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The Rev
A Tribute to a Great Man,
a Great Preacher,
and a Great Father
Mark's Essay
Being a PK (Preacher's Kid) has its ups and downs. When you're young, very young, it has great perks. I remember in Leesport and during the first few years in McKeansburg feeling very special because my father was the minister, a respected leader in the community. We never had allot of money (minister's are underpaid) but we were able to do things and visit places that we otherwise never would have done if my Dad wasn't the minister.
In Leesport we were often invited to a local club to go water skiing with church members. While in McKeansburg I remember visiting Bert and June Leiby's farm a few times for some wonderful smoked turkey dinners. Once we all got suited up and they took my Dad and us kids for a long ride on their snowmobiles. Then there was the time Floyd Zimmerman invited us to Leiby's Restaurant for a free meal. Well, I enjoyed the honey glazed chicken so much I just spoke right up and asked when they were going to invite us again (much to the embarrassment of my parents). It worked though, Mr. Zimmerman immediately and graciously invited us to come for another free meal. He got even with me a few years later though when my Dad talked him into giving me a job in his restaurant. Let me tell you, bussing those heavy china dishes in to be washed on a busy Sunday night was pure torture for a skinny 16-year-old! I figure if I mess up and get sent down below when I die, my punishment will be to bus dishes in Leiby's restaurant for all eternity. So I'm trying extra hard to be good!
Of course there were disadvantages to being the PK. My Dad was always on call for all sorts of emergencies that might arise in the community. Most often it would involve an illness or death. I remember one summer we were camping in Delaware at our favorite campground, Log Cabin Hills, when someone from the Church died (I don't remember which Church) and my Dad was called home. We had only arrived a few days earlier and here we were going all the way back to Pennsylvania. To say that us kids were disappointed would be a gross understatement, we were devastated! What do you expect, kids are notoriously selfish. Yet, even in the midst of our misery, the weird sense of humor that my Dad had instilled in me throughout the years (most of you know what I mean) helped me to cope. I remember sitting behind my Dad in our yellow Chevy station wagon with our camper in tow. I was looking back at the campground through the window when I quipped, "Can't they just put her on ice 'till our vacation is over?" Now I knew they were never going to do such a thing but it was one of those things that pop into your head and you just have to say it for fun. Well my Mom was mortified, how dare I say such a thing. I couldn't see me Dad's face since I was sitting right behind him but knowing him, I think he was trying desperately to keep a straight face.
As I got older being the PK began to have less perks. The angst ridden teen years are bad enough for most; adding the expectations and watchful eye of the community makes them even more difficult. Looking back I realize that for the first 14 years of my life I happily tried to live up to the role of PK, then for the next five or six years I was determined to live down the expectations of that role. Yes, PK's are human too and subject to the same peer pressures and temptations that all other teens are. I'm sure some of you may remember thinking, "he used to be such a nice boy, now look at him!" And you were right, I was kind of a bad kid during my teen years. But it was the lessons my parents taught me throughout my life that saw me through those years and brought me to where I am today; I have a nice home, a wonderful wife, and a son I love more than anything on this earth. My Dad taught me how to be a man, a husband, and a father. He didn't do it by giving sermons about how to be a man, he gave enough sermons in Church. He didn't do it by yelling, screaming, or punishing me whenever I did wrong, that was my Mom's job (just kidding Mom). He taught me these things by example. He lived the life of a great man and in so doing gave me some very important footsteps to try to follow.