Preacher's Kid

   What is it like to be a Preachers Kid? Have you ever considered the kids in the church? It is ok for the members kids to act a certain way yet if the preachers kids act like that then suddenly the parents are horrible people. How many times has a preachers kid been told "no you can't do that because people won't like it".
   How many preachers kids have missed out on a normal childhood because the parents wouldn't let them enjoy anything because "people might talk". You can't go to the movies, "it doesn't look right", "if people see you there then they won't come to our church" etc. How many preachers daughters were made to wear dresses because "preachers kids don't dress like the world". How many preachers kids weren't allowed to fall asleep in a late night service (never mind all the other kids were asleep) because "they were supposed to reverence God"? or what about the preachers kids that couldn't play sports because mom and dad were ministering somewhere every single night and they had to be in church with their mom and dad otherwise people would say "they aren't raising their children right, they tell us to make our kids go to church but theirs aren't here".
   It isn't easy being a preacher's kid. Oftentimes they are ignored because dad is off ministering to the hospitals or visiting the lost or tending to their flocks. Mom and dad come home too tired to listen to their kids to care what is going on in their life. They become miniature pastors, preachers, etc. They learn early on they are "different". How many times has mom (Mrs. Preachers Wife) taught a Sunday school class and end up a little short on supplies and its the preachers kid who suffers. They are the one that don't get a picture to color or craft to make because they will understand "we must reach the others before ourselves". They are often the ones who overhear mom and dad talking and learning things years before they should have. They are the ones who learn early on they are expected to be as perfect as mom and dad are. They are the ones who are often the loneliest because they aren't invited to the kids get togethers outside church because the parents hosting the get togethers don't want what happens to get back to the preachers.
Then of course we mustn't forget the kids as they enter the teen years. By this time of course they are expected to have accepted Jesus and be ready to take on a leadership role in the young people. People will say, "If a preachers kid hasn't accepted Jesus by the time they are 10-12 then obviously the parents are at fault and must not be doing something right. If a man can't rule his household he is worse than an infidel so we don't need to go to his church". Of course preachers kids are expected to know the scriptures thoroughly by this time, and be able to supply answers to any Bible questions from other teens as well as others. They are expected to be spiritual and show no signs of rebellion and if they do then they take on the new role of "preachers kids are always the worse".
   Have you ever stopped to consider why preachers kids rebel? Maybe its because the only time they get the attention they need from mom or dad is when they are getting fussed at. Or maybe its a need for them to be recognized as a separate person apart from dad or mom. Or maybe its just because they are tired of being what everyone else wants them to be, they want to be different.
   You know a preachers kid may rebel and turn away from the church but most of the time they don't go far they realize there is nothing out there for them. They realize no matter how far they go, God is still watching over them. Even if they experiment with drugs or premarital sex or whatever they have been grounded in the rock, so they will return to God just as the prodigal son returned to his father.
   Don't be so hard on a preachers kid, just because dad is pastor or preacher doesn't make them any less of a kid. And also, don't be so hard on the preacher, remember oftentimes the preachers kids have never had a childhood. He had been too busy dealing with your needs and wants to spend as much time with his kids as he would have liked.
   Why don't you make a special effort to pray for the preachers kids and and maybe pitch in by offering to spend time with them? After all their parents do so much for you.

How do I know these feelings and such? That's easy, I'm a preachers kid. If you are one also you might want to check out World of the PK our area just for and by pk's from around the world.

Have a blessed day.