Interview With My Daughter, Part 2

So, I was at a conference in Atlanta for work and at one of the main sessions, they interviewed the children of well-known ministers about how their parents fulfilled their roles as parents...

...so, I stole the idea from them, recorded the questions and asked my oldest daughter (the youngest declined, wisely, because she still lives in this house & goes to that church) to respond to them. She did, and I'll ask the questions and have one entry every day this week.

Question 2: What role did the church community play in your spiritual growth?

"As a pastor's kid, your parents can only have so much influence on your spiritual growth. For most kids in the church, they have parents and a youth pastor and adults in the church. But as pastor's kids, it is the other people in the church that raise us and teach us and show us. Your parents are still your parents, and on top of that, the person reminding you, admonishing you, and teaching you, is also your parent. I, as a result, managed to barely learn anything from my parents. Which is a shame since they are so great.

For me, it was the people in the church who loved me and loved my parents who really helped me grow. Having women who will pour into you even if you aren't their kid, or even in their bible study, will show you the love of God better than anything else.

There is an old saying that says "it takes a village to raise a child." Nothing is more true for pastors kids. I was raised by Brent and Tracy McKinney. True. I was raised by The Riskeys, and the Hayes' and the Davises and Shuffeilds, and the Egberts and the Stevensons, and the Semmelbecks, and the Messerlis and the Gelnetts and the Lees and those are just the ones I could think of in 10 seconds. I was raised by a village of people who loved my parents and loved me. They showed Christ's love.

The reverse, and much harder, side of this truth though is not very pretty. I lost a lot of those families around my sophomore year of high school and that was the greatest time of spiritual apathy I have experienced thus far in my life. When I lost my secondary parents, and all I had were my real parents, I had no one discipling me and I became apathetic. It's dangerous putting your child in the hands of a village, but for me at least, I am so grateful my parents did.

4 more entries to come!