Handling life as a PK!

First, let me say that as a pastor, I have 4 children of my own. Two are teens and the other two are preteens. I understand the issues they have to deal with as PKs and I can appreciate what PKs endure. There's a hymn called "Count Your Blessings". That song says, "count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God hath done..." Yes, Pastor's kids must endure a lot spiritually, but at the same time, if the father and mother are living for the Lord the children will be blessed spiritually perhaps more than most. That should truly be a blessing for the pastor's children to cling to.


Sure, as pastor's kids you have A LOT coming at you when it comes to standards. But remember, God sets the standards and mom and dad are simply following the Lord's orders. Read the following Bible passages concerning pastor/elder qualifications:

1Timothy 3:4, one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5, for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?


It may not be easy to live according to a higher standard than the other teens in your church or in your school, but God can give you the ability to live up to all that is expected of you. It's certainly not a curse to have godly parents is it? No, of course not! Think of the alternative. Imagine having ungodly uncaring parents. True, you have restrictions because your parents want to serve the Lord in ministry and they want to set a proper biblical family example for other families to follow. However, those tighter reins come with Great love. God loves infinitely. No one could match His love, Right? Yet, God also gives more standards and guidelines than anyone ever did. Is God Uncaring? No! Is God Unloving? No again! The Bible's description of a loving father always includes corrections and standards.

Let's jot down all the symptoms that PKs can have. Then we'll use the "Great Physician's" Word to do some surgery, if need be.

Let's take a look at what's happening in your life as a PK!

Let's take your spiritual temperature!

Let's see if you should be belly aching or giving thanks!

Let's find out how you can handle real problems that face the family in ministry.

I'm sure we can help you get better if you're not feeling that great about being a pastor's child!

Pastor's children sometimes feel like they're overloading on Meetings and Messages! They have to be at all the meetings - Rain, Sleet or Snow! They have to be at church early! They have to be looking good and acting good all the time! Yes, this seems like a lot to a teenager who just wants to be normal around his or her piers, but a life outside the ministry life is not what God has called you to. God knew you would be born into a pastor's family, didn't He? He knew long before you were born what your struggles would be. In fact, knowing that we would all struggle, God had men write some words to encourage us.

1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

James 5:11, "Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord--that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful."


What's happening in your life as a PK may not be easy, but God will provide a way for you to handle every issue. Job had to endure great difficulty in life. Now compare what you're enduring now to Job! Would you want to trade places with Job if you could? Probably not! Job's attitude certainly made a big difference in going through hard times. Job's circumstances were not pleasant, his friends were not pleasant, even his own wife was not pleasant! However, Job looked to God the whole time. Job wanted to bring glory to God no matter what happened to him. As a pastor's child, sometimes feeling like you live in a Pressure Cooker, you need to think about bringing glory to God.

That means doing all you can to help mom and dad in their ministry for the Lord!

That means having a good attitude even when a lot of pressure is put on you!

It also means having a good heart attitude before God, Who put you in the pastor's family! Just think, you could have been born into a family where the parents didn't care about the children. You could have been born into a family where the father was a drunk or a thief, or abusive! Start counting your blessing as a pastor's kid and see how big the blessing list is. Oh, you may have your NON blessing list, but does it even come close to out weighing the blessings?

Sometimes pastor's kids get bounced around. Maybe your dad has changed pastorates a number of times in your life. Remember, God has a way of moving us around to get His work done. The fact is, friends will come and go, but your family is always family and with the right heart towards God you can even adjust to moving a number of times in your life.

Oh NO! I have to listen to dad one more time.

Not again and again and again.... hearing the same Bible stories, some of the same illustrations over and over...

Oh please dad, don't use ME as an illustration....

Oh Lord have Pity and Mercy on the Pastor's Kid! Is this your prayer sometimes? Well, God has shown pity and mercy and Grace. If your parents are godly (and they should be if they're in the ministry) this is a greater blessing than you realize at this point in your life. Yes, it's true that you will sometimes feel "ministried" and "serviced" out, because of all the church activity. But don't forget the positive sides to all this Learning and Ministry. God may call you into the ministry! If He did, you would be much farther ahead than the young person that was not raised in the ministry. Your understanding of the Bible will be much deeper than the average person that shows up at Bible College. Not to mention you're getting FREE pastoral counceling all the time (ha ha).

Pastor's kids need to see the benefit and the privilege of having parents that want to serve God. STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION... SUGGESTIONS WELCOME

Thanks to "Louisa B." for suggesting the theme of this article!

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