For the first ten years of my ministry, I was a terrific pastor and a terrible husband. I neglected my wife. I passed on the responsibility of raising my kids to babysitters. I led my church well, and it grew at a rate of 100 people per year, yet I was not present as a leader in my own home.

My ministry got in the way of my marriage. This was my story. Learn from my terrible mistakes.

Choices

I remember a rainy Friday night, around ten o'clock, when my daughter was five years old. My wife had left to take some teens home after a small group that met in our house. A church elder was scheduled to pick me up and take me to a church retreat. When he arrived, my wife was not home yet. He asked me to go because people were waiting for me. I was needed at the camp. So, I could wait for my wife to get home, or I could leave my daughter by herself for a short while.

I chose wrong. I gave Vanessa her "blankie," put on a VCR tape of VeggieTales, kissed her, and left. Shortly after, a thunderstorm ...