It looks like it will be a day of light blogging for the most part, though not quite a day away from it altogether. Part of being a husband, dad, teacher, and deacon is that there are plenty of demands. Yesterday kept me busy into the late evening--a confirmation interview with a very nice young lady, planning for a funeral vigil, and having dinner with grandma. I do my lesson planning on the weekend--early Saturday morning works best. I'm going to divulge my secret, so you had better be reading closely: it's good caffeine.
When I was in the discernment process for diaconal ministry there were many people, all of whom I respect, who tried to persuade me that a man with a young family had no business going into ordained ministry. They were quite serious about it, but I didn't get it. I was a convert, and all the ordained ministers I had ever known were married with a house full of kids. Where were these folks coming from? Add to it the fact that I had been trained a Protestant seminary and no one there had ever said "don't have kids or a family life if you want to be a successful minister."
I'm proud to say that here in my seventh year of ordination I have never felt so much of a bind as to wish that I had chosen otherwise, nor have I made my family say "hey, what about us?" Unlike the secret to superhuman energy, which comes in a red can, the secret to being a married minister, a deacon, with a family is that I know when to say "Blogging Lite."
Have fun with the posts that are currently up, and look for fresh content this evening and weekend. One other FYI--TypePad is going offline for routine maintenance tonight for a couple hours starting at 9:00 PST their time, or 05:00 UTC January 13, so during that time you will not be able to access DDW.
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