I have been thinking about how to share a little highlight of the recent days of my life on social media as many of us do. I wanted to celebrate and share the uniqueness of them all. The question was how or in what manner. I could do a ministry post. I could do a family post. I could do a holiday with the extended family post. I could do a post of a moment with friends and my mentor. But the more I thought of it the more I realized it was one post. Which led me to this writing.
Most people have lives that are marked by what box they are in at the moment. Maybe it is work or family or recreation. Sure all our lines get blurred but to those in ministry sometimes you look and see that the lines are not just blurred but gone. Most of my life and my family’s life is not boxes but one big bowl of minister’s soup.
Like all things, there are pros and cons to the way our life is and what it is on a day-to-day basis. For me, most of the time, minister’s soup fits me and I feel pretty rewarded when I can get a good sampling of it.
Since going full time in ministry we have been at least 3 hours away from our family and currently, we are closer to 6 from mine and about 4 from my wife’s. That amount of time means you do not drop in on a random Saturday and have lunch and drive home, especially with four kids. Rather to celebrate a holiday or a birthday it becomes a trip. Trips and days away are hard to do when your family’s (both immediate and extended) weekend is in the middle of your most important pastoral day (Sunday). So taking off these days are hard and far and few between. So, trips or getaways usually are more a bowl of minister’s soup than a simply divided amount of space.
Case in point, the last week. For some time we had been looking for a time to go visit my parents and brother who live roughly six hours away. With the kids free on Memorial Day we thought about just leaving on Sunday after church and getting their late Sunday night to visit them all on Monday. We also had been trying to find a time to visit a dear ministry friend and visit their church. As well, if we were going to be 30 minutes away from one of our favorite areas and former home (the Smokies) we would like to make use of the trip for a little family time and family recreation.
So we left as soon as our oldest daughter got off work on Saturday and headed for East Tennessee. In planning our little getaway we had notified my pastor friend that we planned to visit her church. She had already let me know that she would be asking me to preach when we came. It was amazing how the Lord worked that service and the fresh anointing to be within their stream of God’s calling. Following service, we visited with the pastor and another dear ministry friend who was in attendance that morning. We had the opportunity to share stories and just be with friends.
Following all that I was able to spend a little one on one time with my brother who has grown into a great man and has become a closer friend than ever in recent years. My kids and his kids got to play together for a little while as well along with our wives keeping the circus at bay while we were out. Monday came with a full day of Memorial Day fun with the family. It was traditional and exactly what my kids and myself wanted (and probably needed.) From my dad smoking some BBQ to mom’s special pie and all the fun that followed. We ended the day by going on to our campsite for a quickfire before bed.
Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with us doing some quick fun as a family. We stayed simple by enjoying breakfast outside (and other meals I guess), swimming in the pool, and enjoying our Dollywood season passes for the second time in a year (not sure it makes sense if that is all we use them).
We completed our ‘quick’ trip by driving home, dealing with phone calls and text, and all that comes with a mobile world now. We were able to have a brief visit and lunch with my mentor and his wife. They are in our church structure over me in some respects but I am more grateful for their friendship and support in every area of life.
As I finished the last leg of our trip I thought of what I could say about this trip. I could post the personal family time or the ministry time or the work side, but the more I thought of it the more I realized it is was not a divided time but one big bowl of soup – where everything is thrown together. To some, they would not like it but to me, it was seasoned just right. So was it time off- I guess— was it work and ministry time- sure. But mostly it was Minister’s Soup.
