Introduction
This is where we will be posting as we spotlight different vocations, some which require specialized training, others which feature on-the-job training, and still others where you will be learning throughout your life. We know that not all people feel that a 9 to 5 suits them best. Some people prefer to get their hands dirty. If you have a vocation that you would like highlighted, send us an e-mail at vocations@vocationsandvacations.com and we will look forward to serving the growing community that follows our blog, like us on Facebook, and more in the future.
Vocations and Vacations Podcast Episode 5 – To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers and What Is A Pastor’s Wife To Do?
To Bishops, Pastors, and Preachers
1 Timothy 3:2-4 – 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.
1 Timothy 3:6 – 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Titus 1:9 – He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
To read what Pastor Matt Richard wrote in “What Is A Pastor’s Wife To Do?” visit https://steadfastlutherans.org/2013/11/what-is-a-pastors-wife-to-do/
Vocations and Vacations Podcast Episode 4 – Vocation of Parent and Child
To Parents:
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
To Children:
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
If you want to hear further about Parents and Children, as well as everything else included in the Table of Duties, please request a copy of “A Simple Explanation of Christianity” by clicking LSC Request at the top of the page and fill out your information. We will happily mail you a copy.
Vocations and Vacations Podcast Episode 3 – Vocation as Husband and Wife
As you are preparing to get married, you are entering a holy vocation as a husband or wife. Husbands bear a large responsibility as he must be willing to lay down his life for his wife and children, should the Lord bless husband and wife with any. If you don’t think that she is worth dying for, don’t marry her. Husbands are called to provide for their family, usually through working outside the home. In days gone by, it was solely the husband’s responsibility to provide income for the family, as the wife would take care of the home and the kids during the day, but more and more families enjoy the luxuries provided by a two-income household. Husbands are to love and cherish their wives, treating them with the respect that is due to them as they are beautiful images created in the image of God, and they are to be kind to them. Too often we treat one another harshly and are not kind with one another, but this should not be the case. We are to love one another as Christ loved us.
Wives bear a large responsibility as she loves her husband. Often times, the saying is true, your husband is your first kid and most expensive kid. Jason sure does have champagne taste, and you love that about me, at times. Wives are also called to provide for their family, but in a different way. The wife usually makes sure the home is in order, any kids are taken care of, and schedules the majority of doctors, dentist, and other appointments. She is usually the keeper of the things. Wives are to love and cherish their husbands because they are also called to love and cherish them.
If you want to hear further about Husbands and Wives, please request a copy of “A Simple Explanation of Christianity” by clicking LSC Request at the top of the page and fill out your information. We will happily mail you a copy.
Vocations and Vacations Podcast Episode 2 – Vocation as a Couple
On this episode’s Vocation Spotlight, we are highlighting our vocation as a couple. Coming from our last episode, we talked about vocations being our callings or stations in life. There are many vocations that we will be talking about in the coming episodes, but this one is focusing on our life together as a couple. We have known each other for about 8 and a half years, but sometimes we need to focus on us for a change.
We weren’t going to focus on us this early, but sometimes plans change and you have to roll with the changes and make the best of the situation. We enjoy spending time together, all the more as we have become “right now” parents to three wonderful children, but sometimes you need to ask for respite, that’s someone else helping watch the kids, and spend some time getting away, doing those couple things that you love, and just enjoying the time that you have together. The kids will always look forward to seeing you, and you look forward to seeing them, but sometimes you need to do the things that you need, when you have the opportunity to do them.
One thing that a wonderful professor told me at the Seminary, “Gentlemen, make sure to have a date night with your wife every week. Your time with her is precious, so enjoy it.” We had let this slip through the cracks as we had our lives turned upside down for a while, trying to get situated with our first placement, but we needed to enjoy some time together as a couple to bring us back together, allow us to escape the cold as a winter storm was in the forecast the Saturday after our cruise came back, and enjoy some “us time.”
Sometimes the best thing that you can do as a couple is just enjoy some time to relax, read a good book, and order room service. All the better when the room service is included and you are craving a quesadilla and some fries. The relaxing doesn’t only come from spending some time doing nothing but watching some tv, binging some Netflix, or getting dressed to see the various shows and performances, the relaxing comes from taking a break from the hustle and bustle of “normal life” as you need a vacation to take it easy.
Vocations and Vacations Podcast Episode 1 – Introductions
A Vocation is a calling or station in life. This is seen especially in who you are in relation to one another in this world. You are either a son or daughter of your parents. You might also be a brother or sister of your siblings. You are also a niece, nephew, cousin, and more to those who make up your extended family. You might also be a husband or wife, mother or father, and you might work for others or have others who work for you. The home life includes those things that we do, we call them jobs, occupations, or work, but even here you might also touch on some other vocations as you care for those with whom you interact. The police officers, firefighters, EMTs, first responders, doctors, nurses, and others care for you when things happen that are out of your control. They have work that they do, but they also care for you in their different vocations. These are our stations in life when we look at our family and home life.
There are also other stations in life which we occupy. The next one that we will talk about is in relation to one another, but this time from the governing perspective. Each of us is a citizen of the country in which we were born, but there are also opportunities to claim citizenship of other countries as well. You might know someone who is a member of the local government, or the state government, or the federal government if your country is anything like the United States of America. These people also have responsibility to you as they are to care for the common welfare of the citizens and sojourners, to use the Biblical phrase.
Which brings us to the final station in life, our life together as members of the Church. We know that not everyone who listens to us is a Christian, but we can still pray for them and lift them up to God. The pastors and people come together to pray for one another, pray for the governing authorities, and pray for the families of those we know and for those who we may never know on a personal level. I don’t personally know any presidents or governors, but we can pray for them as they are servants of the public trust which has been given to them. Our life together as pastors and laity also touches on our need to know more about God and He has given to us His Holy Word in the Bible so that we can learn more about Him and what He has done for us.
Vocations also change throughout our lives. For instance, we started with the idea of podcasting at the beginning of the summer. Jason hurt his arm and I had to take care of him during the recovery process. We then tried to record at the beginning of the school year, and Jason’s dad departed this life. That put us back a while as we mourned the loss of a dear family member. We were then going to record around Jason’s birthday, but we were asked if we could be “right now parents” to three adorable children. Being a foster care family is different as you never know what you will experience as each day is a joy. With having three additional people to care for in our lives, we put off trying to record the podcast for a bit. But Christmas break is here, and we have some additional time, so here we are, recording this podcast for you to hear.