I found this plague in a store on our last vacation and it just
made me laugh out loud. Oh how this took
me back to my childhood. Since I am a PK
(a.k.a. preacher’s kid), I grew up in somewhat of a fishbowl. It seemed like people were always watching us
to make sure that we behaved like preacher’s kids ought to behave. In other words…we were to make sure we were
always a nice, normal family.
Of course, everyone’s definition of “normal” is different so what
is normal to one family, may not be normal to someone else’s family. And when your father is the minister, the
word “perfect” is often substituted for the word normal. So it was expected that our family would
always get along…never have any disagreements…and would spend hours holding
hands and singing Kum Ba Yah.
I will never forget the time my parents were painting a room in
our home. The doorbell rang, my dad
answered it and a member of our congregation stood there with his mouth hanging
open. He couldn’t believe that my dad
didn’t have a shirt and tie on. I guess
he thought that ministers have a suit specifically for painting.
I also remember going to school one day upset because I had had
an argument with my parents that morning.
A friend of mine was mortified.
She said, “I didn’t think your family ever argued since your dad is a
minister”. I tried to explain to her
that we were a normal family whose dad just happened to be a pastor, but I
don’t think she ever understood.
I know there were people who wished they were in our family
because they thought our normal was perfect…when in fact…there were times I
wished I was in other families because their normal looked perfect to me! Please don’t get me wrong. There were many positives of being a PK and I
wouldn’t trade my family for anything.
But my point is that we often dwell on how much better we think our life
would be if we were just like someone else…when they just might be wishing they
were like us.
As the familiar expression goes, “The grass is always greener on
the other side”; the truth is that the grass still needs to be mowed there
also. For many of us, if we spent as
much time trying to improve the relationships with our own family, as we spend wishing
we were living or working someplace else, we just might have a happier,
healthier existence.
This truth is applicable to our marriages, our families and even
our jobs. So much time and energy is
wasted away while we “wish” our circumstances were different, that we often
don’t have anything left for the journey on which we find ourselves. God has us where He wants us and with whom He
wants us for a reason and it just might be to mold us and shape us to look more
like Him. But if we are always gritting
our teeth where we are planted…we probably will end up with a very sore jaw and
no chance of reflecting His image.
Maybe today we should thank the Lord for where we are right
now…praising Him even if our current circumstances aren’t what we think are
normal and far from perfect. Who knows…maybe
His plans will be even better than we could ever imagine and we would have
missed out on His blessings if we had been some place else. I’m willing to give it a try…are you?
“The Lord directs the
steps of the godly.
He delights in every
detail of their lives.”
Psalm 37:23
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