Twice recently, I've had the pleasure of attending a party for some of my friends. My father is a pastor, and so lots of people that I know are in full time Christian service. In August, and then today, I was invited to attend a pastor friends anniversary party at his church. Last month, my friend Kerry who pastors at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Plant City (his wife Laquita is my very best friend) celebrated 10 years at his church, and I just got back from my friend Tommy's church, First Thonotosassa Missionary Baptist Church, and his 15th anniversary celebration. I've been thinking about those things a lot lately, and I just can't explain how proud I am of these two guys.
Being a pastor is hard work, if you do it right. If anybody ever says pastoring is easy, they are either fibbing or they aren't doing it properly. I grew up in a pastor's home, so I have some perspective that most people probably don't. Basically, a pastor is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's not just two hours on Sunday, and an hour on Wednesday night. To be in the same church for that length of time, is pretty impressive. No church is perfect, and no pastor is perfect, but when it's the right match, it's a great thing.
It seems like so many things in our life are disposable. If we don't like it, if it breaks, just throw it away and get a new one. People leave jobs because they don't like their boss, they leave a marriage because it gets difficult, we quit when the going gets tough. I can't imagine how many time in the 25 total years Kerry and Tommy have been at their churches, how many times they wanted to throw in the towel and walk away. But they didn't. I don't know what it is that makes some people just stick it out, and some people quit and go on.
I told Tommy's church tonight, and I wish I could tell Kerry's church, how much it means to me to see their churches love and honor my friends. It's a wonderful thing to know that my friends, who give so much of themselves to their church members, are loved and respected by those same church members. I'm so glad that the people at Lone Oak and Thonotosassa love my friends, and recognize the commitment that these men had made.
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| Kerry and Tommy |
