Pastor Appreciation Month

Have you ever realized there is a national holiday or a national month for almost anything?

National Calzone Day - Why have I never celebrated this??
Nation Deviled Egg Day
Nation Men Make Dinner Day - Thankfully this is observed every day in my household. Shout out to my                                                        master chef husband!
National Save Your Photos Month - Anyone else have serious anxiety when transferring pictures                                                                   from your phone to the computer?

The list could go on. And trust me, there are some really strange ones out there.

Our family doesn't really celebrate any obscure national holidays, but last week, someone told me that October is Pastor Appreciation month.

I've never heard of such a thing! Which is funny because, in my family, my father, my grandma, my uncle, and my brother are all pastors.
So when a friend told me October was Pastor Appreciation Month, I laughed a little bit.

I know there are stereotypes of what a Pastor's life is like:
They are constantly reading or studying the bible. As in, the open Bible is the center of their desk at all times, and they spend all their time in coffee shops prepping the perfect sermon. Pastors don't have set hours so they must not be very busy and they probably just hang out during the week (in coffee shops) and then bring their A-game on Sunday mornings. Go to work once a week? Who wouldn't want that job?!

Except that isn't what it's like. At least not for the one I'm married to.

He wakes up at 6am.
Exercises to get his blood flowing and then takes a cold shower.
He meditates and writes in a journal to his wife because that's one way he can show her love in the midst of his work.
He then responds to emails. I'm not talking one or two...if his inbox was an actual mailbox, it would be bursting through the seams.
He leaves for the day at 9:00am for his first round of meetings for the day. It could be with a mentor or a fellow Pastor or it could be with a newly divorced woman who now finds herself a single mom. It could even be with a student who is struggling with drugs. The options are endless.
It's afternoon now, which means he is off to the High School. A student body that has experienced more loss in a single years time than most people experience in a lifetime. Those kids trust and look up to him and look forward to his presence because he is a glimpse of hope. He shows them death and tragedy don't have the final say.
He comes home, probably forgets to each lunch and brainstorms how he is going to improve the life of his community. He prepares, memorizes, and storyboards his sermon. And prepares sermons for months to come because sometimes, there aren't enough hours in the week.
And then he visits people. Hospitals, homes, rehab centers, prisons. It varies on a day to day basis.
He drives home, probably listens to a podcast that furthers his knowledge.
He gets home, puts his things away, wrestles with two little boys who have been asking for him all day and finally, it's dinner time!
He cooks a delicious meal because cooking is his escape.
Sometimes he doesn't get to eat the meal he so graciously cooked because most church business meetings happen in the evening. So he kisses his kids goodbye and tells them he will see them in the morning. Sometimes, they ask, "Why does Papa have so many meetings? Why doesn't he read me bedtime stories anymore?" But they always know how much they are loved by their adored Papa because even when he misses bedtime, he always makes time for them. It's about quality, not quantity, but he still feels the guilt and pressure of his presence not being enough.
His meeting lasts for a good portion of the evening and when the day is finally over, he is done.
He is emotionally, phsycally, intelectually exhuasted.

It puts a strain on relationships, and on his marriage.
But he manages to always make sure his wife knows she is loved and he always tells her how he wouldn't be able to do any of this without her.
Sometimes, a game of dutch blitz is played to wind down for the evening, or sometimes he has a few ends to tie up.

Wedding preparations, funeral planning.

Recently, over the course of one week, he participated in two funerals for two people under the age of twenty-five. Both killed in drunk driving accidents.
Imagine sitting with those families and struggling to find the words to say. And yet, he always seems to find the right words that offer comfort and peace.
He truly knows how to honor a life, no matter how they were taken from this world.

This goes without talking about the extreme loss our community has experienced this last year and how he has entered into that. A broken, shattered, grieving community. And he stands firm in the middle.

A pastor's life is not an easy one. It's taxing and exhausting in more ways than one.
I can't even count how many times he comes home and says, "I think I might need to find a different job."
However, he will only entertain the idea and never carry it out because right now, this is what he has been called to do.

All of this being said, the next time you have dinner with your pastor or his family, ask him how he really is. Ask his wife how she is. You might be surprised at their answers.
Because it isn't about having the Bible open on your desk at all times and it certainly isn't about coffee shop meetings.
It's about bringing the Kindom of God to this place in a real way and entering into the lives of people searching for something more.

It's Pastor Appreciation month.
Take a look at a pastor's world from their perspective. And their families perspective.
They deserve to be celebrated and loved and appreciated.