming...and this isn't my life.

Lord, help them overcome!!

-PNC

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