Hard Things

When I went into ministry, I knew there would be hard things, like speaking truth to power or accompanying people through their pain. Day to day though there are some lesser obstacles that still trip me up.

I remember standing in a friend's back yard watching a slide show on the side of her neighbor's house at a rockin party late one Saturday night talking with a buddy from seminary.

He: Did you ever realize that ministers don't get to chose where they want to live? We are going to have to move every few years our whole lives?

Me: Did you ever think that once we get ordained we give up Saturday nights?

I half hoped that once we got settled in our first churches these things would kind of make sense. Truth is, these really are two of the hard things about life in the ministry. Now don't get me wrong, there are many amazing things about ministry, but hard thing number 3 is:

If you serve a west-coast congregation you will never see the early football game. This is especially hard if you are the fan of an East coast team, because they ALWAYS play at 10:30. Really, the best you can hope for is to make it home before the end of the 1st quarter of the afternoon game. Tape the game for later? Not if you have other football fans in your home. One look at their faces and you KNOW what happened in your team's game.

This was my hardest minister/football fan moment: when the Eagles were in the 2005 Championship game against Atlanta, and I was in the pulpit. My sweet mom crocheted me an Eagles stole and fedexed it to me. (I love my mom. Sometimes moms KNOW.) I proudly delivered my sermon draped in my green and white and bolted home after a few polite goodbyes and managed to catch last moments of the Eagle's Victory.

It could be worse- our church sexton (die hard Giants fan- I like him anyway) never gets off on Sundays until after 4:00. I should count my blessings.