Not a bad gig

Father David thinks it's good to be a pastor. I pray always that my husband does too, because this would sure be a drag if he didn't. But I'm glad Father David brought it up, because it gives me an excuse to say something that I think is also worth saying: it's good to be a pastor's wife. We all know there are challenges, and they've been cried about enough that I don't feel any need to rehash them here. Here's the other side:

--I don't have to beg my husband to go to church with me. He sees to it that I am well-cared for spiritually. He models sanctity for me and our children. He cares deeply about and invests himself heavily in the spiritual welfare of our children.

--Church is close and familiar to us. We feel at home there. We spend time around other pastors, so our kids feel comfortable around them.

--He gets it about vocation, including mine.

--He sees a lot of messed up families and knows better than most people how not worth it it is to mess up your family.

--I don't have to feel bad about pestering Pastor all the time with my moral dilemmas and theological confusion (no one should feel bad about that, but I would). He's great at fielding questions from the babies, too.

--We never have to travel on holidays.

--I never have to worry that he'll go out dressed like a goober.

--His schedule has more built-in flexibility than another job would. He can often be home during the day, which means I don't have to try to find a babysitter when somebody has a doctor's appointment.

--People do nice things for us. Food shows up on our porch in bewildering quantities.

--He knows all the hospitals really well so we know which ones not to have a baby at.

--He doesn't have to travel much, and when he does, we often get to come along.

--I know this isn't the case everywhere, but it is for me so I'll include it: the local specimen happens to be a real looker. Lucky me! (Oh, and he preaches ok too.)

--And a lot of other things I can't think of now that I'm trying to.