10 Things PKs Wish People Knew
10:05 PM Hello there! Recently, there's been a blog post going around about what Pastors wish people knew about their kids. (http://thomrainer.com/2013/06/05/seven-things-pastors-would-like-church-members-to-know-about-their-children/) So I decided to write about 10 things PKs wish people knew about themselves. Please feel free to comment on or add onto this list!
1) We're not perfect. Pastor's kids are typically held to a higher standard by everybody. It's true that PKs should be well behaved, but as should other people's kids. Plot twist! We're human, too! We make mistakes. We're not purposefully trying to set bad examples, but sometimes, the only way humans can learn is for them to mess up. It's our first shot at life, too.
2) We speak normal English..not King James. We're not spiritual all the time. We know how to talk about things other than the Bible.
3) Yes, we are somewhat sheltered, but that's actually a good thing. If being "sheltered" means not having to look at Miley Cyrus's butt and hearing about the horrible, disgusting things happening, then I will volunteer as tribute.
4) We hear more than you think. I'm just going to leave that at that.
5) We're not party poopers. We like to have fun, too. We don't spend all day every day praying and reading our Bibles. We have lives.
6) We don't like fasting either. Seriously. We do it because it's biblical. It's not meant to be enjoyed.
7) We work for positions. Just because our dads are in charge doesn't mean we get anything we want. I took piano lessons for 9 years before I ever played in a Sunday service. Don't tell me we're handed things.
8) We don't always live comfortably. If a pastor's family has nice things, it's not because we're taking all of the church's money; it's because we saved what bit of money we received and spent it wisely. We have to say no to things, too. We used to live in a dump. We've worked hard to get where we are. I have a job and both of my parents have side jobs to keep us going.
9) Some of us actually enjoy going to church. We're not all ready to turn 18 and backslide, but please don't give us a reason to want to backslide.
10) We give more than you think. The whole glass house thing really is real, but there's even more behind the scenes. When there's not a cleaning crew, we're the cleaning crew. When there's not anybody to go outreach, we go reach people. We visit sick people on a regular basis. We're at weeknight prayer praying for you even when we could've easily just gone home due to the lack of people. We get stuck at the church for countless hours while our parents are in meetings. We love so much and give so much to see you saved and happy. We really do want what's best for you even though sometimes it's hard to show it.
I hope you all understand where I'm coming from. I'm not tryin to portray us as victims at all, because we're not. We just wish you knew a few things about us. Please feel free to add your thoughts!
Love,
Brielle
17 comments
Wow girl! That gave me goosebumps. obviously I'm not a PK but I've lived in the house of a pastor before and everything you stated above is beyond truth. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for your dedication. Pray this girl can find her way back to where God had her.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your support! I will absolutely continue to pray for you! Love you, sweet girl!
DeleteGood job! Very true, concise and tongue-in-cheek. Good job, mom & dad!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWell said. Too add to your comments about not being spiritual all the time... We don't get extra blessings (in a spiritual sense) for being PKs. I have met people who assumed being a PK meant I got to get drunk on the Holy Ghost all the time and have all sorts of deeply spiritual experiences. To start...I grew up in home missions...planting a church is a battle ground that doesn't lend itself to frequent "mountaintop experiences." Second, there are services that I stop and forget everyone and everything but Jesus, but they are rare. I'm usually splitting my attention with music, working the altar, or holding someone's kid so they can pray. No complaints - it's a great life...but the Pastor's home doesn't come with an extra touch of God's presence - we get blessings the same way and on the same level everyone else does.
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right! I couldn't agree more! Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts!
DeleteWonderful. I am the mom of a PK. And I think one of the hardest things for my son to understand is why does so and so think they can correct me? I'm not their son. You can add that as #11 if you want to. And I just want to say to you- thank you for being first a great christian, second a great daughter and 3rd a great servant to your church. Nothing ever goes unnoticed by God.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand. It can be frustrating at times being under constant, and sometimes harsh, scrutiny by pretty much everyone, but sometimes the reason they try to find faults in us is because they're not living the life they know they ought to and are trying to justify their wrongness, or sometimes they feel like we're being a bad example to the kids that they'd rather peer pressure into doing right than to teach and discipline. It's terrible and not fair at all, but unfortunately it happens. I know that helps me to put things like that into perspective.
DeleteThank you so much for those words of encouragement! They really mean a lot!
I am a Pk and I agree. The work part is for real. I am where I am today because I have worn every hat imaginable and qualify to do the work I am chosen for. I am where I am today because I put God first and he blessed me for it. If anyone held me to a higher standard, it was my father, and that was only because he expected me to apply the word of God to my life and live it when people of the church wouldn't. Very insightful and so very true.
ReplyDeleteThank you! You're right, sometimes the highest standards can be held by your own parents because they know that they've taught you right and what you're capable of better than anyone else, which in reality, is a sign of good parenting. Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts! I really appreciate it!
DeleteI am a mom of two adult PK's and an in agreement with you on every point. My husband took a church over 8 years ago when our boys were in 5th & 8th grade. The move was very hard on our oldest and he really struggled for about 3 years. Didn't want anything to do with church. We made him continue though. We didn't overreact and loved him through it. The great thing is that our church family couldn't have handled it better. They used the right about of love and encouragement and patience. Here ended up coming back stronger than ever, going to bible college, is a youth pastor and is getting married to a beautiful godly woman that I introduced him to and that we all had a part of winning to the Lord. I am thankful to our church family and to godly, committed, wise PK's like yourself out there that are not ashamed of who they are. My youngest is boldly living for God also like you...Thank you Jesus.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is such an awesome testimony! Thank you for sharing!
Delete#11 We're under attack.The devil knows that if he can weaken the Pastor's family he can weaken the church. You don't see it on our faces, our hear it from our lips (even if we have a close friendship) because somethings don't need to be heard or seen from man, God hears and sees them. So we stay silent and have faith in him.
ReplyDeleteVERY TRUE. Thank you for sharing!
DeleteSo very true! thank you sharing this! (savedpk)
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
DeleteWhat you are now discovering (and articulating), I discovered many years ago. And those before me discovered it in their own time. Over time, some things change drastically, other things remain the same. This is, no doubt, one of those things that will never change :-)
ReplyDeleteGL