the down side of wanting to be a pastor

so here it is. others will probably disagree, but here goes:
when you are single, and studying to be a pastor, you can't date anyone. you have to not only find a girl you like, who likes you back, and whose personality matches yours, but one who is either called, or ready to be called to ministry just as much as you are. if not more.

this might be a weird intro, but this blog is about how awesome my mom is.

extremely

i could end it there, but i won't
see, my mom was raised by my grandma, who was a single mother. she rose above that. her whole life she told herself she would be better than her circumstance. she wanted to marry a good man, and so she knew she had to be a good woman after God's own heart. when i read proverbs 31 ( the second half) i think of my mom, and then compare other women to that standard. i talk alot about my dad being a pastor, and about how it sucks being his kid sometimes because the life of a PK is lived under a microscope. but really, with a mom like mine, its not too bad. i was talking with my dad yesterday thanking him for doing such a good job raising us and balancing work with home. he was always able to make us feel more important than the church. he said that if it weren't for my mom he would never have been able to do it.

my mom did not get a degree in theology or biblical studies.
my mom did not go to college.
(my mom did get a degree as a registered dental assistant, but thats not the point)

she never uses tha as an excuse. some would say i just pointed out one of my mom's flaws, but thats not a flaw. my mother does not always know how to explain things using Barthian theology or big words like Eschatology, but she has an intuition. and thus she does not rely on her own understanding, but in all her ways acknowledges God. ( side note, i do not agree with alot that i have read of Barth, but he was the first theologian i thought of)
see, my mom has the gift of discernment. God gives her an instinct in a lot of situations that turns out for the best. in some of the toughest times in my life she has known that i needed help without me saying anything. she is always there for me and my siblings, always loving to my dad, and always loving God.

and she's the best cook ever.


to my mom: thank you so much, i love you.
if anyone knows a girl like my mom, tell me, so i can marry that woman. :)