Zooming into Pastor Appreciation Month

One of the reasons I love helping Jamie here at Pure Joy Creative is that I am someone who loves any chance to celebrate the joys of life. I love sharing a little encouragement for no reason at all, but give me a specific reason and I am even happier! So, it should be no surprise that I love Pastor Appreciation Month.

We have been blessed to have some amazing Pastors throughout our lives. Matt’s Grandpa was a pastor, and his brother John is one now. There was the Pastor who married us 20 years ago (20 years!) and the Pastor who baptized Aiden (one of the best days ever!) There was the Pastor who was ready to drop everything for hospital visits when Mom went through cancer treatments and the Pastor who helped me through the early days of my PTSD diagnosis when he barely knew me. I could definitely think of many more, but the truth is that Pastors are amazing.

Our current pastor is no different. Well, except that he is! When we first moved to Missouri we had trouble finding a church that really fit our family. We rotated worshipping at a couple lovely churches, but then covid happened and things got difficult. A couple of months ago we were invited to visit the church of some brand new homeschool friends. From the very first visit we knew we had found our new church home. It is a tiny little church… which was exactly what we thought we were not looking for. As usual, God had a surprise in mind for us!

Our current pastor is a bi-vocational pastor, which is not something that is common in our experience. He has been navigating shepherding a congregation during a really difficult time (as have all pastors!) and now he suddenly also has 3 eager homeschool kids to lead through confirmation. The unique challenges of the past year have definitely made technology a bigger part of the church, and he is now able to do confirmation with these kiddos via zoom. We live in a big triangle that covers a lot of miles, but when these kids sit down at the computer they are connected to an awesome pastor. The neatest part for me is that I get to hear part of their classes, and it is awesome. I mentioned that Aiden’s baptism was one of the best days of my life. I have dreamed of his confirmation for years. It is such a blessing to get to watch God at work in my child’s life, and I am so incredibly thankful that He gave us just the right pastor to lead Aiden through this major faith milestone.

My pastor is not the only one who has had to adapt in big ways in the past 18 months. No matter how strong a person’s faith might be, the uncertainty of things in this rocky stretch has been challenging. I think that this year we should be especially thankful for the faithful Pastors who have been fighting the good fight through the power of the Holy Spirit day in and day out. We should thank the pastors who have dealt with the closures and the funerals and the race to adapt to new demands. Let’s thank those who have held the hands of so many of us who were mourning and fearful and frustrated… even when they couldn’t actually hold anyone’s hand!

There’s no perfect way to say thank you to these servant-hearted men, and they do it for the glory of God – not the praise of men. I know that each of us can find some small way to say thank you this month though, and that is my challenge to you today! Jamie has some new printables in the Freebie Library to get you started! If you don’t have the password, sign up below for the monthly email newsletter and it will be sent to you via email! And of course there are products in the shop as well! My personal favorite is this year’s new Church Worker Appreciation card, but there are lots of options to choose from.

Has there been a particular pastor that has made a difference in your life? We would love to hear about it! Leave us a comment with what makes him so special!