h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As a child now old enough to walk into a bar, I don't feel quite as nervous about my father's position as a minister. Partly because he's not actually worked behind a pulpit for about three years now, but mostly because I can live and worship wherever I want. The fact that both of us just *happen* to enjoy the same church is a lucky accident that helps to save gas money. (The fact that it's the only church in the area to have coffee tables instead of pews or rows of chairs is a large part of this.)

Another family at our church is also a minister family, with the father between churches. We were all a bit sad this morning, as the father had found a job at a church in a different city. We'd known this was coming, so we were prepared for the good-byes. They were good friends of ours.

This evening, however, we learned that the church inexplicably turned decided to not hire the father of this family.

Speaking as a PK myself, I really, really feel for the kids here. Even if I wasn't such good friends with them, it'd hurt a little. When you're a PK, you're always subject to the whims of a large, potentially machiavellian group of people. (My own father, for instance, once lost his job because 8 people thought he was aiming the sermon directly at them. While their claim represented a mathematical impossibility, it was still sufficient to cause the end of my dad's ministry at that church.)

I have to say, though, what this family is going through is worse than anything that I ever had to sit through. I'd been pulled across the country when my dad had a good job waiting for him, yeah. I've had to deal with my fair share of dissapointments due to scheduling problems involving various preaching gigs. I've even been cornered into being an amateur puppetteer (long story.)

But this...man. After you say your final goodbyes at church, get packed up, and start heading out the door...that is NOT The time for the other-church-far-away to decide not to hire someone.

That type of family almost never has financial security, because ministers get lousy paychecks most of the time. And freelancing ministry isn't ever a good long-term option because it'd depend on there always being a vacationing minister nearby for you to fill the shoes of.

My only comfort is that whenever something along these lines happened to my family, it always turned out well. Being uprooted from Louisiana to move back to Indiana just after I'd gotten comfortable down there? Annoying, yes. But I made some of the best friends of my life up here AND my mother was in the perfect geographical position to get the best possible cancer treatment. And my father being fired over that previously mentioned sermon? It let us get in on the ground floor of the most amazing, friendly, and welcoming church family that I'd ever been a part of.

So whether my own good fortune was pure luck or God's grace or some combination of the two, it's impossible to know. But I do hope and pray that this family has the same stable fortune that I've had.

Here's to the PKs of the world. May our parent's bosses be kind, may our new school systems be tolerable, and may the new parsonage have working utilities. Amen.

See you at the pole.

-Affy

See you at the pole?

Arrrr, ye thinkin of sailing to the top of the world? Or the bottom? I knows the way if ye be needin a ride.

An ye got that right, about things turnin out all right in the end. All it takes is the right attitude and ye can find blessings in any misfortune. Yer life's course may see many a shoal or gale, but right till the end, ye always end up with yerself and a hogshead of experiences and a new ocean full of possibilities ahead of ye.

My heartiest wishes of good fortune to yer friends.

That is quite an ordeal for your friends. Things like that shouldn't happen to good people. I'll keep them in my prayers.

Well, good news. The day after the family's dad was told that he couldn't preach at the place that he was basically guaranteed a spot at, his wife gets a full-time teaching job.

Coincidence? Perhaps.

Arrr, is the teaching job in yer town, or is it in that town-far-away? T'would be a breath o' wind in the doldrums if they didn't have to ship out.

I'm glad they got some good news.

The teaching job is nearby, so the family will still be going to our church. Which I count as good news.

Absolutely. As someone who has moved around a fair bit over the years, I know how hard it is to leave good friends. And no matter how good your intentions are about staying in touch, after a time it just doesn't happen. The Internet does make things easier, but it isn't the same as being able to sit down in person for a good old natter.