My Experience as Youth Pastor

I've heard tales of Senior Pastors that require the staff to be in the office 8 hours a day through the week. Fortunately that isn't my reality. Actually, I'd probably work less, but don't let my Pastor's wife know. Honestly she works very hard to make sure I'm not working too hard. This past week I put in most of my hours at the house. It is great being able to take a sick day but still get the work done that needs doing. I can relax instead of worrying about all the stuff that is piling up while I'm ill.

Actually this illness was particularly convenient as far as sicknesses go. My voice started to go about 2 minutes before I was going to preach to the Youth this week, but it held, just barely, till the end. We have a guest speaker for Sunday so I won't have to preach that night, so my voice gets to rest a bit longer as well.

Anyways, I've found that there are many obstacles to working at home. First, my computer is in the living room. If I had a dedicated office things would be much better when working at home. With my computer in with the family I get to deal with the fun of my 2 year old spinning my chair. Admittedly this is a nice distraction from time to time, but it gets old much quicker than she tires of it. Also, I am much tempted to watch Mickey Mouse Club House, which she insists on watching over and over and over and over and over and over ………………. Come inside its fun inside …………….. Sorry, where was I? Oh yes, the distraction of the TV. The other fun part is being right in the middle of a sentence and having an infant dropped in your lap with the phrase, "He wants his daddy."

Of course I tend to encourage my own distractions as well. I get bored quickly and will start playing with my daughter because she is there. Actually I find a million things to distract me while at the house, so I was happy to be feeling well enough to go to the office.

Of course the office isn't without its own distractions. Calls and visits from everyone but the Youth, who are in school, and various other projects that vie for my attention, and the school, which has been consuming more and more of my time. In short I'm hard at work but I'm not sure just how much I'm getting done.

Oh well, there is always next week.