Home visitation is an awesome opportunity and responsibility. For many people, I can be an extension of Christ, an expression, albeit imperfect, of God's love.
— Doug Self

A typical day of pastoral visitation:

Early in the afternoon, I visited a blended family. The wife had a child from a previous live-in; the husband had children from a previous marriage. They were desperately trying to blend the families together. It didn't take long to get down to business. They were troubled that, because of the tension in the family, one of the husband's children had left to live with the husband's former wife. To make matters worse, the husband had just lost his job. The family was pummeled and hurting.

Although the joblessness was new, the knotty problem with the children was not. There weren't any easy answers. We analyzed a recent family blowup to search for better ways to handle their conflicts. Although I didn't want to lecture them, I did try to help them trust God in the midst of their turmoil. ...